Who Loves Blue Cheer ? Pioneers of Heavy Metal

The history of Blue Cheer goes way back to San Francisco in the late 60's, where they excelled themselves as the heaviest of the psychedelic bands.

While the Grateful Dead were playing country and raga-rock and Jefferson Airplane were singing White rabbit, Blue Cheer were pioneering the extreme blues-rock that would become heavy metal

Their seminal album was Vincebus Eruptum, 1968 containing an astounding reworking of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues"

The band has remained pretty active over the past forty years; Touring Europe with the likes of Mountain, Outlaws, Thunder, The Groundhogs, Ten Years After, and The Yardbirds in the late 80's and early 90's and releasing albums.

Their latest wasWhat Doesn't Kill You... (2007)

What would metal be without Blue Cheer: Possibly no heavy metal, although someone else was bound to invent it sooner or later, certainly no stoner rock, like The Melvins, Kyuss, Nebual,Electric Wizard and Weedeater

Blue Cheer have just finished touring in Europe. There are no other tours planned at this stage.

Image: Courtesy Polygram