Towards the end of the 1960s, the music scene moved away from the Hippie Psychedelia of 1967 to a more Hard Rock-styled trend in the mainstream of Rock Music. Although Metal was not in existence at this time, various groups were pushing their sounds and musical stylings to the limit of what was acceptable at the time for a heavier sound. Enter Blue Cheer, a band that hailed from the USA, ready to change the music world with their rendition of heavier and louder sounds than what was predominant at the time. Of course, drug use was still hugely prevalent, both within and outside of the band itself which was the norm at the time for Rock bands to get involved with. Recorded at Amigo Studios in Hollywood, California with producer Abe “Voco” Kesh at the helm, the band consisted of Dickie Peterson (vocals and bass guitar), Leigh Stephens (guitar) and Paul Whaley (drums). This was designed to be a minimal setup for the music at hand. The album was released in January 1968 by the Philips record label, and the cool album cover is perfect for this album. It was both a critical and commercial music success. Let’s take a listen to a very important and pioneering Rock based album that blew many people away upon hearing it.

Summertime Blues is an Eddie Cochran cover. Instantly, it sounds extremely loud, overdriven and wonderful throughout. Some urgent and awesome singing emerges. This is fantastic to hear, and the guitar playing in particular sounds dirty, overdriven, distorted and wonderful. Not even Jimi Hendrix at the time was this heavy with his guitar playing and sounds. All in all, this is a really cool and inspired listening experience that is completely unique and powerful sounding from the late 1960s. One can instantly hear where Black Sabbath and many other groups got their musical ideas from. There is even a drum solo in the middle of this song. This launches into a crazily loud and euphoric-sounding guitar solo section that sounds quite unlike anything else, before drastically changing into a sweet musical build-up as this progresses along. Pounding drums quickly follow, and this continues on nicely throughout this song. The singing and sounds are not unlike Deep Purple as well. A really great listening experience from start to finish.

Rock Me Baby is a B.B. King cover that derived itself from a traditional Blues Music number. It begins with some classy yet clean guitar playing, which sounds really great throughout. Soon enough, pounding drums and bass guitar enter and this tune comes nicely. A good Blues Music listen, it sounds like AC/DC heard this album as well. A fresh, awesome and dynamic tune with some great singing and musicianship throughout. This sounds heavy and very distorted musically, with Marshall Amps cranked to 11. A really awesome and timeless tune to hear, there is some manic screaming throughout, which adds some interest to the already amazing song. A loud and distorted pseudo-Jimi Hendrix styled guitar solo enters, with some really awesome and driven playing. The whole tune sounds a little off-kilter here, but intentionally so. All in all, a really great listening experience that sounds absolutely amazing and brilliant to listen to. Towards the end is a great extended musical section with furious drumming, loud guitars and punchy basslines. Very, very cool to listen to. It ends with some soloing of drums, then guitar before finishing nicely with crashing sounds. Brilliant.

Doctor Please is one of the original songs on this album. It begins with some deep and dark riffing that is downtuned and distorted, with a great rhythm section to match. The lyrical singing throughout is an ode to drug use of all sorts, which is pretty explicit as music back then was. Nonetheless, this is another fantastic listen, with references to shooting up (heroin, presumedly) and the music that matches it is really superb. A great-sounding tune which is likely a reference to the Doctor Robert Beatlesque sort of thing. This soon enough launches into a glorious section of distorted and manic guitar playing with pounding and excellent drumming throughout. All in all, this low-down, dirty Blues-based Heavy Rock sounds absolutely amazing. No doubt that future superstars of the 1970s were paying close attention to this music. A really great listening experience is here, even if you aren’t a fan of heavier styles of Rock Music. In the midsection, the drumming in particular sounds crazily good, backing up the guitars extremely well. This Cream-like jam session goes on very nicely and sounds extremely powerful and cool throughout. The song section eventually returns, and the vocals are mixed high, providing a sense of urgency to the music at hand. A really great listen, once again, if you ever need a fix of drugs of any sort in a post-psychedelic musical fashion, this is your song. The soloing section returns towards the end, and this tune continues on very nicely. Some awesome playing is here. This is followed up by some awesome guitar sounds using a ton of whammy guitar work, loud volume and frenetic playing. This ends nicely with crashing drums and sweet guitars. A great and really heavy song.

Out Of Focus is another Blue Cheer original. It begins with some interesting guitar playing, and quickly launches into a decent and quirky sounding piece of music at hand. A really good listening experience with some top singing, mellow guitar riffs and awesome melodies throughout. The rhythm section also is really top-notch, and the music within is stunning. This music has definitely lasted the test of time, and although not everyone will understand this album, it is definitely a solid gold classic with some animated and interesting music. Some screamed vocals lead into a glorious guitar solo that sounds really weird, yet awesome to hear. The music is awesome and it makes one want to avoid the druggy Psychedelia of the time and listen to music on rotation that is far heavier than that. All in all, a really great and interesting tune to listen to. Four minutes of fantastically heavy glory, this ends with some feedback-laden guitars and more crashing drums to boot. Excellent.

Parchment Farm is a take on an old Blues Music number. It begins with some more glorious guitar guitars and drums, and it sounds very different to the version that John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton recorded. A warped, wonderful and joyous tune to hear, this is exactly the perfect rendition of an older Blues tune that is brought into life by Blue Cheer’s unique sound. This launches into a fantastic and expressive lead guitar section that is full of interesting sounds and character throughout. The playing on guitar here is absolutely insane and different, sounding really great and fine. Soon after, this cuts out the guitars and the bass guitar and drumming are gradually mixed down to zero volume. Drumrolls enter, and this tune has a great bass guitar and drum section, before launching into a really great and insanely original-sounding solo section. Blue Cheer, of course, were fantastic at what they did. The guitar soloing that follows afterwards is absolutely brilliant. If anything, these guys were absolute professionals at the music that they made. A lively, loud and interesting listen throughout. After some time, there is a tempo change, and the vocals eventually return. There is a key change present, and this tune gets very lively. A really fantastic and awesome listen throughout, this music is really gloriously good. A great redo of a classic Blues Music number, the guitar soloing to finish up with, is again, insanely good. Another great song to hear. It ends with crashing drums and a sweet finale.

Second Time Around is the last song on the album and is an original by Blue Cheer. It begins with some awesome and thunderous drum rolls, and quickly launches into another dirty, Blues based and fantastic listening experience. Again, this sounds really great and is a song about having a disagreement with a lover. A very sweet and wonderfully melodic tune that sounds interesting, melodic and professionally structured. Some screamed vocals are here as well. It quickly launches into a gloriously awesome guitar solo section that is a great slice of musicianship here. The jam section that follows between the verses is fantastic, and the singing and vocals are as equally as fantastic. A loud, well played and fantastic tune. There is a drum solo near the midsection that is absolutely amazing, and no doubt Led Zeppelin was paying attention at the time. This is one of the greatest drum solos ever recorded, and it sounds amazing and fantastic throughout. It stops, and a bassline repeated follows, which sounds really awesome and funky. A really wonderful and sweet tune to hear, this is for those of you who love Heavy Music. Soon enough, it launches into a glorious guitar solo section that sounds absolutely mint. A really heavy trip of a tune, this does sound really fine and fantastic. The guitars throughout are really insanely good, and the rhythm section does its thing very nicely in the background. Extremely good music, with a slight Jimi Hendrix feel to it all. Towards the end, it goes very quiet with some bass guitar playing in the background, before returning to a wonderful and enjoyable finish. Sweet.

This is a monumental, groundbreaking classic album that sounds absolutely amazing and broke musical barriers down for future bands such as Black Sabbath to explore in a musical sense. This album is for those of you who didn’t necessarily get LSD-influenced Hippie Music, and instead want an album to hear that explores Heavy Psychedelic Blues based music. It is most definitely a classic album and is something that any self-respecting music fan should hear. Should you listen to this album? Definitely do, if you would like to hear the album that bridged Psychedelic Rock with a raw, loud Blues based proto-Heavy Metal sound. Some people may not like the discordant sounds throughout, however.

A definitive classic of where Heavy Music was going back in 1968.

9/10