Issue 2
Sticking to what was successful in issue 1, Geoff Barton brings us another smorgasbord of aural delights. There is a slightly more ‘sonic punch’ to the bands included in this issue, so we’ve taken the hard work out of it and pick out 3 of the gems for your listening pleasure!
Blue Cheer
‘Vincebus Eruptum’ (Phillips SBL 7839)
Blue Cheer were straight outta San Francisco. Peaking (probably often) in the late 60s / early 70s and resurfacing occasionally right up till 2009! Finding their name from a variety of LSD, Blue Cheer were heavy psychedelic blues and often sited (amongst others) as pioneers of Heavy Metal. Their cover of Summertime Blues sometimes referred to as the first in the genre…hmmm.
Formed by Dickie Peterson in 1967, Blue Cheer released 10 albums, the first of which (Vincebus Eruptum -1968) reached number 11 in the US album charts. Their final album (What Doesn’t Kill You) was released in 2007, two years before Peterson succumbed to Prostate Cancer in 2009.
The band underwent numerous line up changes throughout their lifetime, but Peterson remained at the helm. Interestingly, Nick St Nicholas of Steppenwolf featured in the one line-up that Peterson didn’t, but it was short lived and led to the first ‘disbandment’ of Blue Cheer in 1975.
Signed to Phillips in the US, Blue Cheer’s sound is intense – Peterson himself stating, ‘the reality is, we’re just a power trio, and we play ultra blues, and it’s rock ‘n roll. It’s really simple what we do’ And…..he is absolutely right (of course) at its heart, the sound is that of the blues – but played with some ferocity and intensity. Jim Morrison (The Doors) said that the band were ‘the single most powerful band I have ever seen’ and it was Eric Clapton who defined the band as ‘probably the originators of Heavy Metal!’ and it is easy to see how this moniker has stuck. Kerrang are as equally gushing about Blue Cheer, claiming it to be ‘powerful, poignant and precious’ along with demanding it be re-released so it can blow the minds of a whole new audience! Sonically, you can understand how bands such like Deep Purple or Motorhead would delight on first hearing this glorious racket rattling out of their speakers – its MC5-esque groove and ‘acid rock hammering’ are infectious. The production is as complex as it needs to be…..not very – why should it be? Peers , like The Stooges, latterly, The Damned or more recent purveyors of such sonic ferocity, Thee Hypnotics, would happily enter a room after them, plug into their equipment and bingo!! Blue Cheer provide an easily read blueprint that’s for sure. As the original Stiktly write up quite rightly states, ‘Blue Cheer are Insistent, unstoppable, interminable Acid Rock Hammering. A dull, deadly apocalyptic BOOOOM!!’ Turn it up!!
Listen to: Debut Album – Vincebus Eruptum – 6 tracks of raw magic!
Stack Waddy
‘Stack Waddy’ (Dandelion Records DAN8003)
Where have Stack Waddy been all my life? Born out of Timperley, Cheshire (home of Frank Sidebottom), Stack Waddy were a balls to the wall, british blues band. Formed in the late 60s and active until the early 1970s, they released two albums – ‘Stack Waddy’ (1971) and ‘Bugger Off’ (1972) on John Peel’s Dandelion Records after he saw them perform at a blues festival in Buxton in 1972.
Whilst the original Striktly article refers to the album as an ‘endearingly worthless piece of plastic’, I beg to differ. Although I can see their thinking, what Stack Waddy give us is most definitely worth a listen. The sound is a solid, well constructed bridge between blues and heavy rock. It’s heavy-handed pub rock played by a bunch of hard-drinking geezers from the North West – and its brilliant! John Knaill’s raw vocal sound – reminiscent of Beefheart – glues the tracks together and allows the groove to reign supreme, occasionally hanging perilously on the precipice of ‘just about falling apart’.
What is also ‘endearingly worthless’ about this album (as is the case with many albums of that period) is the simplicity of the production. As is the case with Blue Cheer – why would it need to be any more complex? Produced by John Peel under the moniker ‘Eddie Lee Beppeaux’ the drums lead the way, beating out a tribal rhythm, with the bass front and centre – guitars (interstingly) slightly buried over to the left. By all accounts, Stack Waddy were an intense, guitar driven, live act; so this is an interesting deviation from that sound, but one that works. In fact, it makes you realise that modern production sometimes rips the heart out of the ‘realness’ of a band……look what its done to me…..i’ve become all misty eyed!
Stack Waddy followed ‘Stack Waddy’ with ‘Bugger Off’ in 1972 – same formula except the guitar was over to the right this time! You can imagine the production discussion that led to that decision……hang on! What am I talking about? Discussion? Get drunk, turn up the volume….press record. It really will have been that simple. ‘Bugger Off’ was heavy on cover versions and perhaps this signalled the lack of original writing going on within the camp at the time.
Sadly, ‘Bugger Off’ signalled the end of Stack Waddy. A Peel session exists, but never made the cut as it was deemed ‘too slick’ by Peel. Stack Waddy reformed in a slightly different guise in 2007 briefly as part of the Dandelion Records biographical DVD release, there have been several releases of lost tapes and re-masters over recent years.
Listen to: Stack Waddy – ‘Stack Waddy’ – 10 tracks of sonic battery!!