DICKIE PETERSON
of BLUE CHEER

left in front

1946 - 2009

He was one of the first  “acid rockers.”   Dickie Peterson was the lead singer and bass player in the San Francisco-based group known in the late 60s as  “The Loudest Group on the Planet.”  He named his psychedelic blues band after a potent strain of LSD—Blue Cheer.  The group recorded 6 decibel-splitting albums from 1968 to 1972 and one unforgettable single “Summertime Blues” —blazing the early trail of the metal scene. 

In 1946, Richard Peterson was born into a musical family in South Forks, North Dakota.  His father played trombone, his mother played the piano, and brother Jerre played flute before switching to guitar.  Richard started off on the drums but took up the bass guitar at age 13.

Dickie joined his first professional band in 1965—the psychedelic Bay Area “Group B.”  They recorded two singles for Scorpio Records and performed with Love and The Grateful Dead at the Fillmore.  Dickie was fired from the band in 1966 when his obsession for playing Chuck Berry songs at rehearsals became too much for the other band members. 

Dickie formed a new band almost immediately with drummer Paul Whaley (formerly of Oxford Circle).  They named the band after a brand of LSD called Blue Cheer.  It started as a 6-piece blues/ psychedelic rock band.  Besides Dickie and Paul Whaley, there was Dickie’s brother Jerre on lead guitar and lead vocals, Leigh Stephens also on lead guitar, Vale Hamanaka on keyboards, and Jerry Whiting on harmonica. 

Human Be-In Poster

Shortly after the event, three of the group members split (including brother Jerre).  The group did not replace them---instead they became a 3-piece power group (think: a very heavy Cream) with Dickie on lead vocals.  They also quickly evolved into one of the loudest and most psychedelic bands in the Bay Area--and that’s saying a lot for 1967 San Francisco!  To add to their mystique, they were managed by former Hell’s Angel “Gut” Terkel.  They made no secret that psychedelic drugs were a major part of their lives. 

When they went in to record their first album “Vincebus Eruptum,” they blew out the studio’s echo chamber on the first day.  They played the songs that they been performing in their live act.  The album was released in January 1968 with 6 tracks.  It included the explosive “Parchment Farm,” the drug-glorifying “Doctor Please” and the song that would make them famous forever, the Eddie Cochran tune, “Summertime Blues.”

“Summertime Blues” peaked at #14 in March of 1968.  The band did some TV (Steve Allen, American Bandstand) to promote the single.  But their blatant drug use and crazy behavior would limit their TV appearances.   The album peaked at #11 and is considered by rock critics as one of the very first heavy metal albums, which has influenced tens of thousands of high-amplified rockers.