Did They Invent Heavy Metal? - Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum

One of the great Rock/Heavy Metal/Psychedelic/Acid Rock albums of all time.
Vincebus Eruptum - • B̰l̰ṵḛ ̰C̰h̰ḛḛr̰-̰...
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Summertime Blues - • Blue Cheer - Summertim...
Summertime Blues Live At Rockpalast - • Blue Cheer - Live At R...

[@rafehr1378]

Been a Blue Cheer fan since 1968. Have almost every album till their last.Took them overseas on every tour. Dickie kept rolling them, Bones.

[@gregoryirwin263]

Always preferred outsideinside a seriously overlooked album

[@bluetopguitar1104]

I love both albums.

[@gms9655]

Same here. That album a heavy psych monster! I have a copy of Outside Inside which is a misprint. Has the same songs on both sides. I sometimes wonder who much this is worth?

[@michaelthomas9991]

Great and fitting statements. Blue Cheer’s first two albums deserve to be heralded as two of the most important heavy rock recordings in history. All metal artists owe their existence to Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath because the two defined and perfected the genre. All metal artists since have been adding to the building blocks set by BC and BS. End of story.

[@mateoik]

Almost everyone says that heavy metal and stoner rock were born thanks to black sabbath but I always try to explain to them that with this album blue cheer started the sound of heavy metal and stoner rock before there was talk of led zeppelin, deep purple and black sabbath as greats of heavy and hard rock, I am also a fan of blue cheer from its early days of heavy metal and blues rock to its last days with a more heavy sound

[@BigMikeExp]

You said it perfectly.

[@francestomic2772]

I was in it. I breathed it to live

I never heard the term stoner rock even in the 80s

[@frankthewriter5937]

I’ve often felt “Summertime Blues” by Blue Cheer was the first metal song

[@Questmetalband]

One of the best HEAVY ROCK albums. Guitars are CRANKED Way Up, Soaked in Fuzz, Feedback and Distortion. I would venture to say this has got to be the HEAVIEST album from the 60s.

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

I TOTALLY AGREE!

[@Buzzramjet]

HELL YEAH they were the first heavy metal band. PAUL himself called the band HEAVY when Dick Clark asked them to describe their music and he said HEAVY. There ya go. But I never heard Dick say that. He had them on the show AMERICAN BANDSTAND. And that was when Paul said they were HEAY. RUSH loved BLUE CHEER and played SUMMERTIME BLUES exactly like BLUE CHEER as a tribute to them. IT showed more when they played live. I saw them several times. Got Dickie and Paul to sign my VINCEBUS ERUPTUM album. AND I still have a few photos of them playing at a festival..

[@yolandajohnson8685]

I agree 💯 I discovered Blue Cheer a few weeks ago. I was impressed from hearing all that fuzz ❤❤❤❤

[@joki5346]

A band that is often forgotten but that I like to remind people is "The Gun", who had a hit in 1968 with "Race with the Devil". On their LP they describe themselves as a hard rock band and that's pretty good, even though they sometimes sound very psychedelic with the backwards guitar solos. I consider Blue Cheer to be the first metal band because they played harder and more excessively and with a guitar sound that I don't think was there before. MC5 come close, but the guitar and bass don't sound nearly as fat. This may also be due to the recording technology.

[@miguelprimo491]

Blue Cheer has a great sound! I started to listen them due to a video about Stoner Rock Rock!

[@neilstern7108]

Energized mind expanding roots in blues. I had forgotten a great easy bass part and cut.

[@user-ue6xg9br1r]

Blue cheer was the first heavy medal band

[@axxellein]

Louder Than God!!!!

[@tonyspada2744]

I was good friends with Dickie,Paul and Eric Albronda Eric told me some great stories from those early Avalon and Fillmore shows. Dick Clark seemed to enjoy them on his TV show ❤

[@BigMikeExp]

Fantastic! If you would, please share a story or two with us.

[@tonyspada2744]

Eric told me Paul had guy groupies that dressed like him and follow him around all the time and Linda Eastman was his girlfriend who took tons of pictures of him and BC way before she knew McCartney.

[@BigMikeExp]

I would like to see those Linda Eastman photos@@tonyspada2744

[@bluetopguitar1104]

Certainly a big part of heavy metals' tools. supposedly the loudest band in the world at the time. The original guitarist was great. He left after the second album I believe. They later moved in a more folk rock direction. Best psychedelic guitar riff ever in "summertime blues". I saw them in the 90s at the 930 club in D.C. with a young guitarist. Bass player and Drummer still kicked it.

[@maviswilhelm8390]

Yes, they did invent Heavy Metal! It should be noted that term the ‘heavy metal’ arguably has its origins in the early 60s in a series of books by William Burroughs. Its basis is a character named “Uranium Willy the Heavy Metal Kid” from ‘The Ticket That Exploded’, though the kneejerk source for many bibliophiles is ‘Naked Lunch’. An easy mistake since ‘Naked Lunch’ is Burroughs most well known and scandalous book, featuring such tasty morsels as “…a rancid string of jism tuned to the note of G”. ‘Naked Lunch’ also features androgynous aliens called Mugwumps that had sex with anything that moved, and then some. Of note, Lance Loud, who starred on the ground breaking PBS series ‘An American Family’ formed a punk band after the show and called the band The Mugwumps. Tragically, Lance died from complications with HIV in the 80s. I should mention that I saw Black Sabbath on their first American tour at the original Fillmore Auditorium. I was quite excited to see them…however I was painfully disappointed to see Ozzie wearing shorts, and he had a tattoo of a smiley face on each knee cap. Home made, I learned. Since the old Fillmore stage was about 2 feet high, if even that, my rush to the stage front was reduced to me staring disappointedly at Ozzies stupid knees while he sang and foamed at the mouth about ‘Iron Man’. I did manage to talk to him between songs and he was very friendly…and drunk/high. But those smiley faces haunt my dreams. I should mention that I was VERY VERY young, had very long hair and an extremely pretty face. Easily mistaken for a girl. No….i did not wake up under Ozzie.

[@Aqua.man045]

I liked Outsideinside better but this is a good one. Without Blue Cheer we wouldn’t have Sabbath and without Sabbath I don’t know where Metal would be. Great album to kick off 1968

[@jimhawthorne2158]

I'm sure we would've still had Sabbath without Blue Cheer.

[@blib3786]

I'd be willing to bet none of the members of Sabbath have ever listened to a Blue Cheer record in their lives. They were influenced by Cream, Hendrix and The Beatles, not Blue Cheer, and they would've created metal whether or not Blue Cheer existed. Blue Cheer is cool but they're massively overrated when it comes to creating heavy metal.

[@Aqua.man045]

@@blib3786 except Toni Iommi and Ozzy have already confirmed Blue Cheer was the main influence in their sound back in 1991 in the documentary "Dont Blame me" might wanna do some research before sprouting nonsense.

[@proxywar99]

so heavy and they were writing this material in 66 and 67!

[@BigMikeExp]

Those were amazing years in music.

[@lilajagears8317]

That album will make your ears bleed, yes they were in my humble opinion the first metal band.

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

Absolutely true.

[@anthonyxuereb792]

"Great review right?" You bet it was and it made me laugh, always thankful to Philips for putting them on their label.

[@gregmark4025]

blue cheer was the first heavy metal band

[@stefanijakrivaja6068]

Yes

[@impalaman9707]

In your list of influential hard rock LPs from 1968, you forgot to mention Free "Tons of Sobs", Vanilla Fudge "Renaissance" and Cream "Wheels of Fire"

[@lennartforsberg1519]

Most people tend to believe that the birth of heavy metal can be traced back to Birmingham, England, with the release of the first Black Sabbath album. Over two sides of vinyl, the sound of Tony Iommi’s guitar set the blueprint for what metal was supposed to be, taking the fundamentals of blues and adding different textures to make it sound ominous and foreboding. Then again, metal may have been around long before Iommi even started dreaming up his doom hymns. Across the 1960s, the counterculture movement also brought its fair share of darker bands. Compared to the songs about moving to San Francisco and basking in the sunshine of psychedelia, acts like The Doors and The Velvet Underground were already exposing fans to the gritty side of life.

[@matthewtaylor7355]

The BBC documentary on BBC 4 claimed this.... Not most people.. Ur tired repetition of the Doors and VU.. Shows ur limited knowledge of what u r talking about

[@jeffblacky]

This argument goes back a ways I heard music from the radio in 1968 I been to many biker conventions and runs when blue cheer played I did a opening show once for blue cheer Met dickie many times and asked the same question He said , “ we played heavy and loud , and I think could be heavier blues , I can’t really say @

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

[@impalaman9707]

Fun fact: Deep Purple was also a brand of LSD circulating in the States. So you had Blue Cheer and Deep Purple--both brands of acid

[@lilajagears8317]

Richie Blackmore named the band deep purple after after his mothers favorite song from the 1940s.

[@oldguy9078]

Yes Yes they did.

[@russellberwick3440]

I've wondered if they were one of the first punk bands as well.

[@angusmcwhorter9012]

The Sub-Pop band, Mudhoney are very influened by Blue Cheer. Listen to their wah pedal.

[@FrankieTeardrop1998]

MC5 were closer to punk. Just one year later. Blue Cheer are more stoner rock.

[@lilajagears8317]

@@angusmcwhorter9012 Sub--pop?

[@angusmcwhorter9012]

Sub-Pop is an independent record label out of Seattle. Nirvana was on Sub-Pop before they were signed to a major label.@@lilajagears8317

[@angusmcwhorter9012]

I have seen photos of flyers with the MC5 and Blue Cheer on the same bill. I think it is safe to say that Blue Cheer is liked by many punk rockers.@@FrankieTeardrop1998

[@JDJ473]

Check out Randy Holden’s Population II . HEAVY 🕺

[@angusmcwhorter9012]

You could arguably say that the MC5 was the first metal band. Even though they did not have an album out until 1969, they started in 1963. The MC5 and Blue Cheer sound very similar to me.

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

The MC5 really did KICK OUT THE JAMS!!!

[@dianepeel7154]

Not exactly ... I was around back then in the San Francisco/LA/NYC scenes. Blue Cheer was playing super heavy rock in late 1966, and when they became a power trio in 1967, MC5 was still playing Rolling Stones-style garage rock in Detroit. MC5 didn't start playing heavier and louder until mid-1968 after they heard Blue Cheer and other bands. Eventually, the 2 bands that played w/ the most energy were Blue Cheer and MC5. BC were the loudest. Black Sabbath came around later, early Sabbath played blues rock for a while. I saw Sabbath in 1969. Sabbath played slower tempo music than BC or MC5. All were great!

[@FrankieTeardrop1998]

I killed my neighbours so I could put this album on.

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

😂

[@philr5497]

I liked the 2nd lp better.

[@PC4USE1]

Was it "Helter Skelter' by The Beatles," Blue Cheer or Black Sabbath? The term "Heavy Metal' comes from Steepenwolf's "Born to be Wild" where the line"heavy metal thunder appears". The debate continues.

[@gregmark4025]

blue cheer was around before sabbath and steppenwolf sadly all he original members are dead except leigh stephens the original lead guitar who still live in n cal met them years ago before dick died and paul dies in france a few years ago a fantastic drummer way back then

[@giovannid.n9832]

Los Beatles estaban insidioso del sonidos nuevos del Hard rock, por eso crearon esa canción, para mi es una caricatura

[@stickman1742]

Certainly wasn't Helter Skelter which came out way after other bands were doing the same thing. That was Paul mimicking what was going on. It's a great song, but was definitely copying the sound. McCartney tries to take too much credit for everything. He even wrote some long thing about how proud he was to have written Yellow Submarine as the greatest children's song ever, but now we know that the melody was taken from a song that Lennon had discarded. You'd think he'd be happy with all the accolades he's received, but he still seems to suffer from an inferiority complex compared to Lennon and feels he needs to prove himself. He's even bothered by Lennon's name being first in the Lennon/McCartney songwriting credit.

[@MrMojabo]

I actually saw Blue Cheer and although they where a very heavy band. Leslie West and Mountain brought the distortion and the cream that became heavy metal. His sound wasn't constant t but when he did it was heavy. So many heavy songs by West.

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

I saw Leslie West , Mountain, and West, Bruce and Laing several times and ALL of them were definitely HEAVY. Leslie West was not only a heavy guitar player but one of the most melodic lead guitar players ever. RIP Leslie West.

[@MrMojabo]

@@thebigmikeexperience4572 completely agree. He had the tone. I saw him at Winterland. The stone and a local club many years later. Blue cheer although loud. Could be a mess live. I agree they were seeking an original sound . I would go more with psychedelic.

[@petercena9497]

Maybe not the best but probably the first.

[@GCZ31080]

Sorry Srs, What's the song at 1:30?

[@thebigmikeexperience4572]

Gerado, the song at 1:30 is a song I wrote called Crazy. You can hear the full song here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poTHaJuHiqiambc

[@RonaldWall-yw3hx]

SEOMPI

[@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe]

Heavy metal only at its best. Beggars Banquet? Only an oversight?

[@rickher4794]

Blue Cheer LSD.👽🙏

[@deejaytee7322]

is he pronouncing the album name correctly?

[@jasonmacqueen1017]

the reason Black Sabbath is considered the 1st REAL metal band, is they were darker, heavier, and who legions of people copy and emulate. no one copies or cites blue cheer. Iommi's riffs are the blue print for metal as we know it. nothing against blue cheer.

[@Aqua.man045]

many cite blue cheer including stoner metal bands like Kyuss, Nebula, and Sleep, and quite a few metal bands use Leigh Stphen riffs as well.

[@gms9655]

The debate of the first heavy metal band will go on for another century. Your probably right about Sabbath. I always considered Blue Cheer as hard blues. Their first two albums were defining. I have them both on original vinyl.

[@jimhawthorne2158]

Heavy Metal is not just hard rock music, it has a dark theme to it as well. Black Sabbath invented true Heavy Metal music.

[@WillieSurvive1]

Agreed, I’ve seen saying the same thing for years. The darkness of that tritone that makes up the riff in the song “Black Sabbath” is very much the DNA molecule of all metal, even before the first line of the lyrics kick in. It’s more than just distortion and bottom-heaviness that creates the overall vibe of heavy metal.

[@Kgio-2112]

Not always. It can be dark or light. Judas priest was probably the first true metal act. Blue cheer layed the foundation

[@blib3786]

@@Kgio-2112 Idk how people can say that Judas Priest was the first "real" metal band and not Sabbath when Sabbath had way heavier songs than Priest in the 70's.

[@sirlordwhitman]

What about dark themes but not exactly hard rock? Listen to 'dignitaries of hell' by Coven 1969 and even though it's tame musically by say 'sabbath' standards, it sends shivers up your spine with its evil dark overtone

[@Frodojack]

That's simply not true. Metallica and Megadeth play songs about politics and contemporary events as well as dark themes, just to point out that dark themes are not a necessary condition. There are even love songs that are metal. It should also be noted that since the late 1980s we had the "Big Four" of thrash metal: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, but before them in the 1970s there was the Big Four of heavy metal: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep. It looks different when you look back at those bands with modern lenses, but if you lived it back then you would understand the development of metal and what the first metal songs were. Songs like "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer and "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf led the way with the new sound, followed by "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles. Of those groups, however, it was Blue Cheer that stood out by making its album Vincebus Eruptum almost entirely hard rock. The next album composed of songs that were almost all hard rock was the first Led Zeppelin album. Black Sabbath was still primarily a blues band playing John Mayall and Cream songs. When Tony Iommi changed their sound he slowed down the songs the same way Vanilla Fudge did in 1967, but with a heavier guitar tone. But the song that really broke the mold for the new heavy metal sound was "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain back in 1970. Leslie West had the perfect metal guitar tone and the perfect raspy voice. Tony Iommi didn't develop a good guitar tone that other guitar players wanted to imitate until "Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath" in 1975 and "Symptom of the Universe" in 1975. It was the latter that inspired thrash metal.

[@thescarletandgrey2505]

Not really. They tried to sound like The Who but just weren’t as good.

[@RocknJazzer]

they were better...heavier. Who fan too tho.

[@genesmiley9866]

I don't think they invented anything but they sure cranked out a lot of really crappy music.

[@Kgio-2112]

You were never known for your musical insight

[@yomamenification]

Metal is metal, hard rock is hard rock. Abd blue cheer is clearly hard rock, its all confusing

[@johnr3546]

No, they aren't heavy metal, nor is Hendrix or cream