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This Sucks

R.I.P. DICKIE PETERSON, BLUE CHEER

 Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 2:47pm by

We didn’t report on this one yesterday, but rest assured we didn’t miss it: Blue Cheer frontman Dickie Peterson passed away yesterday of liver cancer. He was 63.

Blue Cheer are often credited as being the forefathers of proto-heavy metal, heaving gone on to inspire Black Sabbath with their work in the late 1960s. They were kind of the Faith No More to alt/nu-metal, the At the Gates to melodic death metal, the Cave In or Converge to metalcore; though they paved the way and largely invented a sound that would later blow up, they never quite got the credit they deserved. And since we’re pretty much talking about the creation of all of heavy metal here, Blue Cheer were/are a big fucking deal. Though the band denied their involvement in the birth of the genre we all love so much, listening to some of their material proves the Sabbath influence right away. Here’s a clip that Decibel posted yesterday of the band performing in Germany last year.

R.I.P. Dickie Peterson.

-VN

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  • Driven9

    Never heard of em, but good work giving them props. I can def see how they’re considered influential. Btw, that lead guitar is heavy as fuck.

  • bearbomb

    Sad news. And you’re right, quite possibly THE most underrated classic/hard rock band of all time.

  • Nostradumbass

    Saw them two times about three years ago and they killed. One of my first exposures to heavy music as a kid back when MTV used to have a show called Closet Classics. Glad I got the chance to see them when I did. Never felt like I was watching old dudes and Dickie pretty muck kept the band going in some form since they started. Obviously the dude just loved to play.

  • Sammy

    I have always wondered if it was “Summertime Blues” that type-cast them as *just* ’60s music and not the true forefathers of Sabbath-inspired metal?

  • Sammy

    Oh, and Vince, nice analogy of FNM vis-a-vis alt/nu metal and Converge to metcore.

  • FlyingDadBomb

    I first discovered this band in Sam Dunn’s “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey” and have been hooked on Blue Cheer since. I feel both BC and Sabbath were influential in metal’s creation, and never understood why Blue Cheer never got their due credit. Sad to see another legend go. RIP Dickie

  • Alex P.

    How haven’t I heard of these guys before? (Seppukus in shame.)

    This is excellent blues-rock which I can really dig. Music like this strengthens my argument that blues, rock and metal lie along the same spectrum. I will definitely be checking this out.

    It sucks that it had to take Peterson’s death for me to learn about this band. My condolences to his family.

  • http://www.kingdomofnoise.blogspot.com MetalMatt

    Always enjoyed Blue Cheer. Seriously underrated. You ever see a Blue Cheer CD in a chain store? I didn’t think so.
    Sad news.

    Another wickedly underrated band with an influence on a very influential band, Budgie. Budgie kick ass!