Vincebus Eruption - Blue Cheer
Track List:
Summertime Blues
Rock Me Baby
Doctor Please
Out of Focus
Parchment Farm
Second Time Around
What intrigued me…
I was browsing Reddit and saw a picture of the intersection of Haight and Ashbury in 1967. Someone in the comments mentioned that one of the people looked like they could be the lead singer of Blue Cheer. Naturally I look up Blue Cheer and I see a headline about the band that invented heavy metal. A quick look at their YouTube Music page and it shows that the top song and 3 of their top 5 are on their debut album so it seems like the place to start.
Summertime Blues
So the first thing I notice is that this is a lot heavier than most of the music of this era and local that I’ve listened to. This sounds much closer to Led Zeppelin than Grateful Dead. I also hear what sounds like Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix in here too. This is a cover of an older rock/blues song. This is the same formula that Zeppelin often used in their songs.
Rock Me Baby
Another cover of a blues song. I might actually agree with that headline I saw when I searched for the band name, I can clearly hear this as a bridge between more contemporary blues and Heavy Metal. The solo section is more like what I had expected on this one. It’s heavy but the weird experimental trying out things to see what happens sound that I associate with music from this time and place. That was really good.
Doctor Please
So this is the first song written by the band. Okay this is more experimental but still in the same style. This is clearly not as polished but it works well together. I think there is some clear Jimi Hendrix influence on this one. That song was different. Very experimental. The lyrics were pleas from an addict trying to get pain medicine from a doctor.
Out of Focus
The second song written by the band. This starts really cool. The solos still often seem to lack focus. This is really reminding me of some live dead stuff that I’ve listened to. I think the song is about the same narrator of Doctor Please and hasn’t come to terms with his addiction.
Parchment Farm
This one is a cover of an old blues song too. It’s about serving time in a prison having to do farm work, the narrator goes from saying he is innocent to confessing to murder. There is still a style I can only describe as heavy experimental.
Second Time Around
The sound is much the same with this one. There is a drum solo. I think copious amounts of acid may have been consumed in the making of this one. The song was about being on tour and hooking up with someone and telling her you will be back to see her the next time but having no intention of being faithful.
That was…
It wasn’t bad. I could hear things that I could see coming from Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Hendrix, and The Grateful Dead, I don’t know if the parts that I hear from each are not the parts I would want to mimic. I may look to see if the band did any more covers.
