The Faces - John Peel Show, England 1970-06-25 FM (Bootleg)

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The Faces were Peel’s favourite band in the first half of the 1970s and he appears to have enjoyed their goodtime approach both musically and socially. As well as “playing” mandolin with the band on Top Of The Pops in 1971, the DJ invited them all to his wedding three years later. In subsequent decades, he continued to cite the Faces’s April 1973 gig at Sunderland Locarno as the best he ever attended.

In 1987, Peel discussed the special attraction of The Faces for him with producer John Walters in the third programme of the Peeling Back The Years series:

Faces - German Single 1970

JW: One band that we have not mentioned in this pre-punk programme that were great favourites of yours and certainly brought you back quite sensibly to good old rock and roller’s enjoyment – and that was the Faces ... They were a band of lads. They’d been the Small Faces, Rod the Mod, all people that were seen – and I remember this very clearly because time changes – in the early ‘70s they were all seen as played out, frankly.

JP: Yes, yes.

JW: “No, not that lot again!”

JP: Well, that was very much my attitude. But as I say, I met them and you and my wife at around the same time – all people with very different attitudes to mine, much more realistic attitudes I think than I had. And I met the Faces backstage at a gig in Newcastle City Hall. And I can’t remember who else was on the bill – I think the Nice were, oddly enough. But anyway, they had a dressing room and I was sitting in – I didn’t have a dressing room – and there was a phone booth backstage and I was sitting in that thinking beautiful thoughts. I mean, genuinely thinking beautiful thoughts, in as far as I was capable of doing that. 

John Peel's Rare Album - Front Cover 1970

And they came and flung the door open and said, “Hello, John, mate, how’s it going, squire?” You know, “Come on, let’s have a drink.” And I didn’t drink at the time at all. And as they went away, my first reaction was, “Dear, oh dear, what dreadful rowdy people.” And then I saw them disappear into their dressing room that was full of scantily clad women and so forth and the sound of breaking glass and curries being flung against walls and so on, and I thought to myself, “Actually, these people are having a much better time than I am,” you know.

JW: So that rather implies that you were attracted socially as a bit of relief. What about the musical side?

JP: Well, because it was – I mean, the music exactly defined the band, you know. There was no sort of pretence in there at all. And I suppose I just got fed up – and as I say, it came about at the same time as I started to work regularly with you and meeting the pig, whose background was vastly different to mine, and as I say, much more rooted in reality. And I just, the Faces for me recaptured the kind of feelings I’d had when I first Little Richard and people like that and Jerry Lee Lewis, in the same way as the Undertones were to a few years later.

Japan Single 1970

John Peel's Archive Things Album, BBC 1970
An LP entitled John Peel's Archive Things was issued by BBC Records in 1970, with a selection of the most popular archive tracks he had played during the show's run, and sleevenotes in which he expressed an enthusiasm for a free-form radio format in which anything might happen. But Peel never again presented such an adventurous programme; the BBC's tight programming schedules made free-form radio impossible and most of the American "underground" FM radio stations which had introduced such open formats gradually turned into commercial stations playing "album-oriented rock". A 1970 article in International Times on censorship in the BBC even suggested that Peel was now working under a "special contract", which forbade him from expressing his opinions on non-musical matters during his shows.

According to Ken Garner's The Peel Sessions , Peel's Night Ride show grew out of an idea by producer John Muir for a "non-needletime" programme drawing on the BBC's store of archive recordings from around the world. This meant that not only were the shows cheaper to produce, but that they also reflected the hippy era's growing interest in exotic cultures.

Faces Billboard November 1970
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As Peel remarks in the album notes, there was a positive audience response to some of the "Archive Things", as he called them, so a selection of the most popular pieces appears on the LP. However, Night Ride ended in autumn 1969 and this album was issued in the following year, so there was little chance of it finding airplay on other, more conventional Radio One programmes. In 1970 BBC Records was a small-scale, non-commercial enterprise which did not publicise its releases to any great extent, and "world music" as a popular genre did not exist; so the LP was condemned to obscurity.

The LP was enthusiastically reviewed by Richard Williams in Melody Maker (clipping from grang354 collection - date unknown). Williams claimed that Night Ride "was vastly more adventurous and far more rewarding than Top Gear, because it took us into new, unfamiliar realms of music which, like travel, truly broadened the mind". The album "teaches us the international communication and universal beauty of music, and in many cases it provides clues to music's earliest history. Anybody who can see beyond Cream/Taste/Zeppelin can't fail to enjoy it, and get something out of it"

Peel himself commented on the release of the album in his column for Disc & Music Echo of 1970-06-20 (many thanks to Peel Mailing List member Mick for this information): "If you can recall the Wednesday "Night Ride" I used to help with, then you'll remember the curious things from the BBC archives that were played. Some of the best are gathered together on BBC Radio Enterprises REC 68M which will be easily as hard to get hold of as the "Top Gear" LP was. It's called "Archive Things" and is quite a laugh--brings back memories of a programme that I still miss a lot."

Faces 
June 25, 1970
Paris Theatre
London, England
FM Broadcast  

01. You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)  06:17
02. Wicked Messenger  04:18
03. Devotion  06:27
04. It's All Over Now  08:18
05. I Feel So Good  08:39

Bonus Show:
Faces
BBC Transcription Pre-Fm reels
John Peel Sunday Concert
Paris Cinema, London, England 
May 13th 1971

01. You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)  12:11
02. Love In Vain  08:26 
03. Bad N' Ruin   05:45
04. It's All Over Now  06:53
05. Had Me A Real Good Time  07:05
06. (I Know) I'm Losing You  06:30

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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déja Vu (Classic Album US 1970)

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Déjà Vu is the second album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and their first in the quartet configuration of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released in March of 1970 by Atlantic Records, catalogue SD-7200. It topped the pop album chart for one week and generated three Top 40 singles: "Woodstock", "Teach Your Children", and "Our House".

Déjà Vu was greatly anticipated after the popularity of the first CSN album and given the addition of Young to the group, who at the time remained largely unknown to the general public. Stills estimates that the album took around 800 hours of studio time to record; this figure may be exaggerated, even though the individual tracks display meticulous attention to detail. 

The songs, except for "Woodstock", were recorded as individual sessions by each member, with each contributing whatever was needed that could be agreed upon. Young does not appear on all of the tracks, and drummer Dallas Taylor and bassist Greg Reeves are credited on the cover with their names in slightly smaller typeface. Jerry Garcia plays pedal steel on "Teach Your Children" and John Sebastian plays harmonica on the title track.

Four singles were released from the album with all but the last, "Carry On," charting on the Billboard Hot 100. The popularity of the album contributed to the success of the four albums released by each of the members in the wake of Déjà Vu — Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, Stephen Stills' self-titled solo debut, David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name, and Graham Nash's Songs for Beginners. [Wikipedia]

Billboard Magazine July 1970

One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history -- right up there with those by the Beatles and the Band -- Déjà Vu lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts. Those achievements are all the more astonishing given the fact that the group barely held together through the estimated 800 hours it took to record Déjà Vu and scarcely functioned as a group for most of that time. Déjà Vu worked as an album, a product of four potent musical talents who were all ascending to the top of their game coupled with some very skilled production, engineering, and editing. 

There were also some obvious virtues in evidence -- the addition of Neil Young to the Crosby, Stills & Nash lineup added to the level of virtuosity, with Young and Stephen Stills rising to new levels of complexity and volume on their guitars. Young's presence also ratcheted up the range of available voices one notch and added a uniquely idiosyncratic songwriter to the fold, though most of Young's contributions in this area were confined to the second side of the LP. Most of the music, apart from the quartet's version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," was done as individual sessions by each of the members when they turned up (which was seldom together), contributing whatever was needed that could be agreed upon. "Carry On" worked as the album's opener when Stills "sacrificed" another copyright, "Questions," which comprised the second half of the track and made it more substantial. 

Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young - German Single 1970

"Woodstock" and "Carry On" represented the group as a whole, while the rest of the record was a showcase for the individual members. David Crosby's "Almost Cut My Hair" was a piece of high-energy hippie-era paranoia not too far removed in subject from the Byrds' "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man," only angrier in mood and texture (especially amid the pumping organ and slashing guitars); the title track, also by Crosby, took 100 hours to work out and was a better-received successor to such experimental works as "Mind Gardens," out of his earlier career with the Byrds, showing his occasional abandonment of a rock beat, or any fixed rhythm at all, in favor of washing over the listener with tones and moods. "Teach Your Children," the major hit off the album, was a reflection of the hippie-era idealism that still filled Graham Nash's life, while "Our House" was his stylistic paean to the late-era Beatles and "4+20" was a gorgeous Stephen Stills blues excursion that was a precursor to the material he would explore on the solo album that followed. 

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young 1969

And then there were Neil Young's pieces, the exquisitely harmonized "Helpless" (which took many hours to get to the slow version finally used) and the roaring country-ish rockers that ended side two, which underwent a lot of tinkering by Young -- even his seeming throwaway finale, "Everybody I Love You," was a bone thrown to longtime fans as perhaps the greatest Buffalo Springfield song that they didn't record. All of this variety made Déjà Vu a rich musical banquet for the most serious and personal listeners, while mass audiences reveled in the glorious harmonies and the thundering electric guitars, which were presented in even more dramatic and expansive fashion on the tour that followed. [AMG]

Recorded July - December, 1969 at Wally Heider's Studio C, San Francisco and Wally Heider's Studio III, Los Angeles. Released March 11, 1970

Personnel:
♦ David Crosby — vocals all tracks except "4+20"; rhythm guitar on "Almost Cut My Hair," "Woodstock," "Déjà Vu," "Country Girl," and "Everybody I Love You"

♦ Stephen Stills — vocals all tracks except "Almost Cut My Hair"; guitars all tracks except "Our House"; keyboards on "Carry On," "Helpless," "Woodstock," and "Déjà Vu"; bass on "Carry On," "Teach Your Children," and "Déjà Vu"; percussion on "Carry On"

♦ Graham Nash — vocals all tracks except "Almost Cut My Hair" and "4+20"; keyboards on "Almost Cut My Hair," "Woodstock," "Our House," and "Everybody I Love You"; rhythm guitar on "Teach Your Children" and "Country Girl"; percussion on "Carry On" and "Teach Your Children"

♦ Neil Young — vocals on "Helpless" and "Country Girl"; guitars on "Almost Cut My Hair," "Helpless," "Woodstock," "Country Girl," and "Everybody I Love You"; keyboards, harmonica on "Country Girl"

Additional personnel:
♦ Dallas Taylor — drums; tambourine on "Teach Your Children"
♦ Greg Reeves — bass on "Almost Cut My Hair," "Helpless," "Woodstock," "Our House," "Country Girl," and   "Everybody I Love You"
♦ Jerry Garcia — pedal steel guitar on "Teach Your Children"
♦ John Sebastian — harmonica on "Déjà Vu

01. "Carry On"  Stephen Stills 4:26
02. "Teach Your Children" Graham Nash 2:53
03. "Almost Cut My Hair" David Crosby 4:31
04. "Helpless" Neil Young 3:33
05. "Woodstock" Joni Mitchell 3:54
06. "Déjà Vu" David Crosby 4:12
07. "Our House" Graham Nash 2:59
08. "4 + 20" Stephen Stills 2:04
09. "Country Girl (Whiskey Boot Hill/Down Down Down/"Country Girl" (I Think You're Pretty)" Neil Young  5:11
10. "Everybody I Love You" Stephen Stills, Neil Young 2:21

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Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young 1969

Article of the day

Tudor Lodge Article -  July 25th 1970  Melody Maker
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Not to be missed: Blue Cheer - Highlights and Low Lives (Superb Hardrock US 1990)

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Highlights and Lowlives is the eighth studio album by American rock band Blue Cheer, released in 1990 and produced by Jack Endino.

Being a child of the 60's I'm glad to see my favorite band is still alive and kicking. So it wass with great anticipation I ordered "Highlights and Lowlives" --After listening to it a few times I said to myself: " Yeap, that's my Blue Cheer alright". They're stll plugging away with that combination of Blues and Hard Rock that earned them the title of "The Fathers of Heavy Metal".

Album Foldout

As much as I love the music I still haven't figured out why the emphasis on the military shown on this release. Urban Soldiers - good song, but why? "The Flight of the Enola Gay" -- I doubt if Peterson was even born when the Enola Gay took off on "that fateful day". All I can figure is the album came out right about the time of the 50th Anniversary of the bombing. Hell of a topic for a tribute.
But, over all, if you like your Blues with that hard rock edge, get this CD --Blue Steel Dues is the best track of the bunch. Get it even if only for that one song.

Now I don't understand why this one is so underrated. Maybe that 90's style production is the reason why so many people call this one a dull album. But for me this one is a great album. The sound is a heavy blues rock sound and I like it a lot. The highlights for me include "Hunter of Love", "Big Trouble in Paradise", "Flight of the Enola Gay" and the amazing "Blue Steel Dues". The only thing I really have to complain about is that ridiculous album cover. It just blows.

Biography by Wikipedia:
Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues-rock style, and is also credited as being pioneers of heavy metal (their cover of "Summertime Blues" is sometimes cited as the first in the genre), punk rock, stoner rock, doom metal, experimental rock, and grunge. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom, "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia." Jim Morrison of The Doors called the group "The single most powerful band I've ever seen."

The band is said to have been named after a street brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley.

Golden years (1967–1969):
Blue Cheer came together in 1967. The formation of the band was organised by Dickie Peterson. Dickie Peterson lived in San Francisco where the sixties music scene was starting to hit the high note. Peterson had previously been with the Davis-based band Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle, as well as future Blue Cheer members Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Yoder. The original Blue Cheer personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and Eric Albronda as drummer. Albronda was later replaced by Paul Whaley, who was joined by Dickie's brother Jerre Peterson (guitar), Vale Hamanaka (keyboards), and Jere Whiting (vocals, harmonica). Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer as a member of Blue Cheer management, as well as being the producer or co-producer of five Blue Cheer albums.

Dickie Peterson 1990

The band was managed by an ex-member of the Hells Angels named Gut. Early on, it was decided that the lineup should be trimmed down. It was said that Blue Cheer decided to adopt a power trio configuration after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival, but was later proven to be false. Hamanaka and Whiting were asked to leave. Jerre Peterson didn't want to remain in the group without them, so he departed as well, leaving Dickie, Leigh and Paul as a trio. Their first hit was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (1968). The single peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, their only such hit, and the album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart. In Canada, the song peaked at #3 on the RPM Magazine charts.

The "Summertime Blues" single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original song "Out Of Focus". Peterson also contributed to the album the eight-minute "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around", which features Paul Whaley's frantic drum solo. Filling out the record, the band cranked out blues covers "Rock Me Baby" and Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" (titled "Parchment Farm").

The group underwent several personnel changes, the first occurring after the 1968 release of Outsideinside after Leigh Stephens left the band due to musical differences or, as some report, deafness. He was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half. On 1969's New! Improved! Blue Cheer there were different guitarists on side 1 and side 2 (Randy Holden and Bruce Stephens) due to Holden's unanticipated departure from the band. Following Holden's departure the band's lineup initially consisted of Dickie Peterson (bass), Tom Weisser (guitar), and Mitch Mitchell (drums), before Whaley returned and Stephens joined the band. Later, Ralph Burns Kellogg also joined the band on keyboards. Blue Cheer's style now changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. By the fourth album Blue Cheer Paul Whaley had left the band and had been replaced by Norman Mayell, and following the release of the fourth album Bruce Stephens also left the band and was succeeded by Gary Lee Yoder who helped complete the album.

According to Dickie Peterson the group's lifestyle during this period caused problems with the music industry and press. Peterson said the group was outraged by the Vietnam War and society in general.

Reconfigurations, inactivity and first extended hiatus (1970s):
The new line-up of Peterson, Kellogg, Mayell and Yoder in 1970 saw the release of The Original Human Being, followed by 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. When Oh! Pleasant Hope failed to dent the sales charts, Blue Cheer temporarily split up in 1972.

There was a temporary resumption in 1974 with Dickie Peterson being joined by brother Jerre, Ruben de Fuentes (guitar) and Terry Rae (drums) for some tour dates. This grouping continued on briefly in 1975 with former Steppenwolf bassist Nick St. Nicholas replacing Dickie. The group was then largely inactive for nearly three years, until 1978.

Dickie returned in 1978–79 with a fresh line-up of Tony Rainier on guitar and Mike Fleck on drums. This version of the group went out on an American tour in 1979, primarily playing nightclubs. They played only material from the first two "heavy" Blue Cheer albums, opening their shows with "Summertime Blues".

Further reconfigurations, relocation to Germany, second and third extended hiatus (1980s–1998):
Blue Cheer was once again inactive in the early 1980s. There was another attempt to reunite in 1983, but that fell through. In 1984, Peterson had better luck when he returned with Whaley and Rainier as Blue Cheer and a brand new album The Beast Is Back, which was released on the New York label Megaforce Records. Whaley left again in 1985 as drummer Brent Harknett took over, only to be succeeded by Billy Carmassi in 1987. That same year, Dickie led yet another new lineup of the Cheer that had Ruben de Fuentes back on guitar and Eric Davis on drums. In 1988, the line-up changed once again, being now composed of Dickie Peterson (bass), with Andrew "Duck" MacDonald (guitar) and Dave Salce (drums).

Blue Cheer 1967

From 1989 to 1993, Blue Cheer toured mainly in Europe. During this time, they played with classic rock acts as well as then-up-and-coming bands: Mountain, Outlaws, Thunder, The Groundhogs, Ten Years After, Mucky Pup, Biohazard and others.

1989 saw the release of Blue Cheer's first official live album, Blitzkrieg over Nüremberg. This album was recorded during Blue Cheer's first European tour in decades.

1990 saw the release of the Highlights and Lowlives studio album, composed of blues-based heavy metal and one ballad. The album was co-produced by notable grunge producer Jack Endino and producer Roland Hofmann. The line-up was Peterson, Whaley on drums and MacDonald on guitars.

Blue Cheer followed up "Highlights" with the much heavier Dining with the Sharks. Duck MacDonald was replaced by German ex-Monsters guitar player Dieter Saller in 1990. Also featured is a special guest appearance by Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. The album was co-produced by Roland Hofmann and Blue Cheer. Gary Holland (ex-Dokken/Great White/Britton) replaced Whaley on drums in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Peterson and Whaley re-located to Germany. In 1992 Peterson recorded his first solo album "child of the darkness" in Cologne with a band named "The Scrap Yard". The album appeared five years later in Japan on Captain Trip Records. After Peterson came back to the U.S. (1994), Blue Cheer was dormant from 1994 to 1999.

Blue Cheer 1969

The return of Blue Cheer (1999–2009):
In 1999, Peterson & Whaley got together with guitarist MacDonald, to resume touring as Blue Cheer. This band configuration remained largely constant from 1999 until Peterson's death in 2009.

In 2000, Blue Cheer was the subject of a tribute album, Blue Explosion – A Tribute to Blue Cheer, featuring such bands as Pentagram, Internal Void, Hogwash and Thumlock.

Peterson and Leigh Stephens were together once again in Blue Cheer with drummer Prairie Prince at the Chet Helms Memorial Tribal Stomp in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on October 29, 2005, and their lively performance drew old rockers like Paul Kantner and others from backstage to observe. They did some recordings in Virginia in Winter 2005 with Joe Hasselvander of Raven and Pentagram on drums, due to Paul Whaley choosing to remain in Germany. While Hasselvander played on the entire album, his contribution was reduced to drums on five songs, with Paul Whaley re-recording the drum parts on the balance of the album. This was because Whaley was set to rejoin the band and it was felt that he should contribute to the album, prior to touring. The resulting CD, What Doesn't Kill You..., released in 2007, features contributions from both Whaley and Hasselvander as a consequence.

Blue Cheer's video for Summertime Blues made an appearance in 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, where Geddy Lee of Rush referred to the group as one of the first heavy metal bands.

Death of Dickie Peterson and disbandment (2009):
On October 12, 2009, Peterson died in Germany after development and spread of prostate cancer. After Peterson's death, longtime Blue Cheer guitarist Andrew MacDonald wrote on the group's website that "Blue Cheer is done. Out of respect for Dickie, Blue Cheer (will) never become a viable touring band again."

Personnel for this album:
♦ Dickie Peterson - bass guitar, lead vocals
♦ Duck MacDonald - lead guitar, backing vocals
♦ Paul Whaley - drums

01. "Urban Soldiers" (Dickie Peterson) - 4:09
02. "Hunter of Love" (Duck MacDonald, Peterson) - 5:32
03. "Girl from London" (MacDonald, Peterson) - 5:40
04. "Blue Steel Dues" (MacDonald, Peterson) - 6:19
05. "Big Trouble in Paradise" (Peterson, Rainer) - 4:11
06. "Flight of the Enola Gay" (MacDonald, Peterson) - 3:49
07. "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" (Willie Dixon) - 5:56
08. "Down and Dirty" (MacDonald, Peterson) - 4:35

Japanese Bonus Track 
09. "Blues Cadillac" (Peterson) - 3:49

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