Watching TV with Dickie Peterson
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Here's an article on Blue Cheer I was working on much of last year which has finally been published. It’s another dry run for a book I've been trying to bash out which deals with some of San Francisco's lesser known acid rock bands (all publishers and/or agents are welcome).The highlight of writing this piece came when I found myself watching TV with BC mainstay Dickie Peterson in his apartment. He had just played me the band's new CD and asked if I wanted to see a short documentary on the group a Dutch television show had made the previous year. “Hell yes,” I said and he slid in the DVD they had sent him. Part of the half hour segment contains the black and white clip of the group performing "Summertime Blues" on Germany’s famous Beat Club in 1968. Most BC fans have seen this already since it’s the only real footage of the band in their notorious early days. This was my first exposure as well; MTV had a retro show in the late 80’s called Closet Classics which ran it quite a bit and I couldn’t get enough. Never had I been both repelled and compelled by a single performance: amazingly raw, aggressive, lots of hair and some of the best drumming I’ve (still) ever seen …all this and they were miming it. So there I was watching the same clip I’d seen hundreds of times…except now it was with the guy who was on TV signing the damn song. It was too much for my little brain to take; I turned to him and half-jokingly exclaimed: “Hey, that’s YOU!” “Yep,” Said Peterson perhaps a little less excited but grinning nonetheless. Life doesn’t get much more interesting than that. For me, at least. Anyway, here’s the article for those interested.
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