Falling somewhere between a bad acid trip and a three week bender, Vincebus Eruptum (1968) came out of left-field during the high-freak period in San Francisco. Hippies had been pronounced dead in ‘67 and all the cheer was starting to creep out of the Bay, and it was Blue Cheer who gave the fall of the free-love generation a deep and macabre soundtrack. Not only did they turn Eddie Cochran’s classic “Summertime Blues” into a bubbling, fuzzbomb nightmare, but they conjure a strange and wily mix of swamp-funk, super-psych, and free jazz over the course of just six songs. Righteous and unforgivingly real, Vincebus Eruptum is one of the premiere artifacts of the birth of heavy metal - necessary listening.
Listen to “Summertime Blues” and “Parchment Farm”
Download “Vincebus Eruptum”
