Band History & Discography

Updated October 2, 2006

BLUE CHEER 1966-1968

1967 DEMO
In late 1967, Blue Cheer did their first recording, a 3-song demo tape financed by the girlfriend of their biker manager, Gut. It got local airplay in San Francisco and started them off.
A NOTE FROM THE WEBMASTER to original Blue Cheer manager and '60s icon Allen "Gut" Turk, wherever you are, can be read here.


Vincebus Eruptum (1/68) Phillips SBL7839   
Single: Summertime Blues / Out of Focus (Phillips 2/68)

Summertime Blues / Rock Me Baby / Doctor Please / Out of Focus / Parchment Farm / Second Time Around

Recorded in N. Hollywood, CA, Blue Cheer's first album created a perpetual high water mark for frantic, high volume acid rock. Leigh's work on this is the most brutal thing you'll ever hear; psychedelic heaviness distilled to its raw, primordial ooze. Glorious.

Re-released on CD, Mercury/PolyGram # 314 514 685-2


Outsideinside (8/68) Phillips
Singles:
 Just a Little Bit / Gypsy Ball (Phillips)
Feathers From Your Tree / Sun Cycle (Phillips)
The Hunter / Come And Get It (Phillips)

Feathers From Your Tree / Sun Cycle / Just a Little Bit / Gypsy Ball / Come and Get It / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / The Hunter / Magnolia Caboose Babyfinger

Recorded outdoors and in studios in California and New York City. Mellower and more textural in spots with more great guitar work for the fuzzbox connoisseur.

Re-released on CD, Mercury/PolyGram # 314 514 683-2

TRACK RECORDS has recently issued a CD consisting of the first 2 Blue Cheer LPs featuring liner notes by Eric Albronda. 

This was the first incarnation of Blue Cheer, consisting of Leigh Stephens (Guitar); Dickie Peterson (Bass, Vocals); and Paul Whaley (Drums). Leigh left Blue Cheer in late 1968.

Other Leigh Stephens-era Blue Cheer stuff floating around:

Live & Unreleased (Captain Trip CTCD-023) 1996
Live & Unreleased Vol. 2 (Captain Trip CTCD-026) 1997
Captain Trip Records is a small Japanese label; these are recent issues. The first features the appearance in 1968 of Blue Cheer on the Steve Allen show (the songs only: Summertime Blues / Out of Focus), a live Doctor Please, and some later, post-Leigh demos. The second is a live recording from 1968 at the San Jose Civic Center (extremely poor sound quality) and more rough demos.


Bootlegs:
1968, The Matrix: Summertime Blues / Doctor Please (second overdubbed guitar at the end - the heaviest f@#%ing thing I've ever heard) Fair sound, blistering fuzz, decent mix. Are these the Phillips label demos??
1968 FM Broadcast, 60 mins. (Quality unknown; haven't gotten a hold of this yet!)
Complete Steve Allen Show with interviews (Great! Now who has the VIDEO portion??) This is so priceless I'm planning to transcribe it for the site... rumor has it the tapes of all the Steve Allen Shows were destroyed...
SHRINE AUDITORIUM, 1968 Second Time Around / Instrumental / Summertime Blues / Parchment Farm / Rock Me Baby / Satisfaction / Out of Focus / Doctor Please. This seems to be the same concert as on the second Captain Trips release; sound quality is quite poor. In one spot, some confused audience member near the recorder shouts to a friend "He's got a vibrato tailpiece on his bass!" (Man, what I'd give for a clear soundboard of a '68 show!!)
Video clip (no audio) of a lip-synched BC appearance: part of one song, very flowery psychedelic backdrop, Leigh plays a brown or sunburst Strat. The guys are cutting up through the whole thing, not taking it seriously at all.
Video outtakes of a BC performance of "Feathers From Your Tree" on a TV show. Two live takes, Leigh plays a red Strat. The band is very subdued; nobody's moving or smiling.

**NOTE: Please don't ask me where I get this stuff and if it's for sale. I get this stuff because I do this site and because certain people know I have way too much respect for Leigh and Blue Cheer to violate that trust. It is all listed here for information purposes only. Thanks for understanding. ~Webmaster Scott**

Vincebus Eruptum? Caveat Emptor! There are "BOOTLEGS" floating around with repackaged, previously released album tracks on them from Leigh's LPs listed as "rare demos". Geeeez... haven't these guys been ripped off enough?!

WANTED: ANY audio or video of LEIGH STEPHENS-era BLUE CHEER!
Anyone with any of this stuff or anything I don't know about, contact me; I want it all. 

ASPEN
Rumored but nonexistent post-BC Leigh project. See interview.

MOCK DUCK
Rumored project involving Leigh Stephens; some band from Vancouver.
As recently as March, 2004 there was a CD for sale on Ebay of "Mock Duck demos" whose main selling point was the supposed involvement of "Leigh Stevens of Blue Cheer." To set the record straight, here are Leigh STEPHENS' own words:

I got an e-mail about this from someone else. I never played in Vancouver, Canada with anyone or jammed with anyone for that matter.
So officially for the record, you were not in a band called... uhhh... MOCK DUCK? Or "Pseudo Fowl" or quasi-marine birds of any description?
No avian affiliation whatsoever.

There you have it, folks... can we stop selling this stuff now? Thanks.

SOLO ALBUM 1969


Red Weather (2/69) Phillips SBL7897 
Single: Red Weather / Saki Zwadoo (Phillips 40628, 1969, promo only)

Leigh Stephens, guitar, bass, vocals, percussion; Kevin Westlake, drums, vocals on 1 song; Eric Albronda, vocals on 1 song; Ian Stewart, keyboards; Mick Waller, drums; Nicky Hopkins, piano.

Fantastic psychedelia from early in Leigh's stay in England, featuring some great and legendary British talent. Recorded in London, produced by Leigh, and all the material was written by Leigh. (Three are co-writes). Can be found on CD if you seek, and well worth the search.

When asked if the "import" Italian $45.00 Akarma versions of "Red Weather" and "Cast of Thousands" on CD were legitimate or bootlegged, Leigh responded that he did give permission, but doubted he'd see anything from it. I'd be happy to post a quote on this site from any label representative assuring Leigh's fans who'd like to purchase the CDs that some of this exorbitant price goes to the artist who created the work in the first place. 
Avete i testicoli da rispondere, Akarma?

I asked Leigh about "Saki Zwadoo", the odd B-side of the Red Weather single.
"Sake Zwadoo was taken from a play on words. I was in England and joking around with
Ronnie Wood. the pronunciation of the word Zabaglione, came up, don't ask why and
after moments of silly interpretations Ronnie threw out Sake Zwadoo for some unknown
reason and I liked it so I used it. Anyway the vocalist is Gary Yoder From the Oxford
Circle. It was recorded in L.A and produced by Milan Melvin. There are some heavywieght
musicians on that track. Some of the guys that played on the Righteous Bros. tracks."

SILVER METRE 1969-November 1970


Silver Metre ( National General NG-2000, 1970)
Singles: Superstar / Now They've Found Me (1970)
              Now They've Found Me / Compromising Situation (1970)

Featured Jack Reynolds (Vocals), Leigh on guitar, Pete Sears (Bass, keys) and Mick Waller (drums).

Ballad of a Well Known Gun / Naughty Lady / Gangbang / Country Comforts / Superstar / Sixty Years On / Compromising Situation / Cocklewood Monster / Nightflight / Dog End

Heavy rock, includes three Elton John / Bernie Taupin tunes, of all things. (Country Comfort, Now They've Found Me, and Sixty Years On).

Album Outtakes:
Train Kept a-Rollin' (This is rough and balls-out)
Just Give Me Some Time (Up-tempo boogie-rock) Sports a classic line, something along the lines of "The undertaker's name was Fax-a-cate-oh /He had a face like a baked po-ta-to".  

Bootlegs: There is one! 
Live @ the Fillmore West 7-10-70
Circulated on cassette

Playing that, on a technical level, is light years ahead of the Blue Cheer stuff. Opens with the extended, solo-filled boogie-rock "Naughty Lady", into "Ballad Of a Well Known Gun" and another LP track, "Country Comforts". The crowd response is noticeably lukewarm. The up-tempo Compromising Situation and its long solo shows Leigh to be one of the handful of distinct players of the era. His use of Major licks sprinkled in Minor key situations is distinctive and he pulls it off with raw energy and reckless abandon. The drum solo is a bit lacking for a drummer of Waller's caliber, but leads into a rough, wild version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash". The best thing about this, despite the low sound quality, is that Leigh's guitar is the hottest thing in the mix, and not lost in a bassy Armageddon-esque sludge like on BC bootlegs. Acid blues/rock follows with "Need Your Love So Bad" and the extended blues solos. The bombastic Uriah Heep-meets-Hendrix slow rocking "Sixty Years On" closes the set.

SOLO ALBUM 1971

And a Cast Of Thousands (Phillips/Charisma CAS1040)

Literally... too many players to list! At least until some future update...

The World Famous Soul Transplant / Medicine Man / Simple Song / Handful of Friends / Oh Lord / Jumping Jack Flash / Sweet Love of Mine / Chunk of Funk

Leigh lets his blues roots show through, but in the bizarre context of show-tune-style female vocals and horns. The riffs are great and there are plenty of signature guitar moments... odd timed chord changes, sonic buffets of tone... with a rough, Stonesy "Sticky Fingers" texture underneath it all. It's just, well, kind of odd. Standout tracks include the bluesy "Simple Song", Zep-meets-Stones "Oh Lord", and the closing track "Chunk of Funk", a joyous jam with chicks singing over and over "Break me off a chunk of funk / Break me off a chunk of funk..." Folks with ADD will appreciate this album more, perhaps; it's chock full of  jarring segues and busy layering. It grows on you, though, mostly for the guitar work, which is really solid. 

PILOT (1972-73)

Pilot
Point of View (2nd LP; Leigh reports he didn't play on this one. In fact, consensus is that it never was officially released, just the initial promo copies.)

An interesting lineup consisting of Mick Waller (Drums, ex-Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart); Bruce Stephens (of no relation to Leigh but did replace him in Blue Cheer for a while, Guitar); Jazz bassist Neville Whitehead; and Martin Quittenton (studio musician, co-writer of Rod Stewart hits "Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well", I believe he played keyboards).

Stop and Think / Miss Sandy / Rendezvous / Fillmore Shuffle / Love is The Way / Penny Alone / With Me Tonight / Rider

The Pilot LP is good '70s boogie-rock with moments of acoustic and pedal steel guitars, and soulful balladry with wailing sax. The playing is tasteful, bluesy and melodic; gravelly vocals mixed well with soulful backing vocals and great piano work. 

FOXTROT  (1974)

Studio tracks (Bootleg)
Circulated on cassette

Signed to Motown, made an album produced by Ken Mansfield, but it got shelved. 

Leigh: "The foxtrot stuff is from an album we recorded on Motown. Yes Motown. We were the
only white people on the label with the exception of Noel Redding. We recorded Happiness as a
single and they never released any of it. I thought it was pretty good stuff. George Michalski was
the keyboard player (musical director for the old Nash Bridges series) Gary Richwine, bass
and vocals, and David Beebe, drums."


In circulation is a bootleg of 4 tracks: Got Me Now / Lover / Happiness is Where You Find It / Everything is Fine. Piano-driven rock, really good stuff.

Also heard one "live" track, Rescue Me, where despite the audience sounding more canned than Albacore tuna, you can hear the powerful soul of this band... of course anyone with info on who
has the album tapes feel free to contact the Webmaster.

Tere Mansfield demos, (1975?)
Circulated on cassette

Leigh: "...from a band Ken Mansfield (produced Foxtrot and Waylon Jennings) put together to showcase his wife Tere. I thought we had a hit with "Baby It's You". That project had Graig Kramps on drums, (Nick Gilder, and the girl who sang Betty Davis Eyes [Kim Carnes?]), Randy Rice on bass, and myself."

Song Titles: Now You're Free / Baby It's You / X-Rated And Tall / I Say Yes / Come On Over / Can't Find Love / Funky But Chic / Crossfire / Rock 'N' Roll Me / My Square Mile

If you can imagine material with a definite '50s rock vibe, pour on sheets of reverby wailing guitar stuff, and top it off with some ahhh... kinda quirky female vocals, you're in the ballpark. Worth seeking out for the guitar playing alone... and you can take that however you want. ~Scott

Demos (1977?)

Dramatic, piano-driven rock with some prog rock moments & keyboard textures.

Song Titles: A Sailor's Tale / Heartbreakin' Woman / Goodtimes / The Ballad of Superboy / Rock And Roll Blackout / Steppin' Off The Track

Heavy guitar, keyboard driven rock with a "prog rock" edge to it.

Leigh: "This was just a demo with Wayne Hunt, Billy Carroll, Randy Rice and myself.
it got us the deal with Ken Scott. The only real recording to come out of that was the
"Falling in Love Again" and "Juene Fille Blue". The stuff  you want to hear is Enterprise
with Randy Rice David Beebe George Michalski and Nicki Osterveem and myself..."

 

Song Demos (1978)

Studio demo (Bootleg)
Circulated on cassette

Song titles: Falling In Love Again / Jeune Felle Blue 

"Falling In Love Again" would reappear on the Chronic With a K CD 20 years later. There would have been hits off an album of this caliber. Great songs.

Leigh: "We had an incredible singer songwriter, Wayne Hunt, Danny Coward on Drums and Randy Rice on Bass." (see interview.) "Falling In Love Again is Wayne Hunt, the Jeune song is his. These were done for a company that Ken Scott had (the engineer producer for Elton John and Supertramp). Never released."

ENTERPRISE (1980s)

Leigh: "In the eighties I was involved with a band called Enterprise with George Michalski, the music director for the Nash Bridges show. It was a killer band. But we had too many managers and they fought until there was nothing left. Really a shame."  "Randy Rice, David Beebe, George Michalski, and Nicki Osterveem and myself. This was the good shit. If you ever hear of it let me know."

OK, Teeming Millions - the challenge is issued. Who has the Enterprise recordings? Where are they? Contact the webmaster with any info, and know I really appreciate it!
 

The '80s: THERE SIMPLY HAS TO BE STUFF IN HERE I'M MISSING (for the moment...)

CHRONIC WITH A "K" (1998)


Ride The Thunder (ChroniCorp RRT001)

Leigh Stephens (Guitars); Melissa Olsen (Vocals, Keyboards); Ron Stone (Bass); Ryan Goodpastor (Drums).

Female-fronted pop/rock, Leigh fleshes out the tracks with various tones & textures. Fairly tame by comparison but strong material and some really good music here. Leigh textures it nicely with a variety of rocking and clean tones from his Strat.



Also appearing with CHRONIC WITH A "K" on
A FOURTH WAVE OF BAY AREA BLUES Compilation CD (Taxim Records)
Performing an unreleased version of "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place"

The Chronic With a K releases are currently available.
 

EVA CAPERON (1999)
3-song Demo recording

Eva Caperon (vocals); Leigh Stephens (guitars); Joe Murazzo (drums); Ron Stone (bass); Kelly Stephens (keyboards, no relation to Leigh, or the Kelly Stephens of later Blue Cheer).

This kicks ass. Eva belts out her sort of country / rock / pop tunes, starting all dainty and delicate-like, and then in come Leigh's roaring guitar textures. Leigh had a big hand (2 big hands, actually) in the music, and despite his willingness to just play a supporting role, they mixed his guitars WAY out front, packing this with pure power. Everyone on this delivers from the core, and Leigh's playing is fantastic. Again, realize this is probably as far from Blue Cheer as one can get... (I'd give my left one to hear them belt out "Rock Me Baby", though)... but it's quality, and the most guitar-oriented thing Leigh has done (that I know of, yet) in years.

As far as I know, she is working on the rest of the CD for release in the future. 

 SOLO ALBUM 2004


High Strung / Low Key (Self released)  Available

Leigh Stephens (Guitars, keys, programming); Eva Marie Caperon (guest vocals)

Theme From The Magnificent Seven / Rock Me Baby / Knock On Wood / Prelude In E - Into The Mystic / Rosarito Road Trip / Baby It's You / You Can't Handle The Truth / Tell Me Something Good / Dreamland / At Last

Leigh's modern guitar voice is a bluesy wash of reverb and tremolo waves that was over you like so much warm water. I would be surprised if a Leigh solo album wasn't completely eclectic, and this one definitely fits the bill. Highlights for me include Theme From The Magnificent Seven, the angry techno-floydian outburst You Can't Handle The Truth, the stunningly beautiful cover of Van Morrison's Into The Mystic, and hearing the lovely Eva Caperon belt out Rock Me Baby. For years on this site I said I'd give my left nut to hear them do that, and they did. So I put it in a box & sent it to her. Ok, ok, it was a walnut...

MORE TO COME AS I'M STILL DIGGING....

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