My friend Ruben Chandler from that great land out west has been around this blog about as long as it has existed, I've enjoyed chatting with him over the years on a variety of topics......he's a WAY cool guy, who has had a LOT of interesting life experiences, and is always a great guy to just shoot the shit with......anyway, after I recently re-upped the Blue Cheer stuff, Ruben sent along an interview he did a while back with Eric Albronda, with whom I am NOT familiar, but according to Ruben was an early member of Blue Cheer.......you know damn well that ANYTHING goes here, in particular stuff that is interesting to ME......thus you get this non-musical post to stimulate the literary section of your mind......and, if this isn't your kinda thing, you can always move on to the next post, right? I've just always found Ruben to be a skilled wordsmith, and an interview with an early Blue Cheer member? Certainly sounds interesting to ME, and THAT is what counts, boyo!http://fivegunswest.blogspot.com/2012/07/blue-cheer-eric-albronda-interview.html?q=blue+cheer
WOW...........I was stunned to find this post in my blog roll. Thanks for the great praise, Scott, you are an awesome friend and associate. Eric Albronda was the original drummer for Blue Cheer prior to the God-like Paul Whaley assuming the throne. Eric said there were Paul Whaley groupies......boy wanna be drummers...........following him everywhere. I say he is, if not the greatest, one of greatest drummers of all time. Check the Outside/Inside for reference
ReplyDeleteWiki says this of Eric Albronda.....
Eric Albronda (born November 18, 1945) is a co-founder of the band Blue Cheer. Along with Jerry Russell, Albronda initially organized the San Francisco-based band in 1966 and provided financing. Albronda was also the first drummer for the band, prior to being replaced by Paul Whaley. He then was involved in Blue Cheer's management and produced or co-produced five of the band's albums.[1] He also co-produced (with Leigh Stephens) Red Weather, the first solo album by former Blue Cheer guitarist Leigh Stephens, as well as the eponymous sole album by one of Stephens' post Blue Cheer bands, Pilot.[2]
Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer in later years, and was instrumental in the creation and maintenance of the band's official website.[3]
Produced soon to be released Blue Cheer 7, originally recorded in 1978.
The album Pilot had as the principal player rather Bruce Stephens, often confused with Leigh Stephens. Leigh Stephens did make a guest appearance on the album. Pilot was the name of the album, not a group as is often stated. Eric Albronda co-produced the Pilot album with Bruce Stephens at Trident Studios in London. The recordings were done in 1971 and released on RCA Records. The song "Fillmore Shuffle" was covered by Sammy Hagar. A song about the perils of substance abuse. Bruce Stephens born Apr 30 1946, died May 16, 2012, in Hawaii from brain cancer.
All the wiki-links to Eric are down so even his e-mail addie is no longer extant. I don't know if this is a case of the old joke, "What do you call a girl who's lost his girlfriend? Homeless!" or not.
Thanks for the kind words. I'll have to dig around in my files for a treat for you.......
How 'bout a copy of Julian Cope's book, "Repossessed", as a way to while away some time? It's out of print and hence, sadly unavailable. Used copies can go for quite a bit. As they say in Paris...and in some local in evirons of Yemen, Iraq and Syria, "Enjoie".
ReplyDeletehttp://www67.zippyshare.com/v/gVQvtDQ3/file.html