New! Improved!
The first album without Leigh Stephens, split between two line-ups.
Blue Cheer, 1969
- Released
- March 1969
- Label
- Philips
- Producer
- Milan Melvin
Philips released New! Improved! in March 1969. Side one has Peterson, Whaley, guitarist Bruce Stephens and keyboardist Burns Kellogg, with Kellogg and Stephens contributing most of the material. Side two has Randy Holden on guitar and vocals, and he wrote and sang those songs. The album reached number 84 on the Billboard 200, a little higher than Outsideinside. The single West Coast Child of Sunshine, backed with When It All Gets Old, did not chart.
AllMusic's Mark Deming gave it three and a half stars out of five and wrote that Holden's songs suggest an evolution from the proto-metal of the first two albums. Neil Peart called it a major departure, not as loud.
Track listing
- When It All Gets Old2:51
- West Coast Child of Sunshine2:35
- I Want My Baby Back3:12
- Aces 'n' Eights2:43
- As Long as I Live2:18
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry3:13
- Peace of Mind7:17
- Fruit & Icebergs6:05
- Honey Butter Lover1:21
Personnel
- Dickie Peterson bass, 12-string guitar, vibraslap, vocals
- Paul Whaley drums, percussion
- Bruce Stephens guitar, tortoise shell, woodblocks (side one)
- Burns Kellogg piano, organ (side one)
- Randy Holden guitar, vocals (side two)
- Milan Melvin producer
- Hank Cicalo engineer, mixing
More from Blue Cheer
Vincebus Eruptum (1968), Outsideinside (1968), The Original Human Being (1970)
Sources
- New! Improved!, Wikipedia
- Louder Than God: Rush's Neil Peart Remembers Blue Cheer's Dickie Peterson, Rolling Stone (2009-10)