Summertime Blues

Eddie Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart wrote Summertime Blues, and Cochran's version was released as a single B-side in August 1958. Blue Cheer recorded it in 1967 and released it on Vincebus Eruptum in 1968. Peterson said they kept changing it around, adding and taking away bits. The single, backed with Out of Focus, reached number 14 on the Hot 100 and topped the Dutch chart for a week. Pitchfork wrote that Cochran's version "actually sounded like summer".

The band appeared on American Bandstand and performed it on Steve Allen's show, where Allen introduced them with "Blue Cheer, run for your lives." Its video appears in the 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. Rush recorded the song for the 2004 EP Feedback, combining the Who's version and Blue Cheer's. Eric Clapton told Uncut that Blue Cheer were probably the originators of heavy metal.