Dickie Peterson

Richard Allan Peterson (September 12, 1946 – October 12, 2009)R.I.P. Richard ‘Dickie’ Peterson (Blue Cheer) (1948 – 2009)
; www.inlog.org. known as Dickie Peterson was an American musician, best known as the bassist, lead singer and only constant member of Blue Cheer. He also recorded two solo albums: ''Child of the Darkness'' and ''Tramp''.

Biography

Born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Peterson played bass from the age of thirteen onward, and knew at the age of eight that he wanted to become a professional musician. He came from a musical family: his father played trombone, his mother played piano and his brother, Jerre Peterson, initially played flute. Drums were Peterson's first instrument.

Peterson spent much of his youth in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, the twin city to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he was born. He attended Grand Forks Central High School from grade 10 through grade 12. His parents died when he was young, resulting in his living with his aunt and uncle on a farm in North Dakota, for part of his youth.Chuck Haga, "Final cheer for a Blue Cheer". ''Grand Forks Herald'', October 22, 2009; www.grandforksherald.com.

Peterson cited Otis Redding as a significant influence. He credited his brother, the late Jerre Peterson, as being his lifelong musical influence.Interview with Dickie Peterson
by Ken Schneider, 2005; www.stonerock.com. Jerre was one of the lead guitarists in the initial lineup of Blue Cheer (the other being Leigh Stephens) and played with various formations of the band in later years.

Peterson spent much of the past two decades preceding his death based in Germany, playing with Blue Cheer and other groups on occasion. In 1998 and 1999, he played various dates in Germany with the Hank Davison Band and as an acoustic duo with Hank Davison under the name "Dos Hombres." He appeared on the album, ''Hank Davison and Friends - Real Live''. In 2001 and 2002, Peterson played, principally in Germany, with Mother Ocean, a group he formed that included former Blue Cheer guitarist Tony Rainier, as well as brother Jerre Peterson.

Throughout his life, Peterson's relationship to music had been all-consuming. Peterson provided the following self-description: "I've been married twice, I’ve had numerous girlfriends, and they’ll all tell you that if I’m not playing music I am an animal to live with. … Music is a place where I get to deal with a lot of my emotion and displaced energy. I always only wanted to play music, and that’s all I still want to do."

In his early life, Peterson was a user of various drugs and was a heroin addict for a number of years. In 2007, Peterson said he believed LSD and other similar drugs can have positive effects, but that he and other members of Blue Cheer "took it over the top."Dickie Peterson dies at 63; bassist and lead singer for the power trio Blue Cheer
Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2009. He had ceased much of his drug use by the mid-1970s, and stopped drinking 10 years before his death.

Blue Cheer has been considered a pioneering band in many genres. Peterson did not consider that the band belonged to any particular genre: "People keep trying to say that we’re heavy metal or grunge or punk, or we’re this or that. The reality is, we’re just a power trio, and we play ultra blues, and it’s rock ‘n roll. It’s really simple what we do."

On October 12, 2009, Peterson died in Erkelenz, Germany, at the age of 63 from liver cancer, after prostate cancer spread throughout his body.William Grimes
Dickie Peterson, Singer for Rock Band Blue Cheer, Dies at 63
Obituary, ''The New York Times'', October 13, 2009. He was survived by his second wife, his former wife, a daughter from his first marriage, and a six-year-old grandson.Comments of Marilyn (Peterson) Stephens
, first wife of Dickie Peterson, October 13, 2009. Tribute blog to Dickie Peterson; www.inlog.org. Peterson's first wife asserts that his year of birth was 1946, rather than 1948.Blue Cheer's Dickie Peterson Remembered
www.roadrunnerrecords.com.

Peterson was cremated and his ashes given to his daughter, Corrina. Peterson wished his ashes to be spread in the Rhine River in Germany and in the Redwoods of Northern California, at a site to be determined by his daughter.Comments of Blue Cheer co-founder, producer and former manager Eric Albronda, October 28, 2009 a
Blue Cheer Message Board
(Thread: "Death of Dickie"); www.bluecheer.proboards.com.

Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush, said in tribute to Peterson:

Discography

* 1998: ''Child of the Darkness'' Captain Trip Records; released only in Japan
* 1999: ''Tramp'' Captain Trip Records; released only in Japan

References

External links

Dickie Peterson Video Interview with Serene Dominic

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Dickie
1946 births
2009 deaths
20th-century American bass guitarists
20th-century American singers
American rock bass guitarists
American rock singers
Blue Cheer members
Deaths from cancer in Germany
Deaths from liver cancer
Singers from North Dakota
People from Grand Forks, North Dakota
Guitarists from North Dakota
American male bass guitarists
20th-century American male singers