''New! Improved!'' is the third album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

group

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

. Released in March 1969 by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

, it is their first without original guitarist Leigh Stephens. The album features songs recorded by two different group lineups: in addition to bassist and vocalist

Dickie Peterson Richard Allan Peterson (September 12, 1946 – October 12, 2009)Paul Whaley Paul Gene Whaley (January 14, 1947 – January 28, 2019) was an American drummer best known as the drummer for rock band Blue Cheer. He was the son of country music singer Paul Edward Whaley. He grew up in the towns of Vallejo and Winters, Califo ...

, side one includes Bruce Stephens (no relation to Leigh) on guitar and Burns Kellogg on keyboards; while side two includes

Randy Holden Randy Holden (born July 2, 1945) is an American guitarist best known for his membership of the West Coast acid rock group Blue Cheer and performance on their third album, '' New! Improved!'' (1969). His solo album ''Population II'' (1970) is co ...

on guitar and vocals. The two lineups contribute very different material. With Holden, the approach is closer to the previous psychedelic hard rock of Blue Cheer albums; with Kellogg and Peterson, they explore more understated

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

and

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

styles. Also, unlike their earlier albums, Peterson plays a smaller role. Holden wrote and sings the songs on side two, while Kellogg and Stephens contribute most of the material on side one. ''New! Improved!'' was slightly more successful than the group's previous album, '' Outsideinside'', and reached number 84 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. One single "West Coast Child of Sunshine", backed with "When It All Gets Old", was released, but did not reach the charts. The album has been reissued several times and a 1994 release by

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a record label from Hamburg, Germany (with UK subsidiaries in Leatherhead, Surrey and London), specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. It was founded in 1982 by Ki ...

includes two songs first released in 1969 on a non-album single. The Holden compositions "Peace of Mind" and "Fruit & Icebergs" appear on several Blue Cheer compilations, such as ''Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer'' (1986) and ''The History of Blue CheerGood Times Are So Hard to Find'' (1988).

Critical reception

In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Mark Deming gave the album three and a half out of five stars. He emphasizes the two very different musical styles: terms such as "rootsy", "country rock", and "percussive boogie" are used to describe the songs with Kellogg and Stephens, while Holden's "contributions feel a lot more like the group's formative work ndsuggest an evolution from the towering proto-metal of '' Vincebus Eruptum'' and ''Outsideinside''".

Track listing

Album details taken from the original Philips album liner notes and may differ from other sources.

Personnel

Side One *

Dickie Peterson Richard Allan Peterson (September 12, 1946 – October 12, 2009)vibraslap The vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire (bent into a U-shape) connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood with metal "teeth" inside. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes the ba ...

, vocals *

Paul Whaley Paul Gene Whaley (January 14, 1947 – January 28, 2019) was an American drummer best known as the drummer for rock band Blue Cheer. He was the son of country music singer Paul Edward Whaley. He grew up in the towns of Vallejo and Winters, Califo ...

drums, percussion *Bruce Stephensguitar, tortoise shell, woodblocks * Burns Kelloggpiano, organ *Gene Estes"percussion stuff" Side Two *

guitar, vocals *Dickie Petersonbass *Paul Whaleydrums Production *Milan Melvinproducer *Hank Cicaloengineer, mixing * Greg Ironscover art and lettering

References

{{Authority control Blue Cheer albums 1969 albums Philips Records albums