Biography
Rock guitarist Leigh Stephens co-founded the San Francisco hard rock power trio Blue Cheer with bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley. Philips Records signed the band, which issued its first album, Vincebus Eruptum, in January 1968. The record climbed to number 11 on the Billboard chart, buoyed by a Top 20 cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues.” Its August 1968 successor, Outsideinside, fared more modestly, stalling inside the Top 100. Late that year Stephens—who later characterized himself as Blue Cheer’s sole member untouched by chemical indulgence—found himself ousted after objecting to his colleagues’ conduct. He secured a solo contract with Philips and relocated to Great Britain to cut Red Weather, which appeared in February 1969. Back in San Francisco he assembled Silver Metre, enlisting singer and bassist Jack Reynolds, keyboardist Pete Sears, and drummer Mick Waller. National General Records released the group’s lone self-titled album, notable for three Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions, among them the previously unissued “Country Comforts” and “Now They’ve Found Me,” also known as “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun.” Silver Metre disbanded in November 1970. Stephens next delivered a second solo effort, Cast of Thousands, for Britain’s Charisma label in 1971. He then launched Pilot, featuring Mick Waller, guitarist Bruce Stephens (a former Blue Cheer replacement), bassist Neville Whitehead, and Martin Quittenton. RCA Victor issued the band’s self-titled debut in 1972 before Stephens departed. His subsequent project, Foxtrot, included keyboardist George Michalski, bassist/vocalist Gary Richwine, and drummer David Beebe; the quartet recorded an album for Motown Records in 1974 that remained unreleased. Further unfinished ventures occupied Stephens through the remainder of the seventies and into the eighties, yet his next official release arrived only in 1998 as a member of Chronic with a “K,” alongside singer/keyboardist Melissa Olsen, bassist Ron Stone, and drummer Ryan Goodpastor, on the ChroniCorp album Ride the Thunder. In 2004 he independently issued his third solo collection, High Strung/Low Key.
Albums
