Oh! Pleasant Hope is the sixth, and last, album by Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...

 until 1983's The Beast Is Back

The Beast Is Back

The Beast is Back is the seventh album by a newly reformed Blue Cheer, 13 years after their previous album, Oh! Pleasant Hope . It contains re-recorded versions of some of the band's most popular songs from their late-60s heyday as well as new material. The album features founding members Dickie...

. This album features less psychedelia

Psychedelic

The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...

 and includes more blues-rock

Blues-rock

Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...

, hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, with some country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

 leanings on some songs. This is an unusual Blue Cheer album in that Dickie Peterson only sings lead on three songs. Another unusual aspect is that the song "I'm the Light" features extensive use of the sitar

Sitar

The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...

 and synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

, although on the previous album The Original Human Being

The Original Human Being

The Original Human Being is Blue Cheer's fifth album. It was released in 1970 and shows Blue Cheer exploring a more psychedelic and laid‑back rock 'n' roll with horn sections on a few of the songs. This album features a very unusual, and different, song for Blue Cheer: "Babaji ", which...

the song "Babaji (Twilight Raga)" also featured extensive use of the aforementioned instruments.

Track listing

1. "Hiway Man" (Grelecki, Mayell, Yoder) – 4:22
2. "Believer" (Grelecki, Yoder) – 3:41
3. "Money Troubles" (Peddicord) – 4:02
4. "Traveling Man" (Grelecki, Yoder) – 3:10
5. "Oh! Pleasant Hope" (Peddicord) – 2:39
6. "I'm the Light" (Houseman, Mayell) – 5:39
7. "Ecological Blues" (Mayell) – 2:26
8. "Lester the Arrester" (Kellogg) – 3:02
9. "Heart Full of Soul" – 4:37

Personnel

• Dickie Peterson – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , lead vocals
  Lead vocalist
  The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
  
   on tracks 7–9
• Norman Mayell – guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  , sitar
  Sitar
  The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
  
  , drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s
• Gary Yoder
  Gary Lee Yoder
  Gary Lee Yoder is a musician who was part of several 1960s San Francisco psychedelic rock bands, including Kak, Oxford Circle, and Blue Cheer.Oxford Circle and Kak were both formed in Yoder's hometown of Davis, California, and featured the same nucleus of members...
  
   – acoustic and electric guitars, harp
  Harp
  The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
  
  , lead vocals on tracks 1–6
• Ralph Burns Kellogg
  Ethan James (producer)
  Ethan James was a musician, record producer, and recording engineer best known for his work on the Minutemen's seminal album Double Nickels on the Dime. He also produced and engineered albums for such acts as Black Flag, The Bangles, Rain Parade, Dos, and many others...
  
   – organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , bass