Paul Whaley (1947-2019)

Paul Whaley (1947-2019)

Paul Gene Whaley 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, California. He played drums with a Davis, California band called the Oxford Circle. Whaley is credited on the Oxford Circle album Live at the Avalon 1966. When he left the Oxford Circle to join Blue Cheer in 1967, the former band dissolved. He was the longest-standing member in Blue Cheer following Peterson's death at age 63.

Achievements:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Cheer#Discography

Blue Cheer is often credited as one of the very earliest pioneers of heavy metal and their version of "Summertime Blues" has been cited as the first heavy metal song. According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom, "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia." Jim Morrison of The Doors characterized the group as "the single most powerful band I've ever seen" and Eric Clapton defined them as "probably the originators of heavy metal". Blue Cheer influenced such late 1970s bands as East-European psychedelic hardcore band Galloping Coroners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oxford_Circle#Discography

The Oxford Circle was an American garage rock and psychedelic rock band from Davis, California, near Sacramento, who were active from 1964-1967. They became a popular garage rock act with a proto-punk sound influenced by Them and other blues-based bands of the British Invasion, that, in addition to heavy guitar feedback, came to encompass psychedelia. The group began to make appearances in San Francisco, where they became a top draw in venues such as the Avalon Ballroom. They taped a show at the Avalon in 1966 and, after lying in the vaults for years, it was rereleased in 1997 on the Nuggets from California: Live at the Avalon 1966 anthology. In 1967, they released the single, "Foolish Woman" b/w "Mind Destruction", which is also included, along with several other studio outtakes, on the Nuggets from California compilation. In 1967, drummer Paul Whaley left to play in pioneering heavy rock act Blue Cheer. Lead vocalist and guitarist Gary Lee Yoder and bassist Dehner Patten left to form Kak, who recorded for Epic Records. Yoder subsequently went on to join Blue Cheer in one of their later configurations.