* En anglais uniquement
Rock guitarist
Leigh Stephens was a founding member of the power trio
Blue Cheer, a hard rock band based in San Francisco, along with bassist/vocalist
Dickie Peterson and drummer
Paul Whaley. The group was signed to Philips Records and released its debut album,
Vincebus Eruptum, in January 1968. Containing a Top 20 revival of
Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," the LP soared to number 11 in the Billboard chart. Less successful was the follow-up,
Outsideinside, released in August 1968, which reached the Top 100. In late 1968,
Stephens, who later described himself as the only member of
Blue Cheer not to be "chemically challenged" (i.e., using drugs), was asked to leave the group after criticizing the behavior of his bandmates. He signed a solo deal with Philips and moved to Great Britain, where he recorded his debut solo album,
Red Weather (February 1969). Returning to San Francisco, he formed a new band,
Silver Metre, with singer
Jack Reynolds on bass, keyboard player
Pete Sears, and drummer Mick Waller. The band signed to National General Records and released one self-titled album, which was notable for containing three
Elton John/
Bernie Taupin songs, two of which, "Country Comforts" and "Now They've Found Me" (aka "Ballad of a Well-Known Gun") had not yet appeared on an
Elton John album.
Silver Metre broke up in November 1970, and
Stephens recorded a second solo album, Cast of Thousands (1971) for the British Charisma label. He then formed a new band, Pilot, which featured Waller, guitarist
Bruce Stephens (who had been a replacement member of
Blue Cheer), bassist
Neville Whitehead, and
Martin Quittenton. They signed to RCA Victor Records and released a self-titled debut album in 1972, after which
Stephens left the group. His next band was called Foxtrot and featured keyboard player George Michalski, bassist/vocalist Gary Richwine, and drummer David Beebe. They signed to Motown Records and recorded an album in 1974, but it was never released. More abortive projects followed during the '70s and into the ‘80s, but
Stephens did not have another legitimate record release until 1998, when he was a member of a band called
Chronic with a "K" also featuring singer/keyboardist Melissa Olsen, bassist
Ron Stone, and drummer Ryan Goodpastor that released
Ride the Thunder on ChroniCorp Records. In 2004,
Stephens self-released his third solo album, High Strung/Low Key. ~ William Ruhlmann