Yes, in my opinion Blue Cheer is the first hard rock band in history. But their first album "Vincebus Eruptum" is closer to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream or The Who than to Led Zeppelin, however, "Helter Skelter" contains many of the ideas that would later be the basis of hard rock: the guitar riffs, the harshness and distortion of the bass, even the way Paul sings.
