Canned Heat was a red-hot, American rhythm and blues band that blast onto the rock scene and Top 40 Radio in the 1960s with its hit single Going Up the Country and appearances at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival and Woodstock. Canned Heat’s music was distinctive for its unique vocals and instrumentation.
Let’s Work Together really appeals to Canned Heat and other blues’ fans for both its distinctive sound and lyrics. On the Road Again shows off the Canned Heat’s incredible blues range and sensibility. Who doesn’t thrill to the classic guitar licks on Amphetamine Annie? Likewise, the song Time Was highlights the vocals that made Canned Heat extra special in its day.
With Canned Heat’s unique and timeless sound, it’s surprising to learn that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has yet to induct this classic rhythm and blues band into its ranks. Surely, someone has placed Canned Heat on the short list of prospective nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If not, it’s time to get moving.
What is Canned Heat doing now? Quite a bit, we hear. But, with the exception of Adolfo “Fito” de la Parra on drums, don’t expect to see the original band members and line up anytime soon.
Canned Heat : A 1960s Band with a Distinctive Sound
In 1966, Canned Heat was a unique rhythm and blues band founded by Bob Hite and Alan Wilson. Both were expert in American rhythm and blues, which explains the core of Canned Heat’s music and its enduring appeal. Bob Hite was nicknamed “The Bear” when his performances and sound invoked the legendary bluesman Howlin’ Wolf. Alan Wilson was the band’s gifted singer-songwriter and harp player, remarkable for his “fat tone,” according to a Yahoo Music profile on Canned Heat.
In the late 1960s, Canned Heat recordings shot to the top of the music charts around the world particularly as On the Road Again and Going Up the Country found a huge, popular audience. These songs, re-recordings of music by American blues greats Floyd Jones and Henry Thomas, were hardly original, but who knew? They certainly drew enough attention to Canned Heat to assure the band’s special place in music history.
Canned Heat at Monterey Pop Music Festival and Woodstock
Canned Heat left its LA roots far behind and hit the big time by performing at the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival. Band members joined The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Otis Reading, The Who, Ravi Shakar, Big Brother and the Holding Company and The Mamas and the Papas, among others, in making rock and roll history. Among the songs Canned Heat performed at Monterey were Rollin’ And Tumblin,‘ Dust My Broom and Bullfrog Blues.
In 1969, Canned Heat performed as headliners at Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in Bethel, New York, reuniting with rock and roll legends Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, among others. The band’s big hit Going Up the Country certainly captured the mood of the event and a generation that had begun to embrace a sustainable, planet-friendly lifestyle. The band later played at Woodstock’s 20th anniversary celebration and at Woodstock’s 40th anniversary concert.
Canned Heat Early Discography
Canned Heat certainly punched out the albums in the early years, thanks to the efforts of manager Skip Taylor who secured a record contract for the band with major-label Liberty Records. Canned Heat’s early discography included Canned Heat (Liberty, 1967), Boogie with Canned Heat (Liberty, 1968), Living the Blues (Liberty, 1968), Hallelujah (Liberty, 1969), Live in Europe (Liberty, 1970), Future Blues (Liberty, 1970), and Hooker ‘n’ Heat (Liberty, 1970).
Original Members of Canned Heat
The initial line up for the band Canned Heat included several gifted musicians, who later moved on to other creative pursuits or, like the founding duo, who became victims of the rock and roll lifestyle and grueling tours of the day. Among them:
Bob “The Bear” Hite (vocals)
Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (vocals, harmonica, guitar)
Mike Perlowin(lead guitar)
Stu Brotman (bass)
Keith Sawyer (drums)
Interestingly, Perlowin and Sawyer dropped out of Canned Heat after a few days and guitarist Kenny Edwards stepped in to replace Perlowin. Drummer Ron Holmes agreed to sit in until Canned Heat could find a permanent drummer. Brotman himself left the band in 1967 to join Kaleidoscope with David Lindley and was replaced by bassist Larry Taylor.
Classic Canned Heat
In 1967, Canned Heat began what’s commonly known as their “classic period.” The line up formed the core of what we consider Canned Heat to this day, among them:
Bob “The Bear” Hite (vocals)
Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson (vocals, harmonica, guitar)
Henry “Sunflower” Vestine (later, Harvey “The Snake” Mandel)
Larry “The Mole” Taylor (bass)
Adolfo “Fito” de la Parra (drums)
Canned Heat Members Down Through the Years
Canned Heat’s cast of characters has changed down through the years. Among the musicians who count themselves on the Canned Heat roster down through the years include:
Alan Wilson, Bob Hite, Henry Vestine, Adolfo de la Parra, Richard Hite, Stuart Brotman, Keith Sawyer, Mike Perlowin, Ron Holmes, Kenny Edwards, Mark Andes, Frank Cook, Joel Scott Hill, Ed Beyer. James Shane, Jock Ellis, Clifford Solomon, Gene Taylor, Chris Morgan, Mark Skyer, Ronnie Barron, Mike Mann, Jay Spell, Jon Lamb, Mike Halby, Ernie Rodriguez, Richard Kellogg, Walter Trout, James Thornbury, Smokey Hormel, Becky Barksdale, Larry Taylor, Ron Shumake, Mark Goldberg, Junior Watson, Paul Bryant, Stanley Behrens, Dallas Hodge, Harvey Mandel, John Paulus, Don Preston, Greg Kage, Barry Levenson, Dave Spalding and Robert Lucas.
Classic Canned Heat: Where are they now?
Like many rock bands in the 1960s, Canned Heat had its own share of heartache as original band members succumbed to the lure of drugs and the rock and roll lifestyle. Among Canned Heat’s unfortunate casualties,
Robert Hite: On April 5, 1981, after collapsing during a show in Los Angeles, 38 year old Bob Hite was later found dead in de la Parra’s Mar Vista home.
Alan Wilson: Wilson died in California of a drug overdose at the young age of 27. Wilson reportedly attempted suicide several times before his death. CSNY’s Stephen Stills dedicated the song “Blues Man” to Alan Wilson, Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman. Legally blind for much of his time with Canned Heat, Wilson was the band’s leader, singer, playing guitar and harmonica, and wrote most of the songs for the band.
Henry Vestine: On October 20, 1997, Henry Vestine died of heart failure in Paris, France following the final gig of a European tour. While he had complained of feeling ill throughout much of the tour, the music came first with Vestine and he reportedly refused to stop playing until the end of the tour. Vestine was credited by Rolling Stone Magazine for being one of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time.
Today’s Canned Heat On Tour
In 2007, musicians Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor reunited with Canned Heat’s legendary drummer Fito de la Parra and the rest, as they say, is history. Among Canned Heat’s current roster includes:
Adolfo “Fito” de la Parra (drums)
Larry “The Mole” Taylor (bass)
Harvey “The Snake” Mandel (lead guitar)
Dale Spalding (several instruments)
Canned Heat is back and it’s bigger than ever before. While the band’s 2-CD set, Uncanned! The Best of Canned Heat (1994) met with mixed reviews by Entertainment Weekly, among others, the band plays on to engage a whole new generation of blues enthusiasts and fans. Fito de la Parra remains a strong influence as one of the last surviving members of Canned Heat, giving the current line up its raw energy and sound.
Along with Uncanned! The Best of Canned Heat, the band’s recent discography includes Internal Combustion (River Road, 1994), Gamblin’ Woman (Mausoleum, 1996), The Ties That Bind (Archive, 1997), and Don’t Forget to Boogie: Vintage Heat (Varese, 2002.)
What’s next for this classic rock and roll and traditional blues band? Canned Heat shows no sign of slowing down and has big plans for the future, including an extended European Tour in the Summer of 2010.
RESOURCES
Official Website of Canned Heat
www.cannedheatmusic.com
Boogie with Canned Heat (DVD/Documentary), Eagle Vision Entertainment, 2007.
The Big Book of Blues: The Fully Revised and Updated Biographical Encyclopedia, Penguin, 2001.
Fito De La Parra, Living The Blues. Canned Heat’s story of Music, Drugs, Death, Sex and Survival, Canned Heat Music, 2000.
Brown, Ashley, Ed., Illustrated History of Popular Music, Marshall Cavendish, 1986.
Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes, and Ken Tucker, Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, Summit Books, 1986.
Marsh, Dave, John Swenson, Eds., Rolling Stone Record Guide, Random House, 1979.
