Canned Heat

Finyl Vinyl

Ruf Records

Canned Heat the seminal American blues rock and boogie rock band was first founded in Los Angeles in 1965. The original co-founders were Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson, who passed away in 1970 and Bob “The Bear” Hite who died in 1981. They named the band after a 1928 song by bluesman Tommy Johnson about methyl alcohol often misused by alcoholics. In 1967 drummer Adolfo “Fito” de la Parra joined the band and he is still a member. One year later Canned Heat found success with a series of hit singles beginning with “Going Up The Country” and 1970’a “Let’s Work Together”. Their 1967 debut album was “Boogie With Canned Heat”. They also appeared as part of the legendary “Woodstock Music & Art Fair”.
They also released collaborative albums such as “Hooker ‘n Heat” with John Lee Hooker in 1971; Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown “Gate’sOn The Heat” in 1973; and Memphis Slim “Memphis Heat” in 1974.

In 2015 Ruf Records released a fabulous Canned Heat CD/DVD entitled “Songs From The Road”. On this new album the band still includes Fito de la Parra on drums. He is joined by Jimmy Vivino on vocals, Keyboard, and Guitar; Dave Spalding Vocals and Harmonica; and bassist Richard Reed.

Highlights include “Blind Owl” a tribute to Alan Wilson, written and sung by guitarist Dave Alvin, who like Wilson is a concerned environmentalist. “The odds are stacked against it, but that Sequoia somehow survives, standing strong, standing proud and that’s where the Blind Owl still Flies!”

“So Sad (The World’s In A Tangle)” is a psychedelic environmental boogie first written by their manager Skip Taylor and recorded in 1970. Guesting is guitarist Joe Bonamassa who calls Canned Heat’s original guitarist Henry Vestine an early influence.

Also included is the East/West Boogie, written by Mark Eliyahu, featuring Arabic Eastern and Western music scales and sounding like a belly dancing boogie. Three songs are written by Vivino,”One Last Boogie”; “Goin’ To Heaven (In A Pontiac)”; and “When You’re 69”); and three more written by Spalding including “Tease Me”.

Is this the finale for Canned Heat? Maybe so but the band will tour this year both in the U.S. and Europe. Better catch them when you can.

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