Canned Heat formed in the mid-sixties in Topanga Canyon California. Their initial form was a blues/jug band created by a group of Blues fanatics and collectors. The two major players were the large and exceedingly hairy Bob Hite who for some obscure reason was called ‘The Bear’ and the rather scholarly looking Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson who was so near-sighted that he could not see a thing. Both of these guys had extensive collections of blues records amounting to thousands. Alan was instrumental in teaching Son House to relearn his songs for his legendary sixties album following his rediscovery. Alan also played on that record.
The band took its name from an old Tommy Johnson number about Canned Heat. Canned Heat was an alcohol get that was sold as Sterno and used as fuel on old cooking stoves in Mississippi. The name was also applied to shoe polish. Both of these were heavily abused by a section of the Black community living in rural parts of Mississippi. The shoe polish was allegedly heated up to release the intoxicating fumes. I’m sure it did neither you your body nor brain much good.
Canned Heat developed a good Boogie style that became very popular. Unlike in Britain the Blues did not take off in America to the same extent. The old rediscovered Blues Singers found a better audience in England and Europe and there were few authentic American Blues Bands. Canned Heat were probably the most successful.
They got taken up by the sixties counter-culture and featured at a number of the big festivals, their psychedelicised boogie going down well. They also released some seminal singles and albums. ‘On the road again’ and ‘Going up country’ were typical of this period. They were blues based but with a big nod to the Acid Rock and alternative culture of the day.
Their album ‘Boogie with Canned Heat’ was released in 1968 and was a bit of a departure from their first album in that it featured a number of self-penned songs and moved away from being a pure covers, blues-boogie album. Songs like ‘Amphetamine Annie’ endeared them to the hippie culture.
They never lost that Blues authenticity though and took every opportunity to play and record with the blues greats around. This resulted in collaborations with John Lee Hooker, Sunnyland Slim, Clarence ‘Gatemouth Brown’, Albert Collins and Memphis Slim. The album ‘Hooker ‘n’ Heat’ was probably the best.
Alan Wilson tragically died from a barbiturate overdose in 1970. It was probably suicide. He’d attempted that before. Bob Hite died of a heart attack in 1980. The band is still going though.
They were a great American Blues-boogie band.