| Relationships | Original Members:
Bob Hite - vocals,
Alan Wilson - guitar, harmonica, vocals,
Henry Vestine - guitar,
Larry Taylor - bass
Adolfo de la Parra - drums
Past Members:
Dave Spalding - guitar, bass
John Paulus,
Rick Reed
Harvey Mandel - guitar |
| Biography | Canned Heat is an American blues and rock band that was formed in 1965. The group has been noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson's 1928 "Canned Heat Blues", a song about an alcoholic who had desperately turned to drinking Sterno, generically called "canned heat", from the original 1914 product name Sterno Canned Heat, After appearances at the Monterey and Woodstock festivals in the 1960s, the band acquired worldwide fame.
The music and attitude of Canned Heat attracted a large following and established the band as one of the popular acts of the hippie era. Canned Heat appeared at most major musical events at the end of the 1960s, performing blues standards along with their own material and occasionally indulging in lengthy 'psychedelic' solos. Two of their songs "Going Up the Country" and "On the Road Again" became international hits. "Going Up the Country" was a remake of the Henry Thomas song "Bull Doze Blues", recorded in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1927. "On the Road Again" was a remake of the 1953 Floyd Jones song of the same name, which is reportedly based on the Tommy Johnson song "Big Road Blues", recorded in 1928. |