Canned Heat – CANNED HEAT****

Rollin’ & Tumblin’/Bullfrog Blues/Evil Is Going On/Goin’ Down Slow/Catfish Blues/Dust My Broom/Help Me/Big Road Blues/The Story Of My Life/The Road Song/Rich Woman

Self titled debut album from Los Angeles blues boogie group Canned Heat Their commercial appeal would increase with the inclusion of their own compositions. (US:76)

“A good one, I especially liked the six minutes Catfish Blues. Very good blues rock. Lots of good times and fun tunes. They were great and still no-one boogies like they did.”

“Though the album cover is psychedelic in appearance, the music inside is strictly electric blues, updated, yet holding as close to the masters as possible. These are all covers, but what covers. Most of these songs had been largely forgotten by the time Bob Hite (vocals and harmonica) and Alan Wilson (rhythm, slide guitar, harmonica, and vocals) brought them back to life for this album.”

“Wilson was a master blues player. Hite's vocal growling was reminiscent of Howlin' Wolf. Wilson's falsettos oddly enough were featured on the later, self-composed hits the group had. Henry Vestine, the lead guitarist, also was well-versed in the blues, and his mastery of the intense guitar solo clearly shows. Larry Taylor was a session bassist in LA, featured on lots of pop hits and who always displayed excellent technique and faithfulness to the blues.”

“To my mind, this is one of the most consistent and overall best blues albums by anybody, of whatever race. It spawned the next blues revival, and the band continues to gig to this day, the genesis of many great blues and boogie albums.”

“Canned Heat came onto the scene when the blues genre was strictly a voice of the black community. This album is strictly blues and fine blues at that - it is a lost classic. The musicians were all proficient - this just wasn't a bunch of white kids trying to make a buck, they were on a mission.” “They created a masterpiece, a lost nugget among blues recordings of the 60s. Just put on any song on this recording and it delivers in spades. This is strictly the blues, no crossover songs just an homage to the blues musicians whom they worshipped.”