Livin’ The Blues – CANNED HEAT***

Pony Blues/My Mistake/Sandy’s Blues/Going Up The Country/Walking By Myself/Boogie Music/One Kind Favour/ Parthenogenesis/Refried Boogie Part 1/Refried Boogie Part 2

Double album from famed US blues band Canned Heat. First disc is studio, the second a live recording from The Kaleidoscope in Hollywood. Livin' The Blues includes the top twenty hit single Going Up The Country. (US:18)

"The first disc includes shorter numbers like, for example, one of their most famous songs Going Up The Country. The side A of the first disc was a bit of a let down in my opinion. Of course the songs are all fine and pretty, nice blues rockers but I didn't find anything completely spectacular. Just good bluesy songs but sadly nothing more. Parthenogenesis is a very long piece reaching almost twenty minutes. It closes the first disc and it has different parts. The whole second disc is filled with Refried Boogie which is a 40 minutes long boogie/jam monster. I can't do anything but love it."

"Of the studio stuff, how can you not love stuff like Goin' Up The Country, Boogie Music and One Kind Favour, such fun! The live record again is fine, but for my money, wears a bit thin after you've digested the solos a few times. Still, Canned Heat were a band that everyone who loves blues and boogie should get to know, and this album stands as a fine way to do just that."

"This double LP features one studio disc and one live. The studio one is a mix of mostly semi-commercial blues rock, and some non-commercial rock with psych influences. There is also some limited use of brass that shouldn't turn many off. The very long, fractured, and inconsistent Parthenogenesis features many passages that actually add up to one pretty cool trip, when taken as a whole. The live disc features probably the longest track in rock record history. It would be way cool too, if not for the interminable and unnecessarily long solos contained therein. In retrospect, these solos are rather obnoxious, but in 1968, they were not as trite as nowadays."

"Is there anyone interested in these endless tuneless passages on the guitar and drums? If this is called blues - I pass."

"I vehemently disagree with anyone who claims that the 41 minute Refried Boogie is self-indulgent. In fact, not one second is boring. It's really what boogie is all about."