Canned Heat – Finyl Vinyl
11 Tracks – 47 minutes
Canned Heat got their start in the 60’s playing all of the festivals in that era and releasing their first album in 1967. The band was initially formed by Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson on harmonica, guitar and vocals and Bob “Bear” Hite on lead vocals. Both were noted music collectors with a high interest in the blues. Another avid collector Henry Vestine, who was frequently compared to Mike Bloomfield, was added on lead guitar. Larry Taylor was on bass and for these first recorded sessions, Frank Cook was on drums. But shortly after the recording session, Cook left the band and Adolfo “Fito” De La Parra became the drummer. The band focused on the blues, particularly the boogie from the beginning and has never changed their focus over the years. The band got its name from a 1928 song by Tommy Johnson referencing methyl alcohol, nicknamed “canned heat”, that was misused as a drug by the eras’ alcoholics.
But changes are inevitable in any band. Unfortunately, Canned Heat’s changes resulted not from disagreements within the band as so many suffer, but from sudden unexpected deaths beginning with Alan Wilson in 1970 from undisclosed circumstances, but long suspected involvement with drugs. Bob Hite had health problems that caused him to drop in and out of the band over the years and died of a heart attack in 1981 immediately prior to a show. Henry Vestine died in 1997. Larry Taylor passed away in 2019. Adolfo was the one constant in the band, performing on every tour and recording made after that initial album. That includes continuing in the leadership role for this new release.
Band members have changed many times over the years, particularly following the deaths of the original members. Walter Trout joined the band as guitarist and lead vocalist following Hite’s death and left in 1985. Numerous vocalists and band members have come and gone since. The current band line-up includes Adolfo on drums, Dave Spalding on harmonica and vocals, Jimmy Vivino on guitar, keyboards, and vocals, and Richard “Rick” Reed on bass.
The album title seems to point to this being an expected final recording venture for the band. Several songs on the album referencing aging issues also seems to point that direction, but the band itself has not indicated that conclusion and has started on a new robust tour schedule. So, sit it back and enjoy the robust boogie of the latest band variation starting with “One Last Boogie”. which instructs “One last boogie, turn up the heat/ You can’t sit down people/ Get out your seat.” and “One last boogie ’till the break of dawn/ Boogie till they lay you out in Forest lawn.”
Dave Alvin wrote the tribute song “Blind Owl” and guests on guitar and a spoken, very rhythmic vocal. The song offers a biography of Alan Wilson through the band’s incarnation and concludes the song with a statement for the band, “But somehow, we still survive / standing strong, standing proud / Where the Blind Owl still flies”. “Goin’ To Heaven (In A Pontiac)” is a fun bit of rock ‘n’ roll that says he “Don’t need no chariot of gold / Just take me in my Pontiac. Along the way he sees “the devil in a Coup Deville”, “a band of angels in a red corvette” and a “rich man in a Mercedes Benz”. St. Peter would not let the rich man in, but the poor man in a V-8 Ford was waved right in.
“So Sad (The World’s in a Tangle” was first recorded on the band’s 1970 album Future Blues. Given the world’s present problems, they felt this song was pertinent again and deserved to be heard. Joe Bonamassa steps in on lead guitar for this track. “East/West Boogie” is an instrumental incorporating oriental sounds into the Heat’s boogie. The song was used as a theme song for the Apple TV show, “Tehran”. In a rocking love song, he begs her to “Tease Me”, but warns “If you don’t tease me right, Baby, you know some other woman will”.
“A Hot Ole Time” tells the story of a band event that seems to replicate the event told in Louis Jordan’s “Saturday Night Fish Fry” but with a slightly different conclusion. “Heard the police siren at the crack of dawn / People all scattered ‘cross the dew-soaked lawn / Bottles were clinkin’ in the smoke-filled air / Police started drinkin’ like they ain’t got a care”. Vivino pulls out the slide guitar with Dale’s harmonica ringing alongside with Dale declaring “You’re the One”. “There ain’t no substitute.” “When You’re 69” is a lament about aging in a song written and sung by Jimmy Vivino. Dale’s harmonica is again prevalent in the song as Jimmy proclaims, “When you’re lookin’ over the hill, man you got another point of view.” “Every day you wake up somethin’ needs to be fixed.” and concludes “If you live life to its fullest, there won’t be no more time for dyin’ when you’re 69.”
“Independence Day” tells the story of a man who leaves his wife after many threats from her and says, “She never thought I’d call her bluff and I’ve been so tired of tryin’, seems like I’m never enough.” “There Goes That Train” tells the inverse story from the previous song as he is a “lonesome boy” as he sees “the guy that stole my girl”.
The newest Canned Heat is still well-invested in the blues and the boogie. A very enjoyable album and a worthy investment of your time. Give it a listen.
