Canned Heat at the Texas Pop Festival- Photo by Steve Campbell
Musical
trends may come and go, but those that truly resonate are timeless. Such
is the case for the blues and its offspring, rock 'n roll and boogie
music. And just as basic roots music has not only survived but prospered,
so have some of its practitioners.
Right from
the start CANNED HEAT has been at the forefront of popularizing blues
music, as evidenced by such Top Ten hits as "On The Road Again",
"Goin' Up The Country" and "Let's Work Together".
Founded in the mid-'60s, over the years the family that is CANNED HEAT has
included such legendary musicians as Bob "The Bear" Hite, Alan
"Blind Owl" Wilson, Henry "The Sunflower" Vestine,
Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra, Larry "The Mole" Taylor,
Harvey "The Snake" Mandel, Junior Watson and Robert Lucas. They
can boast of collaborations with Little Richard, John Mayall, and blues
great John Lee Hooker (Hooker 'N Heat, 1970) and Hooker's 1990 Grammy
Award-winning classic, The Healer.
Since 1967
CANNED HEAT has toured extensively all over the world, performed at
numerous festivals including the original Woodstock, the Texas
International Pop Festival, Monterey Pop, Newport Pop, the Sturgis
Motorcycle Run U.S.A. and many other music and biker Festivals. They have
performed at world-renowned venues such as the Olympia in Paris, both
Fillmore Auditoriums, The Kaleidoscope, Carnegie Hall (with John Lee
Hooker), Madison Square Garden and the Royal Albert Hall. They and/or
their music have been featured on television (In Concert, Midnight
Special, David Frost, Merv Griffin, Playboy After Dark, etc.), and in
films like "Woodstock", "1969" (Robert Downey Jr.,
Kiefer Sutherland), "Flashback" (Dennis Hopper, Kiefer
Sutherland), "Forrest Gump" (Tom Hanks), etc. Their music is
currently being heard and felt in various television commercials ("On
The Road Again" for Miller Beer, "Goin' Up The Country" for
Pepsi, Chevrolet and McDonald's, "Let's Work Together" for
Lloyd's Bank, England's Electric Company and Target Stores,
"Christmas Blues" for Heineken with other songs for 7-Up and
Levi's).
The group
has weathered assorted musical trends and the untimely deaths of founding
members Alan Wilson and Bob Hite as well as that of longtime guitarist,
Henry Vestine. Now, more than thirty years later and with thirty-three
albums to their credit, CANNED HEAT is still going strong.
Anchored
throughout by the steady hand of drummer/band leader Adolfo
"Fito" de la Parra (a member since 1967), CANNED HEAT is well on
track to carry the boogie-blues it made famous, straight into the 21st
century.
Fito's
book "LIVING THE BLUES" is just out and available through their
website and other book outlets. It's the complete and outrageous CANNED
HEAT story of "Music, Drugs, Death, Sex and Survival" along with
over 100 captivating pictures from their past.
CANNED
HEAT looks forward to an exciting beginning of the new millennium,
entertaining and playing Boogie/Blues music for new and old generations.
To see Canned Heat's page in the Texas International Pop Festival program, click here.