Canned Heat - Songs From The Road '2015

Tracks list

Tracklist
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01. On the Road Again
02. Time Was
03. Dont Know Where She Went (She Split)
04. Nighthawk
05. So Sad (The Worlds in a Tangle)
06. Going up the Country
07. Oaxaca
08. Chicken Shack Boogie
09. Future Blues
10. Cristo Redentor
11. Amphetamine Annie
12. Rollin and Tumblin
13. Lets Work Together
14. Euro Boogie

The world turns. Fashions change. Bands rise and fall. But you can’t stop
the boogie. Fifty years after Canned Heat was founded by blues scholars Bob
‘The Bear’ Hite and Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson in Topanga
Canyon, California, the West Coast legends just keep rolling on down the road.
“We’re all amazed and thankful that we’re still here,”
explain the band, “living our dreams of making a living doing what we all
love. Playing the blues, travelling the world and giving a taste of the boogie
to audiences everywhere.” 

Until they pull up in your town, there’s Songs From The Road. The famous
Ruf Records live series has already showcased heavyweights from Luther Allison
to Royal Southern Brotherhood. Now, in 2015, this two-album CD set finds the
modern Canned Heat lineup on blistering form, shaking Bonn’s Harmonie
club with a 16-song set driven by the boogie groove that’s practically a
strand of rock ‘n’ roll’s DNA. 

Led from the back, as ever, by iconic drummer and guardian-of-the-flame Adolfo
‘Fito’ De La Parra, the rhythm section is given further pedigree by
Sixties bassist Larry ‘The Mole’ Taylor. On lead vocals and harp,
give it up for New Orleans legend Dale Spalding, while John ‘JP’
Paulus capably covers guitar duties for Woodstock-era bandmember Harvey
‘The Snake’ Mandel (as he recovers from recent health issues).
“It’s a capsule,” explains manager and producer Skip Taylor,
“of where the band was at on that particular night.” 

The Harmonie show might have gone down on March 16th, 2015, but to play Songs
From The Road is to step aboard a time machine. As the squall of harp sets up
the inimitable strut of “On The Road Again”, you’ll feel the
years roll back. When “Going Up The Country” strikes up,
you’ll imagine yourself back in the dappled sunshine of Woodstock in
1969, flicking a peace sign, flowers in your hair. From “Amphetamine
Annie” to “Let’s Work Together”, few bands make such an
evocative sound, so inextricably tied to the summer of love, yet so fresh and
relevant in modern times. 

Canned Heat’s place in the pantheon of the greats is undeniable, and
their importance to the blues inestimable. The LA outfit began in 1965, born not
from commercial interests, but from a deep love of the genre, as Hite and Wilson
evolved from their roles as vinyl collectors and blues aficionados to lead the
nascent lineup. As slide god and super-fan Sonny Landreth recently noted:
“Canned Heat were, like, the ultimate white-blues aficionados. These guys,
they were so into the blues, way ahead of other people.” 

Even as timeless hits like “On The Road Again”, “Going Up The
Country” and “Let’s Work Together” catapulted Canned
Heat from hippie favourites to global stars in the late-’60s, the band
stayed true to their roots, and fiercely protective of their beloved genre. Hite
and Wilson became renowned for their habit of tracking down long-forgotten
legends like Skip James and Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, then
putting them back on mainstream festival bills. 

The respect ran both ways. As they strode through successive decades with a
ferocious live reputation and a growing catalogue of classic albums, Canned Heat
were given the nod of approval by their forebears, invited to collaborate with
everyone from John Lee Hooker (the original boogie man) to Brit-boom godfather
John Mayall. They could be found rocking A-list venues from Madison Square
Garden to the Royal Albert Hall, yet never lost their common touch, still
holding the record for playing the most biker rallies. 

Nor could Canned Heat be derailed by the cruel fate that rocked the lineup.
Wilson, then Hite, then much-loved guitarist Henry Vestine would all be lost in
tragic circumstances, yet the band always weathered the storm, drafting members
with the musical chops and mindset to keep Canned Heat rolling as a cohesive
unit. “I think Bob, Alan and Henry would be happy and impressed that the
band, and mainly Fito and Larry, have kept the Canned Heat legacy alive,”
says Skip Taylor. “And are still allowing people around the world to hear
and feel Canned Heat, and the boogie music we all love.” 

No doubt, they’d be impressed by Songs From The Road: a snapshot of this
iconic band taking yet another audience for the ride of their lives.
“Yeah, we got a crowd tonight, boys,” notes Spalding, as the
Harmonie club erupts and the band launches into Time Was. Somehow, you know they
always will.

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