Living the Blues

Originally released in 1968 on the Liberty record label, Canned Heat emerged in 1966. The band was founded by Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson and Bob 'The Bear' Hite, with Hite taking the name 'Canned Heat' from a 1928 recording by Tommy Johnson. They gained international attention with their performances at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and at the original Woodstock Festival.

Joining Wilson and Hite were Henry 'The Sunflower' Vestine, Larry 'The Mole' Taylor, and Adolfo 'Fito' de la Parra. Canned Heat's unique blend of modern electric blues, rock, and boogie has earned them a loyal following and influenced many bands over the past 35 years. Their Top 40 songs, "On The Road Again," "Let's Work Together," and "Going Up The Country," became rock anthems worldwide.

Their second album, Boogie With Canned Heat, included the hit "On The Road Again" and a twelve-minute version of "Fried Hockey Boogie" that established them with hippie audiences as 'kings of the boogie!' This, their third album, Living The Blues, includes a 19-minute tour de force, "Parthenogenesis," displaying the quintet at their most experimental.

Also featured on the album is their rendition of Henry Thomas' "Bulldozer Blues," where singer Wilson retained the tune of the original song, rewrote the lyric, and came up with "Goin' Up The Country." This song's simple message captured the 'back-to-nature' attitude of the late '60s and reached Number One in 25 countries around the world.