HOT ON THE HEAT

Nice short piece about Canned Heat in issue 352. The Bear and Blind Owl are dead, but so is their burning lead guitarist, the Sunflower. Vito still pounds the skins for, at best, a Canned Heat cover band but their bass player, the Mole, is alive and vital, and plays with Tom Waits.

Having seen Canned Heat in their prime I can attest to their live power. However, toward the end, the crowds began chanting for the Boogie. It was sad to witness the band, with all their fine material, being dragged down and known chiefly for that one blues shuffle; a shuffle invented by John Lee Hooker and a shuffle that catapulted ZZ Top to the big time. Long live the Heat.

by Morris
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