Canned Heat - Under The Dutch Skies 1970-74

A blast of old Heat from the canned archives

This collection of vintage live Heat unearths a stash of Dutch radio recordings that have lain in the vaults for over 30 years. They cover three distinct shows: VPRO Piknik, Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn on 10 September 1970; Marianhill, Arcen on 12 August 1971 and the Amsterdam Concertgebow from March 1974. The star attractions are from the 1970 and 1971 shows, making up just over half of the 22 tracks. Recorded just seven days after Canned Heat’s spiritual leader, Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson, committed suicide on 3 September 1970, the VPRO Piknik recordings find the four-piece Heat in stripped-down survival mode, bravely boogieing on in memory of their sadly absent friend.

The three constants from the classic Heat line-up are Bob Hite, Henry Vestine and the indestructible Fito De La Parra, with Tony De La Barreda filling on bass following Larry Taylor’s departure, and Joel Scott Hill doing his best to fill Blind Owl’s giant boots in ’71 and ’74. Henry Vestine’s incendiary guitar work gets impressive free reign in 1970 and ’71, while the Amsterdam tracks are considerably less gritty, thanks to the added keyboards and a small brass section. Still, those 13 tracks from 1970 and ’71 add up to a priceless 85 minutes.

MLP | MLP 15 CD (2-CD)

Reviewed by Grahame Bent
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