Canned Heat - On The Road... Again (2009)

A hard-luck blues band of the '60s, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan Wilson and Bob Hite. They seemed to be on the right track and played all the right festivals (including Monterey and Woodstock, making it very prominently into the documentaries about both) but somehow never found a lasting audience.
Certainly their hearts were in the right place. Canned Heat's debut album released shortly after their appearance at Monterey was every bit as deep into the roots of the blues as any other combo of the time mining similar turf, with the exception of the original Paul Butterfield band. Hite was nicknamed "The Bear" and stalked the stage in the time-honored tradition of Howlin' Wolf and other large-proportioned bluesmen. Wilson was an extraordinary harmonica player, with a fat tone and great vibrato. His work on guitar, especially in open tunings (he played on Son House's rediscovery recordings of the mid-'60s, incidentally) gave the band a depth and texture that most other rhythm players could only aspire to. Henry Vestine another dyed-in-the-wool record collector was the West Coast's answer to Michael Bloomfield and capable of fretboard fireworks at a moment's notice.
Canned Heat's breakthrough moment occurred with the release of their second album, establishing them with hippie ballroom audiences as the "kings of the boogie." As a way of paying homage to the musician they got the idea from in the first place, they later collaborated on an album with John Lee Hooker that was one of the elder bluesman's most successful outings with a young white (or black, for that matter) combo backing him up. After two big chart hits with "Goin' Up the Country" and an explosive version of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together," Wilson died under mysterious (probably drug-related) circumstances in 1970, and Hite carried on with various reconstituted versions of the band until his death just before a show in 1981, from a heart seizure.
Still, the surviving members led by drummer Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra continued touring and recording, recruiting new vocalist Walter Trout; he was replaced in 1985 by James Thornbury, who fronted the band for the next decade. After Thornbury exited in 1995, Canned Heat tapped Robert Lucas to assume lead vocal duties; they soon recorded The Canned Heat Blues Band, which sadly was Vestine's last recording with the group he died in Paris in October 1997 in the wake of the band's recent tour. Boogie 2000 followed two years later.

Tracklist:
DVD 1
01. Evil is going on 1967 - intro - 2`20
02. Rollin` and tumbling` 1967 - Monterey Pop Festival - 3`00
03. Short interview 1969 - Playboy Session - 0`30
04. On the road again 1968 - Promo clip - 3`00
05. Goin`up the country 1968 - Promo clip - 2`40
06. Leaving this town 1969 - Woodstock - 7`15
07. Turpentine moan 1969 - Playboy Session - 2`40
08. Complete interview 1969 - Playboy Session - 2`10
09. On the road again 1969 - Playboy Session - 2`10
10. My time ain`t long 1969 - Playboy Session - 6`00
11. On the road again 1969 - Paris, France Promo clip - 4`02
12. If I get lucky 1970 - Paris, France festival 666 - 1`17
13. Future blues 1970 - Montreux, Swizerland - 4`40
14. Let`s work together 1970 - London, UK Royal Albert Hall - 5`30
15. Future blues 1970 - Germany - 3`45
16. Let`s work together 1970 - Germany - 3`10
17. Move on down the roan 1970 - Germany - 1`40
18. Future blues 1970 - Playboy Session - 5`40
19. Human condition 1970 - Holland Kralingen Parc - 3`15
20. So Sad 1970 - Holland Kralingen Parc - 5`50
21. Baby change your mind 1971 - Paris, France Golf Drouot - 3`03
22. Let`s work together 1971 - Paris, France Golf Drouot - 1`19
23. Long way to L.A. 1971 - Promo clip - 2`50
24. Refried boogie 1972 - Location unknown - 1`20
25. So long wrong 1973 - Sweden - 5`40
26. Rock and roll music 1973 - Montreux, Swizerland - 2`40
27. Refried boogie 1973 - Montreux, Swizerland - 14`00
28. Slow blues 1973 - Paris, France Bataclan - 5`50
29. Shake, rattle and roll 1973 - Paris, France Bataclan - 2`57
30. Welfare blues 1973 - Paris, France Bataclan - 3`30
31. We remember fats 1974 - Italy - 5`00
32. Goin`up the country 1978 - Berkeley, California - 2`50
33. On the road again 1979 - Madison Square Garden - 1`15
34. You don`t have to go 1980 - Christmas Eve - 5`20
35. Slow blues with J.L. Hooker 1980 - Christmas Eve - 4`00
36. Kidman blues 1985 - California - 5`40
37. Let`s work together 1989 - Woodstock Reunion - 4`30
38. On the road again 1989 - Woodstock Reunion - 5`32
39. Goin`up the country 1989 - Woodstock Reunion - 4`37
40. Nitwit 1989 - Woodstock Reunion - 5`04
41. Fito`s drum solo 1991 - Norwich, UK - 2`20
42. Driftin` 1992 - Belgium - 3`00
43. Red headed woman 1992 - Stuttgart, Germany - 5`07
44. You have to come and get it 1992 - Stuttgart, Germany - 5`26
45. 24 hours 1992 - Stuttgart, Germany - 4`15
46. Rollin` and tumbling` 1993 - Kent, UK - 4`30
47. Turpentine moan 1994 Dortmund, Germany - 4`50
48. You have to come and get it 1994 - Belgium Boogie Toun Festival - 4`50
49. Oh baby 1994 - Belgium Boogie Toun Festival - 4`10
50. Creole Queen 1995 - Brugge, Belgium Cactus Club - 4`40
51. Keep our business to yourself 1997 - Gouvy, Belgium - 5`10
52. Bullfrog blues 1998 - Germany, Rockpalast - 3`40

DVD 2
Recorded Live at the Governo, Bellinzone, Switzerland on June 30th, 2000
01. On the road again
02. Bullfrog blues
03. Wait and see
04. Im tore down
05. Boogie music
06. Im her man
07. Same old blues
Recorded Live at the Subway Club, cologne, Germany on Martch 24th, 2000
01. Road to rio
02. Lets worktogether
03. Refried boogie
04. Going up the country
05. Mercuryblues
06. Some old blues

Extra:
Interview with Bob Hite (1973)
Interview with Henry Vestine (1996)
Interview with Fito De La Parra (1991)