Search - Canned Heat :: Uncanned: Best of

Don't Forget To Boogie

J. E FELL | Carterville, Illinois United States | 05/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The is a two disc remastered retrospective of Canned Heat from 1967-1973. Canned Heat was one of the greatest blues/rock boogie bands ever. Canned Heat was formed by a now deceased trio of prewar blues record collectors Al Wilson, Bob Hite and Henry Vestine. Hite worked in a record shop while Wilson played the folk/blues scene even performing with such people as Son House. The band took blues songs and adapted them for popular consumption. There are a number of characteristics that distinguish the band. The slide guitar, harmonica and falsetto vocals of Al Wilson contrast with the gruff vocals of giant Bob Hite and distorted guitar soloing of Henry Vestine and later Harvey Mandel. Other long time members included bassist Larry Taylor and drummer "Fito" De La Parra. The band became popular after playing such high profile festivals as Monterey Pop, Woodstock (with underrated guitarist Harvey Mandel replacing Vestine days before the show), and the Atlanta Pop Festival during the late sixties and early seventies. This set contains hits such as "On The Road Again", "Going Up The Country" and my favorite the extended version of "Let's Work Together". The aforementioned tracks have all been used as soundtracks to television commercials in recent years. The disc also contains many unissued tracks, alternate versions and non-lp single sides. Other highlights include "Dust My Broom", "Help Me", the unissued "Fanny Mae" "Amphetamine Annie" and "The Same All Over". However some of my favorites such as "Boogie Music", "World In A Jug", "One Kind Favor", "Canned Heat", and "That's All Right Mama" were left off in favor of the material at the end of the second disc. This material at the end of the second disc was recorded after founding member Al Wilson committed suicide. The band also recorded with blues/boogie master John Lee Hooker ("Hooker 'n' Heat" disc recommended), but the band would never recover from the loss of its leader. If you like energetic blues/rock music this is a necessity. This 2 cd set provides a fitting tribute to deceased members Al "Blind Owl" Wilson, Bob "The Bear" Hite, and Henry "The Sunflower" Vestine. They boogie like there is no tomorrow. Now if only someone would get around to remastering their individial albums from this period."

Whole lotta boogie

J. E FELL | 08/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Canned Heat has to be one of the best white blues bands of all time. Unfortunately they don't get the recognition they deserve. Their catalog is in pretty woeful shape on CD. Most of their albums are out of print. This 2-CD collection, however, is an excellent collection of Canned Heat's blues boogie. It has wonderful liner notes which tell the whole story of the band, as well as Canned Heat's complete discography. If you like blues, then you're sure to like Canned Heat. They have two great vocalists in Bob Hite and Al Wilson, the latter also being a great blues harpist, a great lead guitar player and an excellent rhythm section. The band's major hits are here (On The Road Again, Going Up The Country, Let's Work Together), as well as a slew of excellent blues covers (Rollin' and Tumblin', Dust My Broom, Nine Below Zero, TV Mama, Mean Old World, The Hunter). This is a great purchase if you're a fan of blues with a little rock mixed in, or rock with a little blues mixed in."

A Dynamite Collection

John Mclaughlin | San Francisco, California, inatlantis@aol.com | 01/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're only looking for the hits you've heard on the radio, then perhaps one of the single-CD "best of" collections is the way to go.But...if you really like Canned Heat's style of blues, "Uncanned" is a must-own. It contains all of the hits as well as an almost-perfect collection of the band's best output; plus, the material was remastered for this release, and sounds wonderful (many "best of" CDs produced and released from 1980-1990 suffer from horrible mastering and analogue-to-digital transferring--not so for "Uncanned").Canned Heat deserved much more success and recognition than it received, and this 2-CD set will show you why. No blues band could boogie better! Plus, a nice booklet with the band's history, discography, and extensive liner notes is included, so what more could you want?"