Canned Heat is a rock group that was formed in Los Angeles, California, U.S. during 1965, best known for its interpretations of the blues and for promoting interest in it and its original artists. The band was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" (1928), a song about an alcoholic who'd turned in desperation to drinking Sterno, generically named "canned heat", after the original product name Sterno Canned Heat in 1914. Following appearances at the Monterey and Woodstock festivals at the end of the '60s, the group became famous worldwide, with a lineup comprising Hite (vocals), Wilson (guitar, harmonica and vocals) and Henry Vestine, later adding Harvey Mandel (lead guitar), Larry Taylor (bass), and Adolfo de la Parra (drums).

This is the long-awaited story of Alan Wilson, musical genius and co-founder of Canned Heat. Biographer Rebecca Davis Winters journeys through his artistic innovations, tormented personal life, obsessive love of nature, and mysterious death. A key figure in the 1960s "blues revival", Wilson participated in the rediscovery of Delta blues legend Son House and wrote scholarly analyses of House and Robert Pete Williams. He went on to co-found pioneering blues-rock band Canned Heat, becoming an unlikely rock star. Known as "Blind Owl", he was responsible for the hit songs "Going Up the Country" and "On the Road Again".

This is the long-awaited story of Alan Wilson, musical genius and co-founder of Canned Heat. Biographer Rebecca Davis journeys through his artistic innovations, tormented personal life, obsessive love of nature, and mysterious death. A key figure in the 1960s "blues revival", Wilson participated in the rediscovery of Son House, and wrote scholarly analyses of House and Robert Pete Williams. He went on to co-found pioneering blues-rock band Canned Heat, becoming an unlikely rock star. Known as "Blind Owl", he was responsible for the hit songs "Going Up the Country" and "On the Road Again".

Canned Heat is a rock group that was formed in Los Angeles, California, U.S during 1965, best known for its interpretations of the blues and for promoting interest in it and its original artists. The band was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" (1928), a song about an alcoholic who'd turned in desperation to drinking Sterno, generically named "canned heat", after the original product name Sterno Canned Heat in 1914. Following appearances at the Monterey and Woodstock festivals at the end of the '60s, the group became famous worldwide, with a lineup comprising Hite (vocals), Wilson (guitar, harmonica and vocals) and Henry Vestine, later adding Harvey Mandel (lead guitar), Larry Taylor (bass), and Adolfo de la Parra (drums).

Canned Heat's Story of Music, Drugs, Death, Sex and Survival

This encyclopedia reveals the truth behind thousands of fascinating stories about the industry's biggest departed stars, including strange facts, lucky escapes, and top-ten death discs.