Canned Heat is a blues- rock/ boogie band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The importance of the group lies not only with their blues-based music, but with their efforts to reintroduce and revive the careers of some of the great old bluesmen, and their improvisational abilities.
The group was led by Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals, harmonica). Henry "Sunflower" Vestine also played guitar and was an ex-member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Larry "The Mole" Taylor was their studio bassist, along with drummer Frank Cook for their first album. Canned Heat took their name from Tommy Johnson's 1928 "Canned Heat Blues".
Wilson helped rediscover Son House and accompanied him on his 1965 comeback album. The group also strong-armed their record company ( Liberty Records) into getting a contract for overlooked Texas bluesman Albert Collins.
Their debut album Canned Heat was released not long after their appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Adolfo "Fito" De La Parra replaced Frank Cook as drummer for their second album, Boogie with Canned Heat (1968). It was more successful, spawning the hit single "On the Road Again". In 1969 they released the inconsistent double album, Livin' the Blues but it did bring them their biggest hit, "Goin' Up the Country". Guitarist Harvey Mandel replaced Vestine for part of 1969–70. The band appeared at the August 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival with their performance appearing in both the album and film release.
The next year was the musical high point for the band. They brought in John Lee Hooker to record the double album Hooker 'N' Heat in May of 1970. This was to be the first album of Hooker's career to make the charts, topping out at number 73 in February of 1971. Unfortunately, Wilson committed suicide in September 1970, prior to the album's release. The group had one additional hit with a cover of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together". The band continued touring for a time, but was never able to play to more than a small but devoted audience.