Have always loved this group. Canned Heat is a great blues & rock band that was formed in 1965. Their two biggest hits were "On The Road Again" in 1967 & "Going Up The Country" in 1968. Also love their song from 1970 "Let's Work Together".
Personally, I would not consider Canned Heat Rockabilly, but more blues/rock. They are one of my favorite American blues/rock bands. Alan Wilson, the vocalist, guitarist and harp player was another highly intelligent, very talented but troubled artist. He suffered depression, anxiety and in hindsight, people who knew him speculate that he might have been autistic. I really love his laid back style, along with his sidekick Bob "the Bear" Hite who was also very talented. Sadly Alan died of a drug overdose at the age of 27. I love their performance at Woodstock, a real highlight of the concert. RIP Alan and "Bear" 💔
That's known as a "Boogie Riff" pioneered by American blues artists earlier in the 20th Century. Norman Greenbaum was so impressed with it he recorded a hit song using it 1-2 years later called "Spirit In The Sky" A few years after that, ZZ Top used in in LaGrange I think everyone who heard it loved it...
@JJ8KK Loved the comments. I had never connected it to La Grange because their styles were so different. But what an obvious similarity, hiding in plain sight. Great stuff. 👈
Not sure is feeding you all these great requests but Kudos to them for tweaking your ear. Thank you Biz for dippin’ without prejudice into these classics. Keep up the great work sir.
The string instrument constantly playing in the background is a Tambura. Ravi Shankar playing the sitar at Woodstock. Quite the experience. Many instruments from the east were used during the psychedelic yrs. Starting with the Beatles
Too short! Could listen to that all night. Probably in my top five singles. Known this song for going on 60 years. Great reaction, as usual. Thanks, needed that
Canned Heat "On The Road Again" reminds me a bit of Booker T. & The MG's "Green Onions", as if it was performed on codeine or some such. This ain't rockabilly. It's the blues with psychedelic touches. Definitely hit "Going Up The Country". Their cover of "That's All Right Mama" is pretty great too. For some rockabilly, check out Carl Perkins "Honey Don't", "Matchbox", and "Blue Suede Shoes" to start, probably also Bill Haley & The Comets "Rock Around the Clock". And for some off the path rockabilly, "I'm Gonna Tell on You" by George Fleming (1959) and "Evil Hearted Woman" by Drifting Charles.
This is a cover of a Floyd Jones blues song from the early 1950s (Jones adapted it from an even earlier song by Tommy Johnson whose song "Canned Heat Blues" gave the band it's name. (it's about alcoholics who resort to drinking sterno). Alan Wilson added some lyrics and copped a writing credit on it...weak, man, just weak. "Going Up the Country" uses the melodic structure of Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze Blues" but Alan Wilson penned different lyrics. Wilson took sole credit for the song.
The inventors of Psychedelic Blues. Even John Mayall had to write a song about them. Rest In Peace to "the Bear/Big Fat", The Blind Owl, The Mole, The Sunflower and I hear only The Snake and Fito are alive, but I believe The Snake has cancer.
Blues boogie-rock I'd say, rather than rockabilly. I love that driving groove all the way through it, with the mouth harp and floating vocals over it, plus the strange string drone of a tambura or dulcimer (not sure which). Great song.
One of the best songs of the era, and that's saying a lot. Sparse and elegant but deeply grooving. Great reaction, thanks, subscribed. Cheers from cloudy Vienna, Scott
