W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Canned Heat: On The Road Again E.P (1969) & Going Up The Country E.P (1972)

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Before things get too serious at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song or album at the end of each month, that could be considered to be either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

Canned Heat first came together in 1965 in the city of Los Angeles. The band soon became very successful attracting a large cult following while also attaining commercial success. One of the secrets of the band was their ability to compose their own material while putting their own spin on blues classics. Their legacy was cemented with their incredibly exciting live shows and their appearances at what would become legendary concert festivals such as Woodstock.

The core members of the band’s early lineups were Bob Hite on vocals, Alan Wilson on guitar, harmonica and vocals, Henry Vestine on guitar, Harvey Mandel on guitar, Larry Taylor on bass, and Adolfo de la Parra on drums. Over the years there were multiple lineup changes for various reasons including the passing of some key members. Alan Wilson passed away early on in 1970. Bob Hite passed away in 1981. Henry Vestine died in 1998 and most recently Larry Taylor passed away in 2019.

Canned Heat released their first album in 1967 entitled Canned Heat. Between 1967 and 2007, the Heat released twenty studio albums including three collaborative albums with other artists. The band has also released eleven live albums over the course of their career. There has also been twenty compilation albums released by their record companies along with 18 E.P's

This month's WOCK on Vinyl focuses on their late 1960’s work. Canned Heat a fabulous blues boogie rock band that stands along such legendary groups as The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Savoy Brown, and Foghat has being one of the best of all time.

One of their most popular songs was “On the Road Again” which was released on the band’s second album entitled 'Boogie With Canned Heat'. The song was a huge, huge hit for the band. It became a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 which was pretty impressive for a blues band at the time. The song reached the top 10 in multiple countries around the world including Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Canada, Belgium and of course here in the land Down Under - Australia.

For me, it was the first 45 I ever bought (I was only 11 or 12 at the time) and it was probably the cause of my addiction with collecting records for the last 50 years (see above). 

Just as popular was their historic hit “Going Up The County.” While some Canned Heat purists may argue that some of their heavier jams and barn burners were stronger songs than “Going Up The County,” there is no denying this song’s legacy. I have a special affiliation with this one because when I was learning to play flute as a teenager, one of the most popular riffs at the time for flute (other than Jethro Tull's "Living In The Past") was Canned Heat's "Going Up The Country". 

 As a result, I purchased the E.P featured in this post (see above), to learn the riff and play it by ear. Not bad for a 14 year old I reckon.

And so, this month's WOCK on Vinyl post is dedicated to the wonderful Blues and Boogie that Canned Heat brought into the world and for me, the start of of a love relationship and passion for music in general.  And as I have not seen any other copies of these  E.P's and single over my 50 years of collecting vinyl, I think these tick the Obscure box as well.

Ripped to FLAC with some minor declicking, I think you'll find the quality is pretty damn good. Of course full artwork and label scans are included.

So enjoy some classic Canned Heat and remember not to forget to Boogie, Boogie, Boogie...

Track Listing

On The Road Again (EP)

01 - On The Road Again

02 - Evil Is Going Down

03 - Rollin' And Tumblin'

04 - Bullfrog Blues

On The Road Again (Single)

01 - On The Road Again

02 - Boogie Music

Going Up The Country (EP)

01 - Going Up The Country

02 - Time Was

03 - Poor Moon

04 - Low Down

Canned Heat Boogie, Boogie, Boogie (183Mb)

New Link 26/03/2022