Canned Heat (Official Thread)

In memory of Alan Wilson!

July 4, 1943 / September 3, 1970

On September 3, 1970 Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson guitarist and songwriter with Canned Heat* was found dead at fellow band members Bob Hite's garden in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles aged 27**. With Canned Heat, Wilson performed at two prominent concerts of the 1960s era, the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969. Canned Heat appeared in the film Woodstock, and the band's 'Going Up the Country,' which Wilson sang, has been referred to as the festival's unofficial theme song. Wilson also wrote 'On the Road Again,' arguably Canned Heat's second most familiar song.



* Canned Heat is a cocktail drink made from Sterno. For those not in the know, Sterno is a portable heating fuel, made from what is essentially ethanol and methanol and a couple of other things, none of which is good for you, to put it mildly. The Sterno is poured through a sock or rag to filter out the methanol and mixed with water or alcohol or whatever was on hand. Sterno was especially popular during the prohibition.



** The 27 club is a group of well known musicians that have died at the age of 27. It's pertinence to the Blues is that it's founder and, arguably, it's most famous member is none other than Robert Johnson himself, who died under mysterious circumstances at the Three Forks Store in Greenwood, Mississippi at 27 years old, after claiming to have sold his soul to the Devil. Eerily, many of the musicians who have "joined the club" at 27 have directly cited Robert Johnson as a major influence. Some of the most famous members are Kurt Kobain of Nirvana, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison of The Doors, Alan Wilson of Canned Heat, and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, all of which had very heavy Blues influences, including Johnson, and often covered Blues songs, including Johnson's. Every one of their lives parallelled that of Johnson's in certain ways, adding to the eerie coincidence.

Eric Clapton, who also cites that Robert Johnson is probably his biggest influence, was purportedly the originator of the term "27 Club", stating that he himself was almost a member when he was fighting an addiction.

Source: This Day in Music.com




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