CANNED HEAT: LIVING THE BLUES (1968)
1) Pony Blues; 2) My Mistake;
3) Sandy's Blues; 4) Going Up The Country; 5) Walking By Myself; 6) Boogie Music;
7) One Kind Favor; 8) Parthenogenesis; 9) Refried Boogie.
Everybody knows ʽGoing Up The Countryʼ, right?
Everybody who is somebody saw the Woodstock
movie, and it's up there — the studio, rather than the live, version, the
perfect soundtrack to the sights of Children of Nature gathering for their
peaceful-harmless rituals in the back of the woods to the peaceful-harmless
sweet sweet sound of Jim Horn's flute (yes, that is the famous Jim Horn himself — unfortunately, nobody in Canned
Heat itself could actually play the flute; there's a couple videos where
they're lip-synching and The Bear is imitating actual flute-playing, but he
can't even hold the instrument properly). Be sure to check out Henry Thomas' original
version, called ʽBulldoze Bluesʼ and recorded way back in 1928 with a wonderful
quills solo of his own, but the Canned Heat version does have the added benefit
of the band's tight rhythm section, and then there's Alan Wilson with his
childlike voice that is such a perfect match for the flute, all of this is like
Paradise Found in the flesh.
Other than that, though, there are no major
stunners on the first side of this album — just more of the band's generally
enjoyable, occasionally boring, occasionally ass-kicking blues rock. Best of
the lot is probably ʽBoogie Musicʼ, credited to a mysterious «L. T. Tatman III»
(probably a local fantasy born out of one too many Budweisers) and featuring
the always-welcome Dr. John on piano — it's a rich, fat, groovy piece of funky
New Orleanian R&B with great brass / guitar interplay and an inobtrusive
lecture on the essence of boogie in the coda. Other than that, Charlie Patton's
ʽPony Bluesʼ is unrecognizable, but features some really whiny lead guitar licks from Vestine; and ʽSandy's Bluesʼ is
a seven minute long super-slow blues-de-luxe, a genre that any band that does
not have B. B. King in it should probably avoid.
But anyway, Living The Blues in general is not about the short songs — it is
the band's most experimental album, with most of Side B given over to the
ʽParthenogenesisʼ (ʽBirth Of The Maidenʼ) suite. Here we have psychedelic
posturing (Alan Wilson's fuzzy Jew's harp solo in the intro), harmonica-driven
boogie, honky tonk piano boogie, drum solo, feedback-drenched noise rock,
swampy harmonica mixed with Indian raga, and a fiery blues-rock jam — all
rolled in one. Honestly, none of it makes sense, and if you want to look for
any thematic connections between all these pieces, be my guest. Yet somehow,
the suite manages to be fun: no particular part sticks around for too long, and
the guys are clearly enjoying all this absurdity. If anything, it's just a
harmless celebration of the many different kinds of music that folks produce
around the world, and I like this freedom of imagination and appreciate that
the track still has plenty of entertainment value. It's not really trying to
make some major philosophical point, despite the Greek title; it might even be
a parody of suites trying to make a
major philosophical point. In any case, it's quite a fun listen, despite the
20-minute running time.
What makes things more complicated is that it
ain't over yet: here comes a whole
second LP, and it only has one track,
split in half — ʽRefried Boogieʼ, whose title indicates it is an «update» of
ʽFried Hockey Boogieʼ from the previous album, is a 40-minute long jam, and
this time, it actually is a real live
jam, based on the exact same ʽBoogie Childrenʼ line as always, and with even
more of those bass, guitar, and drum solos. As much as I like the band's jam
power, I am not sure why they do not want us to believe that they already were at their best with ʽFried Hockey
Boogieʼ, and insist on extending it to more than twice its original length for
our pleasure. On a good day, I really do not mind, because a good take on John
Lee Hooker can really work wonders and induce trances, and the boys were on
fire all right; but on a bad day, I'd at least need a version of this that cuts
out Larry Taylor's and Adolfo de la Parra's solos. That said, I do believe it
is a record of sorts — I don't think anybody
in 1968 (at least, outside of jazz) put out 40-minute long live tracks, so if
they just wanted their bit of Guinness, I can understand that.
In any case, tedious or not, ʽRefried Boogieʼ
does not stop the record from getting a deserved thumbs up. Everything that is here
is at least not bad, and no record
with ʽGoing Up The Countryʼ on it can be slandered — on the whole, Canned Heat were
clearly peaking here, and if anything, the album gets by on raw enthusiasm and the
fun quotient alone. They weren't talented songwriters, but they were happy to
be involved in The Thing while it was Happening, and that happiness kind of
trickles over from the speakers while the music is playing. So join in all the
fun, and don't forget to boogie!
This is a really great review and a blast from the past. I just got my copy from Amazon. In 1968 two record sets became popular because I think of the success of Wheels of Fire. They all tended to be more experimental and also too expensive for me to buy. This record is like that and I love it now that I can afford to buy it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why 1) you didn't mention John Mayall's piano playing on two tracks and 2) there is no word about "Walking by Myself", which many years later became almost inescapable and one of THE blues songs everybody knows thanks to Gary Moore?
ReplyDelete