Narrow is the road...
224. Canned Heat "On The Road Again"
In many ways the musical innovations of the 1960's could be oversimplified into young white people coming to terms with the legacy of the blues. And if we're going to follow that over simplification to it's conclusion, you have to give credit to Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson, blues scholar and one of the leaders of the legendary blues revival combo Canned Heat.
Unlike his Canned Heat compatriot Bob 'The Bear' Hite, Wilson didn't aim for macho bellicoseness in his vocals, instead opting for a mournful falsetto that perfectly counterpoints the opening drone of the guitar and the rumbling riff thereafter. As a bespectacled, clinically depressed nerd stuck in the Age of Aquarius. Wilson related to the blues he loved on a level that was more emotional than cultural or political and it shows in this performance, which is still haunting more than thirty years down the line. Sadly, Wilson was not long for this world, killing himself with a barbiturate overdose at 27 not long after this song was releaed. RIP, Blind Owl.
In many ways the musical innovations of the 1960's could be oversimplified into young white people coming to terms with the legacy of the blues. And if we're going to follow that over simplification to it's conclusion, you have to give credit to Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson, blues scholar and one of the leaders of the legendary blues revival combo Canned Heat.
Unlike his Canned Heat compatriot Bob 'The Bear' Hite, Wilson didn't aim for macho bellicoseness in his vocals, instead opting for a mournful falsetto that perfectly counterpoints the opening drone of the guitar and the rumbling riff thereafter. As a bespectacled, clinically depressed nerd stuck in the Age of Aquarius. Wilson related to the blues he loved on a level that was more emotional than cultural or political and it shows in this performance, which is still haunting more than thirty years down the line. Sadly, Wilson was not long for this world, killing himself with a barbiturate overdose at 27 not long after this song was releaed. RIP, Blind Owl.
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