Canned Heat - Hooker 'N Heat

This 1971 collaboration between primal one-part-Delta/one-part-Detroit singer-guitarist John Lee Hooker and Southern California blues revivalists Canned Heat works in large part because all parties involved are a little off. Hooker, the most unsystematic of the major bluesmen of his generation, isn't a good fit for disciplined players; rather, he requires sidemen who play by feel. In harp player-guitarist Alan Wilson, the Crawling King Snake found a particularly sympathetic foil; sadly, Wilson died shortly after these sessions were completed. Roughly divided into spare, gritty Delta exercises and full-on boogie stomps featuring the full band, Hooker 'n' Heat is surely one of Canned Heat's crowning moments, which isn't saying that much. But that it stands as a milestone in Hooker's oeuvre is quite a statement indeed! --Steven Stolder

01 - Messin' With The Hook

02 - The Feelin' Is Gone

03 - Send Me Your Pillow

04 - Sittin' Here Thinkin'

05 - Meet Me In The Bottom

06 - Alimonia Blues

07 - Drifter

08 - You Talk Too Much

09 Burning Hell

10 - Bottle Up and Go

11 - The World Today

12 - I Got My Eyes On You

13 - Whiskey And Wimmen'

14 - Just You And Me

15 - Let's Make It

16 - Peavine

17 - Boogie Chillen Part 1

17 - Boogie Chillen Part 2