The recent exploration of Canned Heat here on TheVinylPress generated some real enthusiasm among readers, one of whom turned out to be Rebecca Davis, the author of “Blind Owl Blues,” an authoritative biography of Alan Wilson. Several readers had asked for a follow up piece on “Hooker ‘n Heat” (which I mentioned only in passing). Rebecca and I also had started to correspond. Who better, I thought, to write about this album than the biographer of Alan Wilson? The album came together in part because of the “Blind Owl’s” love for John Lee Hooker. It not only helped re-launch Hooker’s career but was also a bittersweet culmination for Wilson and the band. Shortly after the recording was completed, Wilson’s life was cut short, his drug-related death in September 1970 silencing one of the most promising musicians of his time. (If you look at the Hooker ‘n Heat cover art, you’ll see a portrait of Wilson on the wall of the room where the rest of the band, with Hooker, is posed).[1]
Rebecca agreed to write a piece about the making of “Hooker ‘n Heat.”
I think you’ll really enjoy this piece. Ms. Davis is not only a hell of a writer, but conveys what it must have been like for the band, and Wilson, to work with Hooker in these sessions. My thanks to Rebecca Davis for her significant contributions to the body of work on Canned Heat and Alan Wilson. And for her essay, which appears here for the first time. Rebecca’s book, mentioned in the foot of her essay, is well worth buying and is highly recommended. Here’s Rebecca Davis on “Hooker ‘n Heat.”
________________________
[1] Total geeks probably will know that the figure of Vestine on the cover is really Skip Taylor, who stood in for him. Vestine’s head was pasted in later to make it appear that he was in the cover photo.