Canned Heat Live @ Woodstock 1969

Canned Heat

Canned Heat was formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, CA by blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob Hite. After the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, the band gained worldwide fame. Canned Heat was one of the more popular acts of the hippie area and was known for their lengthy psychedelic solos. The band still exists to this day with Adolfo de la Parra being the only member of the classic 1960s lineup.

They hit the Woodstock stage at about 7:30pm on Saturday August 16th and kept the crowd dancing the entire time under a dark Bethel sky. The set list featured their greatest hits including "Going up the Country", "Let's Work Together", and "On the Road Again". In the Woodstock film during the song "A Change is Gonna Come" there is footage of a fan climbing the stage and instead of kicking him off, Canned Heat singer Bob Hite shares a cigarette with him.

Canned Heat had fractured two days before Woodstock, but manager Skip Taylor managed to fly the band via helicopter to Woodstock in the nick of time. Their song "Going Up the Country" would be rewritten to embody the back to nature theme of the Woodstock 1969 festival and would become the unofficial theme song for the festival in Michael Wadleigh's 1970 documentary of Woodstock.

The deaths of Alan Wilson and Bob Hite was initially thought to be the end of Canned Heat, but Adolfo de la Parra kept the band going and they again saw prosperity in the upcoming years. The band is most recently booked on the Heroes of Woodstock Tour and will share the stage with a number of Woodstock 1969 acts.

Known for their boogie rock style, Canned Heat remains one of the most influential bands of the hippie era and is still around for those still unfamiliar. Their Woodstock performance is seen as one of the highlights of the festival.