Living The Blues
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Album Summary
Back in November of 1968, Canned Heat dropped something special on the world — a sprawling double album called 'Living The Blues,' released on Liberty Records and produced by Dallas Smith alongside the band themselves. This wasn't just a record, baby, this was a statement. Coming off the high of their breakthrough moment at the Monterey Pop Festival, Canned Heat walked into the studio charged up and burning, channeling the spirits of the Delta and Chicago blues masters they so deeply loved. The double-LP format gave them room to breathe, room to stretch out, and room to show the world just how serious they were about keeping the blues alive and kicking in an era of flower power and psychedelia.
Reception
- The album climbed to number 18 on the Billboard 200, a remarkable achievement for a double-LP that asked mainstream audiences to sit down and stay a while with the blues.
- Critics recognized the genuine reverence Canned Heat brought to traditional blues forms, though some mainstream voices found the album's more extended improvisational passages a test of patience.
- 'Going Up The Country' emerged from this album as the band's most celebrated single, generating sustained commercial attention and drawing listeners back to the full double-album experience.
Significance
- 'Going Up The Country,' born right here on this album, became one of the defining anthems of the counterculture generation and was woven permanently into the American cultural fabric when it rang out at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.
- The side-long jam 'Refried Boogie,' spread across its own dedicated vinyl sides, was a bold declaration that the blues could be as expansive and exploratory as any psychedelic rock odyssey — Canned Heat was not here to play it safe.
- In an era when the blues risked being left behind by a rock audience chasing the next new thing, 'Living The Blues' served as a vital bridge between authentic Delta and Chicago blues traditions and the ears of a whole new generation.
Samples
- "Going Up The Country" — one of the most recognized samples in popular music, famously interpolated and sampled across decades of hip-hop, pop, and film soundtracks, with its flute-driven intro proving irresistible to producers across generations.
Tracklist
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A1 Pony Blues 125
3:47
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A2 My Mistake 113
3:21
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A3 Sandy's Blues 116
6:45
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A4 Going Up The Country 81
2:51
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A5 Walking By Myself 120
2:28
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A6 Boogie Music 85
3:18
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B1 One Kind Favor 137
4:44
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C Refried Boogie (Part I) —
20:10
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D Refried Boogie (Part II) —
20:50
Artist Details
Canned Heat was a righteous blues-rock outfit that came together out of Los Angeles, California back in 1965, built from the bones of a deep record collector obsession with old Delta blues and country boogie — these cats didn't just play the blues, they *lived* it. With that unmistakable boogie groove and the late great Bob "The Bear" Hite's howling vocals riding alongside Al "Blind Owl" Wilson's haunting falsetto and harmonica work, they carved out a sound that was pure swampy electricity, landing legendary sets at both Monterey Pop in '67 and Woodstock in '69 that cemented their place in rock history. Their hits like "Going Up the Country" and "On the Road Again" did something truly special — they turned a whole new generation of young people onto the raw, beautiful roots of American blues music, keeping that flame burning bright when it needed it most.
