Album Review: "Living The Blues" by Canned Heat

Some time back, I did a review on Hooker'n'Heat by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat. Since then my love of the blues has really become a thing. In the time between then and now, I have gotten a bit more by John Lee Hooker and now it's time to turn my attention towards the other half of that album, Canned Heat.

The first Canned Heat record that I'm going to look at is their 1968 Double Album, "Living The Blues." In the current day and age where an album can be anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes on a single disc, if even on a disc at all, it can be easy to forget that there was a time when albums were limited to a mere 45 minutes and that when a band released more material than that, the records had to come with two discs. Mostly double album sets have been the purview of live albums, but there are few things cooler in this world than a properly done double record. Thankfully, this one does not disappoint.

Classic Album Review: "Hooker'n'Heat" by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat

It was recommended to me that I purchase this album. I send a youtube link from James Leg and I was told that I needed to purchase this record. So I did.

This double album is the combined efforts of John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat. Based on the laid back timbre of the songs and talking between tracks. I'd wager this was recorded over the course of a weekend with basically no rehearsal. John makes mention of how no matter what he does, he can't lose that guy.

I'm not really much of a fan of the blues, but that's changing. What I do find myself enjoying these days though are collaboration albums. Painkillers by James Leg and Left Lane Cruiser, Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed, etc. I also really enjoy double albums. I think that if a band has the material, they should put it all out. On this record, they surely did. I would wager that they just all got into the studio and sat down in the big room and just waited for the red light to come on.