The official Bob Hite Tribute page Sanctioned by Canned Heat
(b. February 26, 1945, Torrance, California; d. April 6, 1981, Venice, California), Hite was a blues shouter whose massive physique earned him the nickname “The Bear.†His size was matched only by his equally massive knowledge of blues music.
Bob Hite was born into a musical family in Torrance, California. His mother was a singer and his father had played in a dance band in Pennsylvania. Hite remembered hearing his first blues record, “Cruel Hearted Woman†by Thunder Smith, when he was only eight. As a young man, he became obsessed with records and he purchased old jukebox records for nine cents each, regardless of who the artist was. By the time he reached the fifth grade, he had amassed more records than the rest of his classmates put together. He soon expanded his collection to include 78 r.p.m. blues records, which later influenced his vocal technique of “shouting the blues.†Spending his teenage years hanging around record stores, Hite would later manage a store that specialized in old records, making many useful contacts with fellow collectors and musicians as part of his job.
Canned Heat’s self-titled debut was released in July, 1967. The straightforward traditional blues effort was highlighted by covers of blues standards, including Willie Dixon’s “Evil Is Going On,†Muddy Water’s “Rollin’ and Tumblin’†and a take of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic “Help Me,†with vocals by Wilson. The Los Angeles Free Press reported, “This group has it! They should do very well, both live and with their recordings.†Canned Heat fared reasonably well commercially, reaching 76 on the Billboard chart.
Following a one week gig at the Ash Grove from August 22-26, the band went on their first national tour. Disaster struck when the group was arrested in Denver for marijuana possession. Only Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, a pioneer eco-warrior who had been out collecting leaves at the time, escaped arrest. Upon returning to L.A., the group held a press conference to announce that their bust had been orchestrated and that the Denver Police Department had planted evidence to use against them as part of an ongoing campaign of harassment waged against the owners and promoters of the Family Dog (a hippy ballroom) and its patrons.
Publicity aside, the members, with the exception of Wilson, ended up spending the weekend in jail before being released on bail. The arrest would have disastrous financial consequences for them in future years. Lacking the funds to mount an adequate legal defense, the band was forced to sell half of their publishing rights to Liberty Records for $10,000 so that they could secure the services of a top Denver attorney. The trial ended up with the band members only receiving probation, but the loss of their publishing continues to costs them thousands and thousands of dollars every year.
Right from the start, Canned Heat has been at the forefront of popularizing blues music. Their second album, “Boogie With Canned Heat,†included the worldwide hit “On The Road Again,†the crown jewel of the set. It revealed Wilson in six different capacities, three tamboura parts, harmonica, vocal and guitar, all recorded at different times. His unconventional falsetto and the song’s Eastern textures made the recording an instant classic. A twelve-minute version of “Fried Hockey Boogie,†(credited to Larry Taylor, but obviously derived from John Lee Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen†riff) allowed each member to stretch out on his instrument while establishing them with hippie ballroom audiences across America as the “kings of the boogie!†Hite’s “Amphetamine Annie†(a tune inspired by the drug abuse of an acquaintance), became one of their most enduring songs and the first “anti-drug†song of the decade. Another well-known track, “My Crime,†had lyrics inspired by the Denver drug bust.
In early 1969, Canned Heat’s tour took them to Houston,TX where a record collector friend of Bob’s casually mentioned that guitar legend Albert Collins (“The Master of the Telecasterâ€) was playing a little joint called the Ponderosa Club in the city’s Black neighborhood. After sitting down for ribs and admiring his odd D-minor tunings and unorthodox style, the band introduced themselves after the gig and found that Albert had too heard of them, commenting “Damn… You guys cook!†After advising him to move to LA to boost his career, the Heat got him an agent and introduced him to the executives for United Artists. To show his appreciation, Collins’ first record title for UA, “Love Can Be Found Anywhere†was taken from Bob Hite’s lyric in the “Fried Hockey Boogieâ€. Collins developed an amazing career after that, and became well known in blues circles around the world until his death in 1994.
In 1970, after a chance meeting at an airport Canned Heat met John Lee Hooker and convinced him to do a studio record with them. Hooker N Heat revitalized the career of John Lee Hooker, and secured a lasting bond between the two groups. With Hooker N Heat, Canned Heat had become the apostles of the boogie and helped lay the foundation that Hooker followed until his passing in 2001. Hooker admitted in a Rolling Stone interview in 1999 that "Canned Heat plays my music better than anybody I know."
Lets Work Together was Bob's greatest commercial success. It was a gold single, and now the record Future Blues has gone Platinum.
Hite also recorded with Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Memphis Slim, Ronnie Barron, and Sunnyland Slim.
On April 5th, 1981 at the Palomino in Los Angeles, gargantuan vocalist Bob Hite collapsed and died of a heart attack. The Bear still boogies with us onstage in our hearts, and for now, we offer this tribute site to celebrate his memory. Thank You for visiting.
- Canned Heat
