The final Canned Heat album to feature co-founder Alan Wilson, Future Blues was also one of their best, surprisingly restrained as a studio creation by the band, the whole thing clocking in at under 36 minutes, as long as some single jams on their live discs. It was also one of their most stylistically diverse efforts. Most of what's here is very concise and accessible, even the one group-composed jam - Alan Wilson's "Shake It and Break It" and his prophetically titled "My Time Ain't Long" (he would be dead the year this record was issued), which also sounds a lot like a follow-up to "Going up the Country" until its final, very heavy, and up-close guitar coda. Other songs are a little self-consciously heavy, especially their version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right, Mama"…

Canned Heat is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles in 1965. The group has been noted for its interpretations of blues material and for its efforts to promote interest in this type of music and its original artists. It was launched by two blues enthusiasts, Alan Wilson and Bob Hite, who took the name from Tommy Johnson's 1928 "Canned Heat Blues", a song about an alcoholic who had desperately turned to drinking Sterno, generically called "canned heat", After appearances at the Monterey and Woodstock festivals at the end of the 1960s, the band acquired worldwide fame with a lineup consisting of Hite (vocals), Wilson (guitar, harmonica and vocals), Henry Vestine and later Harvey Mandel (lead guitar), Larry Taylor (bass), and Adolfo de la Parra (drums).

This platter captures the 1970 incarnation of Canned Heat with Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass), Aldolfo "Fito" de la Parra (drums), and newest addition Harvey Mandel (guitar), who had replaced Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar) in 1969. They headed across the Atlantic in the spring of 1970 on the heels of "Let's Work Together" – a Wilbert Harrison cover that charted within the Top Five in Europe. That outing yielded the combo's first concert disc, Live in Europe (1971) – which had been issued almost a year earlier in the U.K. as Canned Heat Concert (Recorded Live in Europe) (1970).

Formed by three avid blues record collectors, Canned Heat reformatted the sound of those beloved old 78s into ragged electric guitar boogies that fit the gestalt of the Woodstock generation. Guitarist and harmonica player Alan Wilson, singer Bob Hite, and guitarist Henry Vestine took their record collecting seriously, lifting the quill section from Texas songster Henry Thomas' 1920s recording of "Bull Doze Blues" note for note to form the intro to "Going Up the Country," one of Canned Heat's most enduring songs. At its best, Canned Heat translated an enthusiasm for old blues into a bright, radio-friendly history lesson, and at its worst, it collapsed into being just another white blues boogie band.

It's about time these early Canned Heat albums were made available once again! Thanks in part to their appearance in the Monterey Pop and later Woodstock festival films, these two albums, especially Boogie With Canned Heat, built Canned Heat's reputation as a top-notch white blues band of the late '60s. The self-titled disc from 1967 features a rough mix of originals and blues standards, including "Catfish Blues," "Rich Woman," and "Big Road Blues." Boogie was released the following year and actually contained a hit single, "On the Road Again." The other tracks on the album, especially "Fried Hockey Boogie" and "Amphetamine Annie," became staples of early FM underground radio. Canned Heat would rarely sound this together as a working unit in the studio again.

Los Angeles, 1965: Blues enthusiasts Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (1943-1970) and Bob "The Bear" Hite (1943-1981) together with like-minded musicians found Canned Heat. They name the band after the title of a 1928 song by bluesman Tommy Johnson about a fuel containing methyl alcohol, also referred to as "canned heat", which is misused by alcoholics as a substitute drug. In 1967 drummer Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra who is still a member today joins Canned Heat, while otherwise the band has seen a lot of personnel turnover in the course of its history. One year later Canned Heat's successful hit single "On The Road Again" makes them popular worldwide. Following this chart success they have further hits with "Going Up The Country" (1968) and "Let's Work Together" (1970). In August 1969 Canned Heat are part of the line-up of the legendary "Woodstock Music & Art Fair". Apart from band albums such as their eponymous debut LP from 1967 or "Boogie With Canned Heat" from the following year they are featured on collaborations with genre greats such as John Lee Hooker ("Hooker 'n Heat", 1971), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown ("Gate's On The Heat", 1973) or Memphis Slim ("Memphis Heat", 1974).

These are the earliest-known recordings of Canned Heat with the primordial lineup of Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/harmonica/vocals), Stuart Brotman (bass), Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar), Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), and either Keith Sawyer (drums), or perhaps his replacement, Frank Cook (drums), who joined circa 1966. Another notable name among the personnel listed on the original LP jacket is rhythm & blues legend, Johnny Otis as producer. This is certainly fitting, as the Heat wind their way through compact, high-energy versions of a variety of selections, directly contrasting the longer psychedelic showcases that would evolve over the next few years.

Original Hits: 70s is a decent six-disc set, highlighting 111 pop singles released in that decade. Along with the original versions of radio classics by Al Stewart, Blondie, the Knack, KC & the Sunshine Band, and Dr. Hook, are less-than-obvious inclusions by Peter Tosh, XTC, the Move, and Benny Hill!

This 15-track single-disc collection was culled from Canned Heat (1967), Boogie With Canned Heat (1968), Living the Blues (1968), Hallelujah (1969), and Future Blues (1970). Arguably, Canned Heat Cookbook (1969) – a hits package in its own right – could be lumped in since it was the first full-length platter with "Going Up the Country," which was initially only issued on a 45-rpm single. During this era, the Heat was inhabited by Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/vocals), Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass), Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar), and Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals). Frank Cook (drums) contributed to the band's self-titled debut prior to being replaced by Aldolfo "Fito" de la Parra (drums), who remained as the combo's sole purveyor into the 1990s.