Boogying with Canned Heat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blind Owl

Alan Wilson was known as Blind Owl because without his glasses on, he could see very little. Frontman Bob Hite, Jr. was the Bear, bassist Larry Taylor was nicknamed the Mole and guitarist Henry Vestine was known as Sunflower.

Answer: Denver

In their song "My Crime" Canned Heat told of a 1967 concert at at a "hippie club" in Denver, Colorado, after which they were arrested for drug possession. Claiming innocence to the end, they said they were set up because, as the song put it, "the police in Denver don't want any longhairs hangin' around".

Answer: Hooker 'n' Heat

The album "Hooker 'n' Heat" with John Lee Hooker was well received by critics and considered a success for both Hooker and 'Heat.

Answer: record collecting

Bob Hite, Henry Vestine and Alan Wilson were collectors of old 78 RPM blues records and, among the three of them, had an extensive collection numbering in the tens of thousands.

Answer: Henry Vestine

Lead guitarist Henry Vestine joined the group after being fired by Frank Zappa before the Mothers recorded their first album. He played with Canned Heat off and on over many years. In 2003 "Rolling Stone" magazine named him number 77 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Answer: Alan Wilson

Alan Wilson was the first member of Canned Heat to die, in 1970 at age 27, thereby becoming an early member of the so-called "27 Club", named for musicians who died at age 27. His death was due to drug overdose, although band members thought he might have used drugs to commit suicide. Bob Hite, Jr. died in 1981 of a heart attack.

Henry Vestine died in 1997 from respiratory failure. One of his wishes was that one day some of his ashes would be sprinkled in the Vestine Crater on the moon.

Answer: Amphetamine Annie

Written by three members of the band and inspired by the drug use of a friend of Bob Hite, "Amphetamine Annie" was on Canned Heat's second album, "Boogie with Canned Heat". It warned of the dangers of amphetamine abuse; Annie ended up "awfully dead".

Answer: Going Up the Country

Reaching number eleven on the "Billboard Hot 100" in 1968, "Going Up the Country" was Canned Heat's biggest hit and, if Jimi Hendrix hadn't played "The Star Spangled Banner", might have become the most remembered song from the Woodstock concert.

Answer: Yes

Canned Heat named themselves after the song "Canned Heat Blues" by Tommy Johnson, recorded in 1928. Johnson, an alcoholic, wrote the song about Sterno, known as "canned heat", jellied alcohol used to heat fondue and chafing dishes. During America's Prohibition period, alcoholics found a way to separate most of the alcohol from Sterno, many getting methanol poisoning in the process.

Answer: Fried Hockey Boogie

Inspired by some of John Lee Hooker's works, "Fried Hockey Boogie", all eleven minutes and seven seconds of it, was one of Canned Heat's boogies, or jams, where each of the band members got to showcase his talents. Played at the band's concerts, the fans finally convinced them to put it on an album.