Big Road Blues

AMG Review of Big Road Blues

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

This brief collection features some of the ragged song demos Canned Heat did for Johnny Otis in 1966 before they signed with Liberty Records and released their debut album in 1967. Featuring mostly covers of classic lues songs, the versions aren't bad at all, and while they lack some of the polish (using the word in a relative fashion) and shine of their classic releases, the energy and passion on display here is alluring. These tracks weren't officially released until 1970 when they appeared as a LP from Janus Records under the title Vintage Canned Heat. Since then they have appeared under a variety of different titles from different labels, often with a handful of live tracks from a 1968 show at the Kaleidoscope in Los Angeles tacked on for good measure.