That's called gettin' ready for the boogie

Continuing my trip back through the 1968 album charts.

29/09/68 : Boogie With Canned Heat - Canned Heat

Canned Heat are one of those groups that I've heard of and could place them around this time, but that's all I can tell you about them.  I believe they're American, but I could be making that up - and it's not like that helps me work out what I'm about to hear.

OK - it's very bluesy rock (and yes, American).  It sounds like white boys doing what black guys had been doing for decades (and being much more commercially successful with it) - it's probably a case of them arguing they were bringing it to a wider audience whereas others would say they were jumping on the bandwagon - I'm sure Wikipedia will explain it all to me.  It's well done though and a lot more bearable than a load of the late 60s US albums that Rolling Stone forced me to endure.  The last track is quite odd - it's like the one they play towards the end of a gig where they go round the group, introducing everyone and letting them show off a little.  And it just sounds wrong when you're sat on the sofa - but I can imagine seeing them live was a particularly enjoyable experience (certainly more enjoyable than looking at the album cover).

We're at a somewhat surprising #5 in the charts this week on its fourteenth week of a twenty week run - and this was as high as it got (which is considerably higher than it would manage these days).  The rest of the top five were Simon & Garfunkel (what?  The Hollies didn't spend all year at #1?), The Seekers, The Hollies (ah - there they are) and Tom Jones, the highest (and only) new entry was a Ray Charles best-of at #34 and there are (unsurprisingly) no new women featured in the chart.

Wikipedia doesn't have a lot on the album and most of it has a vague "people really liked this?" kinda tinge to it - Rolling Stone described "Owl City" as being good because of the "peculiarly high crooning mumble grooving along over a kicking, chugging rhythm section" - if that's not THE definition of popular music, I don't know what is.  Unusually, it doesn't even tell us how well the album did in the US, but their entry tells us it got to #16 and it also tells us they're still going, although only the drummer remains from the original line-up (most of the other original members being no longer with us).  It also makes it very clear they are respected for bringing blues and the original artists to a wider audience, so I take back any nasty thoughts I may have had about them jumping on any bandwagon.

Customers also listened to" Free, The Yardbirds, Mungo Jerry and The Allman Brothers - definitely in the same area there.  This isn't really my thing but I didn't mind it at all - it does what it does well.

22/09/68 - Mad, but unexpectedly enjoyable
06/10/68 - An intriguing listen