Bob Hite of Canned Heat performs on stage in 1973 in Amsterdam,... News Photo Getty Images

Bob Hite Canned Heat. Harvey Mandel, Alan Wilson, Bob Hite, Larry Taylor and Fito De La... News Photo Getty Images Canned Heat : Canned Heat / Liberty Records, 1967/ Mono & Stereo LP / Bob Hite On Vocals, Harmonica 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.

In 1965, Hite formed a band with Wilson and Vestine The cover started controversy, as it features the band "drinking" censored cans of Sterno cooking fuel (If you look closely on the picture provided.

CANNED HEAT IconicPix Music Archive

With Bob Hite as the sole remaining member of the original duo, Canned Heat continued recording and playing throughout the '70s, but its glory days were well behind. Hite was introduced to Alan Wilson by Henry Vestine and the two of them helped convince blues pianist Sunnyland Slim (1906-1995) to get back into the recording studio to record Canned Heat frontman Bob Hite overdosed on April 5, 1981 during a show at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood.

The Story Of Canned Heat's 'Big Bear' Bob Hite uDiscover. In 1976 my girlfriend Terra (her grandfather started BMI and her other grandfather was the renowned Disney decorator Emil Kuri) and I were searching for stuff to listen to that was not "mainstream". The cover started controversy, as it features the band "drinking" censored cans of Sterno cooking fuel (If you look closely on the picture provided.

Bob Hite of Canned Heat performs on stage in 1973 in Amsterdam,... News Photo Getty Images. Bob "The Bear" Hite was a crucial part of the West Coast Blues revival of the late 1960's Canned Heat : Canned Heat / Liberty Records, 1967/ Mono & Stereo LP / Bob Hite On Vocals, Harmonica