Critic's Review
Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
Canned Heat brought a fresh personnel to this confab with blues legend John Lee Hooker (guitar/vocals). Likewise, Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass) and Harvey Mandel (guitar) linked up with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers during the spring of 1970. In their stead, Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar) returned from a failed outing as "The Sun" with Antonio "Tony" de la Barreda (bass) replacing Taylor. Hooker 'n Heat (1971) would be the last release to include contributions from co-founder and blues scholar Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (piano/guitar/harmonica), as he overdosed in September of the same year. Although Canned Heat got top bill -- as the band's record company issued the two-LP package -- this project is uncategorically a John Lee Hooker outlet, and a fine one at that. The contents commence with a bevy of solo Hooker pieces, a few collaborations between Hooker and Wilson, and then the full integration of the entire quartet on the final five sides. While the collection features no real bombs, per se, the results range from the aimlessness of "Send Me Your Pillow" and the appropriately titled "Drifter," to the emotive "Sittin' Here Thinkin'" or the vigorous workout on the indispensable and classic "Burning Hell" and "Bottle Up and Go." "I Got My Eyes on You" -- an unabashed take-off of Hooker's "Dimples" -- is also a keeper. This is also true of "Boogie Chillen No. 2," which rambles, ambles, and shakes for nearly 12 glorious minutes. Audiophiles seeking Mobile Fidelity Lab's gold disc version of Hooker 'n Heat (1996) should take note of the 24-bit remaster from the French Magic Records label, which equals those efforts and adds "It's All Right," with the single edit of "Whiskey and Wimmen'" added in the process.
