Editing Canned Heat (section)

=== Origins and early lineups ===
Canned Heat was started within the community of blues collectors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Helander |first=Brock |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mbHDgAAQBAJ&dq=canned+heat+founded+hite+topanga&pg=PT132 |title=The Rockin' 60s: The People Who Made the Music |date=January 1, 2001 |publisher=Schirmer Trade Books |isbn=978-0-85712-811-9 |language=en}}</ref> [[Bob Hite]] had been trading blues records since his early teens, and his house in [[Topanga, California|Topanga Canyon]] was a meeting place for people interested in music. In 1965, some blues devotees there decided to form a [[jug band]] and started rehearsals. The initial configuration included Hite as vocalist, [[Alan Wilson (musician)|Alan Wilson]] on [[Slide guitar|bottleneck guitar]], Mike Perlowin on lead guitar, Stu Brotman on bass and Keith Sawyer on drums. Perlowin and Sawyer dropped out within a few days, so guitarist [[Kenny Edwards]] (a friend of Wilson's) stepped in to replace Perlowin, and Ron Holmes agreed to sit in on drums until they could find a permanent drummer.

Another of Hite's friends, [[Henry Vestine]] (who had been let go from [[Frank Zappa]]'s [[The Mothers of Invention|Mothers of Invention]] for smoking [[Cannabis (drug)|pot]]),{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=66}} asked if he could join the band and was accepted, while Edwards was kept on temporarily. Soon Edwards departed (he went on to form the [[Stone Poneys]] with [[Bobby Kimmel]] and [[Linda Ronstadt]]), and at the same time [[Frank Cook (American musician)|Frank Cook]] came in to replace Holmes as their permanent drummer. Cook already had substantial professional experience, having performed with such jazz luminaries as bassist [[Charlie Haden]], trumpeter [[Chet Baker]], and pianist [[Elmo Hope]], and had also collaborated with black soul/pop artists such as [[Shirley Ellis]] and [[Dobie Gray]].

In 1966, producer [[Johnny Otis]] brought them into a studio to record material for a first album, with the ensemble of Hite, Wilson, Cook, Vestine, and Brotman. However, the recordings went unissued until 1970 when they appeared as ''[[Vintage (Canned Heat album)|Vintage Heat]]'', released by [[Janus Records]]. Otis oversaw the session which produced a dozen tracks, including two versions of "[[Rollin' and Tumblin']]{{-"}} (with and without harmonica), "[[Spoonful]]" by [[Willie Dixon]], and "Louise" by [[John Lee Hooker]] in his studio in Los Angeles. Over a summer hiatus in 1966, Stuart Brotman effectively left Canned Heat after he had signed a contract for a long engagement in Fresno with an Armenian belly-dance revue. Canned Heat had contacted Brotman, touting a recording contract which had to be signed the next day, but Brotman was unable to make the signing on short notice. Brotman would go on to join the world-music band [[Kaleidoscope (American band)|Kaleidoscope]] with [[David Lindley (musician)|David Lindley]], replacing Chris Darrow. Replacing Brotman in Canned Heat was [[Mark Andes]], who lasted only a couple of months before he returned to his former colleagues in the Red Roosters, who adopted the new name Spirits Rebellious, later shortened to [[Spirit (band)|Spirit]].

After joining up with managers Skip Taylor and John Hartmann, Canned Heat finally found a permanent bassist in [[Larry Taylor]], who joined in March 1967. He was a former member of the Moondogs and the brother of Ventures' drummer, [[Mel Taylor]], and already had experience backing [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] and [[Chuck Berry]] in concert, and recording studio sessions for [[the Monkees]].{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=112}}

This lineup (Hite, Wilson, Vestine, Taylor, Cook) started recording in April 1967 for [[Liberty Records]] with [[Calvin Carter]], who had been the head of [[A&R]] for [[Vee-Jay Records]] and had recorded such bluesmen as [[Jimmy Reed]] and [[John Lee Hooker]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Tiegel|first=Eliot|title=Jazz Beat|date=July 8, 1967|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wycEAAAAMBAJ&q=canned+heat&pg=PA12 |page=12}}</ref> They recorded "Rollin' and Tumblin'{{-"}}, backed with "Bullfrog Blues", and this became Canned Heat's first single. The first official album, ''[[Canned Heat (album)|Canned Heat]]'', was released three months later in July 1967. All tracks were re-workings of older blues songs. The ''Los Angeles Free Press'' reported: "This group has it! They should do very well, both live and with their recordings." ''[[Canned Heat (album)|Canned Heat]]'' fared reasonably well commercially, reaching number 76 on the Billboard chart.