Editing Canned Heat (section)

=== ''Historical Figures'', ''New Age'' and ''Human Condition'' lineups ===
Joel Scott Hill, who had played with the Strangers and the Joel Scott Hill Trio, was recruited to fill the void left by Wilson's death. The band still had a touring contract for September, as well as upcoming studio dates. That fall they toured Australia and Europe; including a show played in Baarn, Netherlands, for the VPRO television program ''Piknik'' and the following summer they appeared at the [[Turku]] Festival in Finland. These performances were recorded, but the recordings were not released until much later, with the albums ''Live at Turku Rock Festival'' in 1995 and ''Under the Dutch Skies 1970–74'' in 2007 (which encompassed three separate tours). At the end of 1971 a new studio album, ''[[Historical Figures and Ancient Heads]]'', was released. The album included Hite's vocal duet with [[Little Richard]] on "Rockin' with the King", written by Skip Taylor and featuring the guitar playing of both Vestine and Joel Scott Hill.

This lineup of Hite, Vestine, Scott Hill, de la Barreda and de la Parra did not last, as the band was in disarray; Scott Hill and de la Barreda's attitudes were not fitting in with the rest of the band, and drummer de la Parra decided to call it quits. He was talked out of it by Hite, and it was Scott Hill and de la Barreda who left the band instead.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000| pp=207–208}}

New additions to the group were James Shane on rhythm guitar and vocals, Ed Beyer on keyboards, and Richard Hite (Bob Hite's brother) on bass. This lineup recorded what was the band's last album for Liberty/[[United Artists Records]], ''[[The New Age (album)|The New Age]]'', released in 1973. This album featured the popular biker-themed anthem "The Harley-Davidson Blues", written by James Shane. The era of the late 1960s was changing, but nonetheless the band embarked on another European tour, during which they recorded a session with [[Memphis Slim]] in [[Paris]] for the album ''Memphis Heat''. They also recorded with [[Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown]], while still in Paris, for the album ''Gates on the Heat'' (both were released by Blue Star Records).{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|pp=355–356.}} Footage from this era is included on the DVD ''Canned Heat Live at Montreux'' (2004).

Met with hard times, de la Parra writes that the band resorted to importing drugs from Mexico to make ends meet between shows.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=214}} Over $30,000 in debt, manager Skip Taylor advised the band to sign away their future royalties to their previous Liberty/United Artists material and jump to [[Atlantic Records]]. After a bad introduction to Atlantic Records, which included a brawl between Hite and Vestine over a vending machine, the band released the album ''[[One More River To Cross (album)|One More River to Cross]]'' in 1973. Produced by [[Roger Hawkins (drummer)|Roger Hawkins]] and [[Barry Beckett]], this album had a different sound and featured the [[Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section|Muscle Shoals Horns]].{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=229}}

On a subsequent promotional tour of Europe, this new "horn band" sound included the talents of [[Clifford Solomon]] and Jock Ellis. Absent from Canned Heat at this time, after growing ever more distant, was longtime manager Skip Taylor, who had left after the band joined Atlantic.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|pp=236–237}} Atlantic producer [[Tom Dowd]] tried to get one more album out of Canned Heat, despite their drug use and heavy drinking; they ultimately recorded an album's worth of material at [[Criteria Studios]] in [[Miami]], Florida, during 1974 (featuring some collaboration with former member Mandel), but Atlantic ended its relationship with Canned Heat before it could be released. The masters for the bulk of the material, which had been kept at Skip Taylor's house, were destroyed in a fire, and what material was rescued by de la Parra was finally restored and issued decades later, in 1997, titled ''The Ties That Bind''.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=356}}

Shortly thereafter, new manager Howard Wolf set up the struggling band with a gig at California's [[Mammoth Mountain Ski Area|Mammoth Ski Resort]]. Bob Hite, in a foul rage, went off on the crowd, to the disapproval of Vestine, James Shane and Ed Beyer, who quit the band as a result.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=240}}

Taking the place of those who departed were pianist [[Gene Taylor (pianist)|Gene Taylor]] and guitarist Chris Morgan, who both joined in late 1974. Taylor departed in 1976 in response to an argument during a tour of Germany, and after a brief fill-in by [[Stan Webb (guitarist)|Stan Webb]] (of [[Chicken Shack]]), Mark Skyer came in as the new guitar player. In the meantime the band had worked out a deal with [[Takoma Records]], and this "Human Condition/Takoma" lineup recorded the 1977 album ''Human Condition''. Despite the appearance of [[the Chambers Brothers]] on the album, it was met with very little success, largely because of the growing popularity of disco music in the late 1970s. Before long, more arguments ensued, and Mark Skyer, Chris Morgan and Richard Hite all quit the band in 1977. Hite promptly hired a new bass player, Richard Exley, after befriending him on tour and watching his performance with the band Montana. Becoming fast friends with Hite, Exley toured the remainder of the year with the band and collaborated with Hite on many of the arrangements during their 1976 Texas Bicentennial Comeback Tour. Exley then quit the band after an argument over Hite's excessive drinking and drug use on stage. Frustrated and fed up, Exley joined the Texas Heartbreakers at the end of that year but returned periodically to fill in as a favor to Hite while the band struggled to find permanent members amidst heavy drinking and drug use. Exley remarked about his time with the band, "No one ever remembers the bass player&nbsp;...". This effectively reduced the band's members to just Hite and de la Parra.{{sfn|De La Parra|2000|p=247}}