[00:13 – 00:17] Welcome to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye.
[00:35 – 00:48] Hello and a very big welcome to you. Thanks for joining me for today’s show. Now you don’t need me to tell you that it’s holiday time and I hope you’re enjoying yourself no matter where or how
[00:48 – 01:00] you’re spending the time off. The festive season really is a period for everyone, including me, to take a little break. So I hope you don’t mind if I present you with my top five favourite
[01:00 – 01:12] interviews from the past year, as I chill out a bit to recharge my battery. I’m hoping to spend a bit of time with my grandkids, put my feet up and maybe read a few
[01:12 – 01:20] books so I can keep the fresh in a breath of fresh air. Are you okay with that? Great. So let’s get
[01:20 – 01:31] the countdown underway as I reintroduce you to some of my favourite episodes. I really hope you get as much pleasure out of hearing each of these as I did chatting with these incredible stars.
[01:32 – 01:40] Today we’re featuring Canned Heat, that hard luck blues band of the 60s founded by blues historians and record collectors
[01:40 – 01:53] Alan Wilson and Bob Haidt. Their music attracted a huge following and established the band as one of the most popular acts of the hippie era. Despite their success, or maybe because of it,
[01:53 – 02:04] drugs and alcohol followed them everywhere and led to a tragic end. Drummer Fito de la Parra is the last remaining member of the band’s original line-up. What I like about Canned Heat is that it’s a band that’s been around for a long time,
[02:04 – 02:12] most about chatting to Fito is his total honesty. I’ve been in the band for, what, 53 years? I joined in 1967.
[02:13 – 02:23] And still Canned Heat are as popular today as what you were in the late 60s. Yeah, in some areas we’re even more popular, which is great. How do you explain that?
[02:24 – 02:34] Well, you know, there is something about playing blues music or jazz music. It’s a theory I have that the older you get, if you dedicate,
[02:34 – 02:47] yourself to play those kind, that kind of music, the older you get, the more interesting you are. Unlike pop music, which pop musicians, you know, the pop culture is more a culture of a visual
[02:47 – 02:54] culture of youth. And really music is secondary. All this started with the beginning of the
[02:54 – 03:04] degeneration of music that started with MTV and many other things that have happened to music since. But as I said, that’s what happens with music. It’s a theory. It’s a theory. It’s a theory.
[03:04 – 03:16] And with blues and jazz musicians, sometimes the older we get, the more interesting we are. Because I guess because of the kind of music we play. That’s the only thing I would assume.
[04:02 – 04:10] Does that mean that the older you get, the better you play it? Or the deeper the music has set inside you?
[04:10 – 04:16] Well, you know, I also like to say sometimes when people try to make musicians like athletes,
[04:17 – 04:23] we are not athletes. We are not burned out by the time we’re 30 or 35 years old. The opposite.
[04:24 – 04:32] We are more like doctors or lawyers. Our craft develops as we grow older and we learn to
[04:32 – 04:40] approach it in different ways and express in different ways. There are great, excellent, young musicians that come.
[04:40 – 04:52] With all this energy and all that stuff. But the approach, the maturity about it, that doesn’t come just like that. That comes only with the years of performing over and over and over.
[05:12 – 05:37] It’s too bad. That feeling’s gone. Time was when we could agree. When we could agree.
[05:42 – 05:47] That time’s gone. Now you find fault with me.
[06:00 – 06:12] You’re better today than you were when you started out. I think so, yes. I may not be as fast or as strong, but the way I play is better. It’s not
[06:12 – 06:22] only me thinking that. I mean, the last time I played a gig in Los Angeles, there were four drummers around me looking at me. Drummers that I know. They’re a little bit younger than me.
[06:22 – 06:31] And, you know, and I was like thinking, what are you guys doing here? You know, you’ve seen me before. But, you know, they were looking at me. And it’s been happening a lot
[06:31 – 06:38] lately. I guess it’s my approach to drums that now they are interested in seeing how a 76-year-old
[06:38 – 06:51] guy plays. Are you still as passionate about making music as you were? Oh, I love it. Music is the most important thing in my life. I play with friends here in Ventura County where I live.
[06:52 – 07:02] I play keyboard or play the drums. Organized jams. You know, you see my house here. This is my music room. You can see my drums there,
[07:02 – 07:15] my piano and other things. We do jams with friends, with people that are not really that good or that bad. It doesn’t matter as long as they love music and like to get together and play
[07:15 – 07:26] music. So if music is the number one in your life, is that the reason that you live alone? I wish I didn’t live alone. I have a girlfriend in Europe, but she’s in Europe and I’m here,
[07:26 – 07:35] and that’s been a problem, you know. It must have been difficult, though, through the years to keep relationships when music was the first love and took up all your time.
[07:36 – 07:46] Yeah, of course. And sometimes, you know, the wife, when I was married, had to be secondary after the music and they didn’t like it very much. But it’s something that is
[07:46 – 07:57] understandable when you are a musician. Can we take a walk back down memory lane and talk about the history of Canned Heat a little bit before we come back up to modern times? Yes. Are you aware of my book?
[07:58 – 08:10] Yes. Of course I know about your book. Yeah. The book is called Living the Blues. Tell us a little bit about it, Fito. Oh, OK. Well, you know, this book was finished in the late 90s. So it’s already an old book.
[08:10 – 08:19] It’s been out for a long time and it’s been doing quite well. But for many years, it was just a self-made, self-published book that I was selling on my website,
[08:19 – 08:28] on the Canned Heat website. The idea to write the book came from my co-writers mainly. I never expected to have the book. I never expected to have the book. I never expected to have the book. I never expected to have the talent to write a book. I’m not a writer,
[08:28 – 08:36] but I happen to be a good raconteur. I tell stories good. And my co-writers are also into
[08:36 – 08:49] motorcycles. And we used to ride motorcycles together. We know each other since Mexico City many years ago, more than 50 years ago. And every time we went out on the rides, you know,
[08:49 – 09:01] there’s a time when you ride with friends in motorcycles, you stop to eat lunch and you exchange stories. That’s what… The culture of motorcycle is all about. It’s not only the riding and the showing off. It’s
[09:01 – 09:08] also that sometimes you stop and you share different stories with friends, etc. So my
[09:08 – 09:21] co-writers met each other in high school and they married and that’s the life they had. It was a very standard life. So they used to go crazy with my stories. They used to love my stories. And that’s
[09:21 – 09:32] where the idea came to write a book. When I would tell them some of the… Can’t hit stories, I would be on the floor laughing or with their mouths open, just couldn’t
[09:32 – 09:43] believe the stuff that was going on. And that’s how the idea of writing a book came out. In one of those biker joints around the desert in California, we shook hands and they said,
[09:43 – 09:55] we’re going to write a book with you. And they did it. Since they were both expert journalists, they did a very good job. They knew how to approach a book to make it riveting, which is what it is.
[09:56 – 10:02] I want to tell you all a story about this chick I know.
[10:03 – 10:15] They call her a phantom, always shoveling snow. I sat her down and told her, I told her crystal clear.
[10:17 – 10:26] I don’t mind you getting high, but there’s one thing you should fear. You might, might think it’s flying, baby.
[10:28 – 10:35] Little pills, but you ought to know it’s dying cause. Speed kills.
[10:36 – 10:45] But Annie kept on speeding. Her health was getting poor. She saw things in the window.
[10:46 – 10:58] She heard things at the door. Her mouth was like a grinding mill. Her lips were cracked and sore. Her skin was turning.
[10:58 – 11:08] Yeah, well, I just couldn’t take it no more. She thought her mind was flying on those little pills.
[11:08 – 11:14] She didn’t know it was going down fast cause. Speed kills.
[11:17 – 11:28] I had a few arguments with them and a few misunderstandings, but I had to go always with what they like. I’ll give you an example. When the first edition came out, it was a lot of people.
[11:28 – 11:40] When the first edition came out, not the first edition, the first, you know, the first tryout. I sent a copy to my ex-wife, my first ex-wife, right? I’ve been married twice. And I called her and I said, so what do you think of my book?
[11:41 – 11:53] And she says, it’s repugnant. Why? She said that because of the sex stories and all that, which are very raw and very, you know, upfront. So I am concerned about it.
[11:53 – 12:06] I call my co-writers and I tell them, I’m really worried about this. We’re doing something. We’re doing something wrong. My wife said, this book is repugnant. And I remember Terry, he just laughed. He laughed and says, great.
[12:06 – 12:14] We can put that comment in the back of the book. It’ll help sell. Yeah. It was perfect. And they love it.
[12:14 – 12:27] People that reads the back of the book that has all the credits, you know, Eric Burden talking about the book and George Thorogood and a guy from the Hells Angels and David Evans, a professor of music.
[12:27 – 12:37] And Memphis University, all them saying what a great book it is, blah, blah, blah, riveting, fantastic story. And at the end, repugnant. And that’s why.
[12:38 – 12:44] Well, now, that’s all right, pretty baby. Yeah, child, that’s all right.
[12:44 – 12:56] Well, now, that’s all right, pretty baby. Yeah, baby, that’s all right. Yeah.
[13:00 – 13:08] Well, now, you know, sweet baby, nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you.
[13:12 – 13:19] Well, now, I told you, little baby, that I’d always be your loving man.
[13:23 – 13:31] Well, now, you’ve got to believe what I told you. Yeah, child, I know it’s going to be your main man.
[13:34 – 13:42] You just do right by me, baby. Yeah, child, don’t never, never raise no sand.
[13:44 – 13:56] She wouldn’t have been very happy with you at all that you included that comment. Well, I mean, she’s very happy with me still. I mean, we were great friends. But her expression of repugnant.
[13:57 – 14:09] I was very concerned about it. You know, I didn’t want to release the book until both my parents were dead. Really? You didn’t want them to know everything? No, I didn’t want them to read any of those adventures, especially my dad.
[14:09 – 14:20] So that’s part of the story. I mean, the book is good. I highly recommend it. And I talk a lot about Australia there and our adventures there because we, for a while,
[14:20 – 14:33] we were part of the Australian musical family. I mean, we were coming to Australia two or three times a year. I mean, we were traveling and walking all the nightclubs and all the places where all
[14:33 – 14:41] the local Australian bands were doing. So we developed friendships with many of them and we spent a lot of time in Australia.
[14:41 – 14:53] All the stories that we could imagine about sex, drugs and rock and roll are all there in your book. And they’re all very true. It all happened for you over that period. Yeah, that’s that’s one thing I got to tell you about my book.
[14:53 – 15:05] Everything there is the truth. The truth. As I saw it and the truth as I lived it, because there has been people that say, no, no, no, this wasn’t that or try to change things. I have witnesses.
[15:06 – 15:17] I have still a few people that are still alive that can confirm everything I wrote. Of course, you lost most of your band members as a result of all those excesses, didn’t you?
[15:17 – 15:29] Yeah, I lost a lot of people and band members and also members that came in later. Ken Heath has been a very brilliant. But it has also been a very tragic band.
[15:29 – 15:40] And I think we have more dead people in our history than any other band around. Do you put that down to the lifestyle? Sometimes it’s the lifestyle.
[15:40 – 15:52] Sometimes it’s, I guess, again, the kind of music, the blues and some of these blues musicians that want to sort of repeat what the blues bastards did, including the self-destruction.
[15:52 – 16:02] How did you manage to survive? So. Dead guys, you know, as I was saying, I’m the only one, the last one left of the original band.
[16:02 – 16:15] But we also had a lot of other people that passed away as the band hire new musicians. And they were also doing the same mistakes and problems that the older ones got.
[16:15 – 16:26] So, yeah, a lot of drugs and rock and roll and death, tragedy. I had a Mexican friend. The Mexican are very hard.
[16:26 – 16:38] They’re very hard about death and the humor in Mexico. And this guy comes to me and you’re aware of my Mexican friends says, you know, the bands that have the most death are the best. Yeah.
[16:38 – 16:50] We will stand. Come on now, people. Let’s get on the ball and work together. Come on, come on.
[16:50 – 17:00] Let’s work together. Now, now, people. Say now together. We will stand. Every boy, girl, woman and man.
[17:03 – 17:14] People, when things go wrong, as they sometimes will. When the road you travel swings. All of you work together.
[17:15 – 17:27] Come on, come on. Let’s work together. Now, now, people. Say now together. We will stand. Every boy, girl, woman and man. Come on and man.
[17:28 – 17:35] Oh, yeah. Oh, look.
[17:55 – 18:08] Stay tuned as Vito reminds us about how the band got its name. This is a breath of fresh air with Sandy Kay. It’s a beautiful day. Thanks for hanging in.
[18:08 – 18:19] Canned Heat were a brilliant but tragic band. Their story reads like a Shakespearean tale. According to drummer Vito de la Parra, Canned Heat lost…
[18:19 – 18:30] More people to drugs than any other band in the history of modern rock and roll. Vito, when you saw all of the destruction going on around you, when you saw them all imploding,
[18:30 – 18:39] didn’t you try and pull them out? Yeah, for a long time I did that. And I, you know, I had some of the guys staying in my house. And we always tried to…
[18:39 – 18:50] Especially later on when I became the leader of the band after Bob’s death, I established certain rules when Henry Vestine, our lead guitar player, who was a heavy alcoholic,
[18:50 – 18:57] because for a long time, you know, the band was just, you know, having hard liquor in the dressing rooms and cocaine and all that other stuff.
[18:58 – 19:08] I made a point that it made forbidden to have hard liquor or hard drugs in the dressing rooms. And Henry could drink beer as much as he wanted to.
[19:08 – 19:19] And he could smoke his cigarettes and smoke some pot. But that’s the only things I will allow in the band. But, you know, it was already too late to do that. And you guys have died already.
[19:20 – 19:33] Ever since I was a kid, you sure look good to me. Now I’m a man full grown and I know what I hate to see.
[19:35 – 19:47] It might be tomorrow. I just don’t know. It might take years. I wonder when they’re going to destroy your face.
[19:54 – 20:00] It may seem silly, but I don’t like what’s been coming down.
[20:01 – 20:07] Cause you’ve been looking good too long to change your color now.
[20:09 – 20:21] They might test some balls and scar your skin. I don’t think they care. So I wonder when they’re going to destroy your face.
[20:27 – 20:34] I hope I’ll see you in the sky at night when I get old.
[20:35 – 20:47] I hope you’ll look about the same as when I was a boy. Oh, well. It gets me to gasping. Oh, well.
[20:47 – 20:55] When I think of you. think about what they might do. I wonder when they’re going to destroy your faith.
[20:56 – 21:06] You know, I take care of myself. I’ve done drugs, of course. I’ve done every drug there is, but I never got hung up on anything. I never really saw that much glamour or that much
[21:06 – 21:17] pleasure out of it. I was actually a little bit afraid of most of it. I do like to smoke weed, and I still do. I’ve been doing that for over 50 years, so I guess here I am, you know?
[21:18 – 21:29] How much did all of those hard drugs and hard alcohol contribute to the output of the brilliant music? Bob was incredible. Would he have been the same without all of the things he was into?
[21:30 – 21:42] Well, I got to say, I hate to say this because people may think that this is like a pro-drugs. Sometimes the drugs did help. Sometimes. I remember a time when we played in Detroit.
[21:43 – 21:55] I mean, Detroit’s a heavy town, okay? The East Town Theatre, the show, started. At one in the morning, and we did some speed that day. Man, we played a fantastic set. I mean,
[21:55 – 22:06] that was one of the greatest sets we ever played. Okay. So a couple of nights go by, and we tried to do the same thing, and we snored the speed again. It was a terrible set.
[22:07 – 22:17] So you never know. Sometimes the drugs will help you and help you with the creativity and all that to get that magic place that you want. But most of the time,
[22:18 – 22:23] the drugs will go against you. Make you tense. You cannot develop. You cannot create.
[22:23 – 22:34] So as you are looking for that magic point, using the drug, you ruin the other 10 or 15 nights. Howdy, girl, howdy.
[22:34 – 22:45] About a thing she saw. Had a two-bit car. And a woolly jaw. Woolly, woolly.
[22:47 – 23:00] Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly. Howdy, girl, howdy.
[23:01 – 23:11] Let’s not take no chance. Let’s not be a seven. Come and learn to dance. Woolly, woolly.
[23:14 – 23:22] Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly. Woolly, woolly.
[23:30 – 23:41] So it’s better not to do it. And of course, I mean, you know, some drugs do well with music. I guess the way… you listen to music, let’s say after you smoke a joint, is different.
[23:42 – 23:52] But you have to see what they are, and they are not really helpful. The drugs also caused a bit of conflict amongst band members, didn’t it? Oh yeah, yeah, of course. Of course.
[23:52 – 24:04] That was the beginning of the first wound, and he did. When Henry was so loaded that he didn’t know what he was doing, we had to put a chair for him to sit down because he couldn’t stand up,
[24:04 – 24:16] and then he started playing on the wrong key. This happened at the Fillmore West, one of the most prestigious places in the world, and we were playing there, and Mike Bloomfield was there,
[24:16 – 24:26] and Harvey Mandel was there, and Paul Waterfield was there. I was born in Chicago in 1941.
[24:29 – 24:40] I was born in Chicago in 1941. Well, my father told me, son, you had better get a gun
[24:42 – 24:53] Well, my first friend went down when I was 17 years old Well, my first friend went down when I was 17 years old
[24:54 – 25:00] Well, there’s one thing I can say about that boy, he died long ago
[25:18 – 25:30] Henry is totally wasted playing out of tune and sitting on a chair, totally ripped. Larry Taylor, the bass player, goes on the stage and goes, I’ve never played with that fucking game.
[25:32 – 25:44] This is bullshit. This is an insult. Right on the stage, in front of everybody. That was the last night that he played with us. He quit after that. Really? You’re asking about the problems with the drugs.
[25:44 – 25:54] Yes, of course. Of course there are problems, especially when you take too much and you mess up and you don’t even know what key you’re playing in. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Wow.
[25:54 – 26:02] And the night that Bob died, I mean, everybody’s deaths were due to overdoses. The night that he died, he was actually at your house, wasn’t he?
[26:02 – 26:14] He died on the way to my house, but he actually died or started dying at the Palomino Club. That’s another famous club. It used to be a country music club, but it became a rock and roll club later. Okay.
[26:14 – 26:25] And there you go, for example, Bob’s death. This guy shows up with a vial full of heroin. And he tells us, this is very dangerous. The stuff is very strong.
[26:26 – 26:36] Bob grabs the vial and puts the whole thing up his nose. Oh. I look at him and I say, what are you doing? Didn’t you hear what he just said?
[26:36 – 26:47] He turned and looked at me and said, that shit ain’t even going to get me high. Ten minutes later, he was dying. And those were his last words. His last words.
[26:47 – 26:59] That shit ain’t even going to get me high. So what did he just think? He was immortal. He was bigger than everything. Well, he was very depressed at the time and he didn’t really care if he was going to die or not.
[26:59 – 27:12] Why was he depressed? Can’t hate, we’re on top of the world. No, no, because by then we were not on top of the world and he was having a lot of problems with his wife. She was a terrible person that made him miserable.
[27:12 – 27:23] And it was his choice, too. To stay with her, too. And they were both heavy alcoholics and drug addicts. I mean, they were drug addicts. And Bob used to do that stuff before.
[27:23 – 27:33] He did this thing of the vial and putting the whole vial up his nose several times before with cocaine and with all the drugs. But this time, it’s the one that killed him.
[28:08 – 29:03] I mean, he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he
[29:26 – 29:33] was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict
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[30:54 – 31:05] but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict, but he was a drug addict,
[31:05 – 31:15] awesome music on the planet. You had those three super hits. I think you put out multiple albums, but those three humongous hits that just raced to number
[31:15 – 31:27] one, you took blues music to a whole different level. It was accepted by the mainstream, and I don’t think it had been accepted before that really had it. Yeah, that’s the truth. And that was really our main mission and our main desire.
[31:27 – 31:38] We never expected to become a popular band. We never even cared about it and and even gave it any attention to. When we had our first hit record, we couldn’t believe it.
[31:38 – 31:46] We said, what? Did we put a blues song on the charts? This is amazing. Which one was that? On the Road Again.
[31:49 – 32:01] Well, I’m so tired of crying, but I’m out on the road again. I’m on the road again. Well, I’m so tired of crying, but I’m out on the road again.
[32:02 – 32:09] I’m on the road again. I ain’t got no woman just to call my special friend.
[32:11 – 32:18] You know the first time I traveled out in the rain and snow, in the rain and snow.
[32:19 – 32:31] You know the first time I traveled out in the rain and snow, in the rain and snow. I didn’t have no fair road, not even no place to go.
[32:33 – 32:40] And my dear mother left me when I was quite young, when I was quite young.
[32:41 – 32:53] And my dear mother left me when I was quite young, when I was quite young. She said, Lord, have mercy on my wicked son.
[33:18 – 33:30] Take a hint from your mama, please. Don’t you cry no more. Don’t you cry no more. Take a hint from your mama, please. Don’t you cry no more.
[33:30 – 33:38] Don’t you cry no more. Cause it’s soon one morning, down the road I’m going.
[33:40 – 33:51] But I ain’t going down that long, old, lonesome road all by myself. But I ain’t going down that long, old, lonesome road all by myself.
[33:51 – 34:00] But I ain’t going down that long, old, lonesome road all by myself. I can’t carry you, baby, gonna carry somebody else.
[34:25 – 34:38] It broke by itself in Dallas, Texas. Some disc jockey in Dallas started playing it. And then another disc jockey in Houston, Texas started playing it. You know, Texas is a blues state. And then there it was.
[34:38 – 34:50] It became a world. It was a worldwide hit. Yeah. It broke all the rules, didn’t it? It was much too long as a single. It wasn’t radio friendly at all. And yet it just shot up the charts. I guess it was part of the times.
[34:51 – 35:03] You know, I call this time kind of a renaissance in music. The late 60s and early 70s. And I guess that’s when the blues music became very part of all these bands that were playing.
[35:03 – 35:15] And we were improvising a lot and playing long solos and doing all this stuff that, you know, that nobody does. And we were improvising a lot and playing long solos and doing all this stuff that, you know, that nobody does anymore. And as I said, our mission and our desire was to make blues music palatable to white audiences.
[35:16 – 35:23] Most people didn’t know about it. It was a very, very rare thing. It was only a few beatniks here and there.
[35:23 – 35:31] They went to this small clubs with 10, 20 people and listened to some of the old masters like John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed and all that.
[35:31 – 35:44] And we wanted to make blues music understood and appreciated just like jazz music was. And we wanted to make blues music understood and appreciated just like jazz music was. And I guess we did a pretty good job about it because look at the blues now.
[35:44 – 35:54] Look how many blues bands are there now. We were some of the first pioneers introducing this music to white audiences in your country and in Europe, too.
[35:54 – 36:06] We’ll be right back with more from Canned Heat founder and drummer, Fito de la Parra. This is A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kay. It’s a beautiful day.
[36:07 – 36:17] Welcome back. We’ve heard how Canned Heat popularized blues music and set the stage for many other blues artists to follow. But at what cost?
[36:17 – 36:21] The band’s sole remaining original member, Fito de la Parra, continues.
[36:22 – 36:31] By the time we started playing blues, black people already were sort of turning their backs on it because it reminded them of painful times.
[36:32 – 36:39] Times of racism, times of segregation and times of the Uncle Tom chaos. I mean, turn.
[36:40 – 36:50] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me on
[36:51 – 37:00] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me on
[37:02 – 37:11] Look over Jordan, what do I see? Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me on Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me on
[37:12 – 37:22] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me on Swing low, sweet chariot
[37:22 – 37:34] I want to finish what we were talking about the beginning of these bands, because there was Paul Butterfield Blues Band in Chicago. You probably heard of them. It was John Mayle and Alexis Corner from England.
[37:35 – 37:47] And they were the two white blues bands that were starting to… promote and create this kind of music. So we wanted to be the West Coast answer to them.
[37:47 – 37:57] My manager remembers that we went to see him. This is before I joined the band when the band had another drummer. They went to see him and they told him, we would like to be as famous as
[37:57 – 38:03] Paul Butterfield or as famous as John Mayle. Eventually, Kent, he became more famous than they
[38:03 – 38:11] because we had three blues-oriented records that became worldwide hits. And Paul Butterfield never
[38:11 – 38:23] had a hit record. They were famous. They were very talented and they played great music, but they didn’t have a worldwide hit record. And the same thing happened with John Mayle, who had great
[38:23 – 38:31] talent and great history, great musicians that he hired throughout his life, but he didn’t have a worldwide blues record.
[38:33 – 38:40] All the lovin’ is lovin’ All the kissin’ is kissin’
[38:41 – 38:49] All the lovin’ is lovin’ All the kissin’ is kissin’
[38:51 – 39:03] Before I met you, baby Never knew what I was missin’ All your love, pretty baby All your love, pretty baby
[39:04 – 39:11] That God was talkin’ to you All your love, pretty baby
[39:22 – 39:34] Well, I’m sayin’ that we Mayle’s Blues Breakers with All Your Love. Kent Heat was just killing them at this time.
[39:34 – 39:46] Their second hit, Going Up the Country, shot straight up to number one. The original version comes from Texas from a one-man band called Henry Thomas. The band is called Going Down South.
[39:46 – 39:57] The music inspired us to make that song, and Alan Wilson changed the lyrics. He used pretty much the same music from Henry Thomas’ version from the 20s.
[39:57 – 40:05] It’s a very early country blues song. He changed the lyrics completely, and he called it Going Up the Country, Baby, Don’t You Wanna Go.
[40:05 – 40:14] That’s why it became so famous, and it became sort of the Woodstock anthem, because it related to the Woodstock Festival. You see?
[40:14 – 40:27] Going up the country, baby, don’t you wanna go, is going up the mountains, up from New York City to the Kaskill Mountains, where the farm was, where the great festival happened.
[40:28 – 40:36] So that’s why Going Up the Country became very famous, too. It’s a great song. The flute part is beautiful, and it became worldwide, too.
[40:45 – 41:01] I’m going up the country, baby, don’t you wanna go, I’m going up the country, baby, don’t you wanna go, I’m going to some place where I’ve never been before.
[41:03 – 41:13] I’m going, I’m going where the water tastes like wine. I’m going where the water tastes like wine.
[41:15 – 41:28] We can jump in the water, stay drunk all the time In America, going up the country is our biggest hit.
[41:28 – 41:39] In Europe, let’s work together is our biggest hit. I think we took on all three. But talking about those Woodstock days, would that still count as one of the greatest experiences of your whole life?
[41:39 – 41:48] I guess it was the biggest gig I ever played. And I didn’t want to go. I was very tired and we were upset. We were sad.
[41:48 – 42:01] That big fight with Henry and Larry had just happened at the Fillmore West a few days before. Yeah. We hired Harvey Mandel right there on the Fillmore West, right after Henry quit and got off.
[42:01 – 42:12] And we still had to play another set. And we didn’t have a guitar player to play with, a lead guitar. So we invited Mike Bloomfield to sit in with us. And Mike played with us.
[42:12 – 42:25] And it sounded like he had been with us for a long time. I mean, it sounded great. After the song, after the set, we asked Mike if he wanted to join the band. I said, join Ken. We’re doing really good. We’re famous, blah, blah, blah.
[42:25 – 42:38] And he said, no. He says, I’ve been with Paul Borders for three years and I’m tired of the road. I don’t want to go on the road anymore. And he’d just been in the audience that night. Yeah, he was there in the audience. And Paul was there, too.
[42:38 – 42:48] And Harvey Mandel was there, too. So we… We invited Harvey for the second set. And again, Harvey played real good. He was also a great guitar player. They were both from Chicago.
[42:48 – 42:57] They came from that Chicago part of the white blues thing, you know? Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Bordersfield, Barry Golder, you know?
[42:57 – 43:08] All these Jewish kids from Chicago playing blues, playing black music, you know? Amazing. I was born in Chicago in 1941.
[43:17 – 43:28] Well, my father told me, son, you had better get a gun. Well, my first friend went down when I was 17 years old.
[43:30 – 43:42] Well, my first friend went down when I was 17 years old. Well, there’s one thing I can say about that boy. He died for me. He died for me.
[43:42 – 43:55] He died for me. He died for me. He died for me. He died for me. He died for me. And then after Harvey played, you know, we also offered him the gig. And he said, yes.
[43:55 – 44:06] And five days later, we were playing with him at Woodstock without rehearsing and without practicing, without any time. We just had to go and play the gigs. But it came out okay.
[44:06 – 44:16] And the experience of playing in Woodstock and being surrounded by all those huge names must have been incredible. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe here I am.
[44:16 – 44:27] I mean, here I am, an immigrant from Mexico, right? And all of a sudden, I find myself in this great festival with all these people there. Of course, I found Carlos Santana there.
[44:28 – 44:40] And I found Chepito Arias. He’s a ballet player. So we could speak a little Spanish there and share a joint. Soon afterwards, you had that third hit, which was Let’s Work Together.
[44:40 – 44:50] Can you tell me a little bit about that one? That’s a great one. That’s another nice story of Let’s Work Together. You must know that Bob Hite and Alan and Henry were musicologists and record collectors.
[44:51 – 45:02] They had an incredible amount of records. I mean, Bob had like thousands of records. So one time, we used to go to his house a lot and hang out and listen to music continuously.
[45:03 – 45:14] That was Bob Hite’s life. He always had music going on in his house and people there. It was like a constant party going on. And he loved to educate. That was what he wanted to do.
[45:14 – 45:23] He wanted to educate people about blues music and about how important, how good it is, how primitive, how it affects your primal instinct.
[45:23 – 45:34] So we were listening to records and he pulls this record by Wilbur Harrison, the same guy that wrote Kansas City. And we hear this record and it sounds great. It is Let’s Work Together.
[45:35 – 45:44] Together we will stand. Fighting will fall. Come on now people, let’s get it. Let’s work together. Get on the ball and work together.
[45:45 – 45:57] Come on, come on, lets work together. Now now people, say now together we will stand, every boy, girl, woman, and man.
[46:00 – 46:12] People, when things go wrong, as they sometimes will. On the road you travel, we’ll race. On a field we’ll work together. Working together.
[46:12 – 46:25] Come on, come on, let’s work together Now my people say now together we will stand Every boy, girl, woman and man
[46:26 – 46:37] Oh yeah Oh, look at him, look at him Bob Roses says, you know, we should do this song
[46:37 – 46:49] But let’s wait and see if Wilbur Harrison gets a hit with it If he does, then that’s okay If the song becomes obscure and nothing happens, then we should do it And that’s what happened We waited about six months
[46:49 – 47:00] And nothing happened with the song, it disappeared So then, one time, we said, okay, let’s do this work together And we did it, and it came almost like magic
[47:00 – 47:11] It was probably the first or second take, that’s it And it was recorded mono or out, not even stereo We could not repeat it if we tried I don’t even know how it happened But that’s how it happened
[47:11 – 47:24] Even the last time I was in Canberra I remember the parliament was using Let’s Work Together Were they? Yeah, the Australian parliament was using that song It was wonderful
[47:24 – 47:36] I show up in Canberra and I tell them I heard that you guys are using our song And we’re delighted that you are doing that Did they pay you for it? I don’t know That’s another tragic story
[47:36 – 47:47] We don’t get any royalties or any money on any of those songs You gave away the rights? Yes, we lost it We lost all those rights You have to read my book to hear the whole story
[47:47 – 47:59] We’re just one more band from the 60s That has this tragic story about our royalties Most of us got ripped off And they ended up with nothing
[47:59 – 48:10] Fito, the reason that we’re actually talking today Is because your 1998 Rock Plus live show Recorded for the 13th Blues Festival in Bonn in Germany
[48:11 – 48:23] Is just being re-released on CD and DVD How do you feel about that? I hope you’re going to pick up royalties from these sales I remember the occasion and I remember the tour I didn’t even know they filmed it
[48:23 – 48:36] Until the author came to release it I don’t know where they found it But I was pleasantly surprised That it sounded so good and it looked good too Strange I am
[48:37 – 48:45] Yeah, I’m not new to your town I’m a stranger
[48:45 – 48:56] And I’m not new to your town And I don’t know why
[48:58 – 49:08] People got a dog and stranger out Well, I’m hurting way too much I’m sorry
[49:08 – 49:17] If I wear out all my shit Heaven, wait, I’m sorry
[49:18 – 49:31] If I wear out all my shit I’m no stranger I’m no stranger to the blues
[49:36 – 49:47] These days you lead the band You’ve got a whole team of new members And you’re a member of the band You’re out there doing gigs again You’re all over the place You know, we’re pretty tired of traveling You see, this is what happened
[49:47 – 50:00] The COVID came and we didn’t work for two years And all of a sudden I found a real happy place That I never had in my life I’ve never been one month without traveling In the past 53 years
[50:00 – 50:12] I’ve never been one month or two months Watching TV and laying back and doing nothing It was great And you know, I’m already in my 70s And I’m tired The thing is this
[50:12 – 50:25] I love playing music But I hate traveling After traveling so much That’s why I always say The music is for free What we charge for is to get there That’s a good line
[50:25 – 50:37] And I’ll tell you another fatal line Musicians don’t retire Musicians just die Well, you’ve witnessed that firsthand, haven’t you? Many times over And many other of my great artists
[50:37 – 50:49] Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, the great drummers They were playing in their 70s And then all of a sudden They were just not playing anymore Well, we want you to stay in very good shape Even if you’re not out there playing too much
[50:49 – 51:01] Enjoy the house I totally relate to what you’re saying You get used to getting to this safety area, you know And being on the road is very dangerous too I mean, you’re in danger all the time You’re traveling, you’re exposed
[51:01 – 51:12] You can’t control the circumstances But still, we’ll do it Well, Fito de la Pau It’s been an absolute pleasure chatting with you I thank you so much for being extraordinarily generous with your time
[51:12 – 51:23] And what a raconteur you are Thank you, Sandy If you’d like to know more about Fito de la Pau and Canned Heat Check out Fito’s book It’s called Living the Blues
[51:23 – 51:36] All of his best stories are there Thanks for joining me today on the first of our five holiday shows I hope you can join me next week for number four As we meet Dr Hook’s Dennis Locoyeri
[51:36 – 51:47] See you then Bye now Cause it’s a beautiful day You’ve been listening to A Breath of Fresh Air with Sandy Kaye Beautiful day
[51:47 – 51:54] Oh, baby, any day that you’re gone away It’s a beautiful day