Canned Heat Blues

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Canned Heat Blues is one of the American Delta blues musician Tommy Johnson written and from him in 1928 in Memphis (Tennessee) recorded in 1929 when Victor Records "classic" published Blue Song . The Canned Heat Blues was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013 .

background

Can with fuel paste (1922)

The song title, which means something like “canned heat”, refers to the brand name Sterno “Canned Heat”, under which a fuel paste filled in tin cans has been sold in the USA since around 1915 . This essentially consists of gelled ethanol to which a certain amount of methanol has been added for denaturation . The paste intended for use in stoves or rechauds was used in the United States (1920–1933) and the Great Depression (1929–1941) in particular during the Prohibition era , but also long afterwards for the poorer population to obtain cheap schnapps substitute used. With the help of a cloth or a sock, the alcoholic liquid (squeeze) was squeezed out of the previously heated gel , which was then usually diluted with water or mixed with fruit juice. The intoxicating drink, which was particularly toxic due to its relatively high methyl alcohol content, led in countless cases to severe nerve damage such as blindness and - as was soon known - in many cases to death. The same applies to the Alcorub mentioned in the first verse of the song and also used as a spirit surrogate (from »rubbing« alcohol, i.e. cleaning alcohol = isopropanol ):

"Crying canned heat mama / sure Lord killing me
Takes alcorub / to take these canned heat blues."

- Tommy Johnson (1928)

Tommy Johnson's song, which has been described as "one of the most devastating addiction portraits from an addict's perspective," appears to reflect the composer's and singer's personal experiences. In any case, the American blues musician and researcher David Evans wrote that Tommy Johnson not only drank and liked Canned Heat ; he had it lived - knowing that it would kill him one day.

Cover versions (selection)

Since 1956 at least 13 other versions of the Canned Heat Blues (partly also as Canned Heat ) have been published so far (2019) , including the following:

  • KC Douglas on Blues and a Guitar (Cook Records 5002; 1956).
  • Canned Heat on Hallelujah (Liberty LST-7618; 1969).
  • Houston Stackhouse on Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 1 (Arhoolie Records ST 1041; 1969).
  • John Henry "Bubba" Brown on The Legacy of Tommy Johnson (Saydisc SDM 224; 1972).
  • Boogie Bill Webb on Drinkin 'and Stinkin' (Flying Fish FF 70506; 1989).
  • Sean Costello on WFRG Memorial CD of Rare & Unreleased Tracks (WFRG Radio; 2008).

Namesake

The American blues rock band Canned Heat , founded in 1965, was named after the song.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Discography of American Historical Recordings, sv Victor matrix BVE-45462. Canned heat blues / Tommy Johnson , accessed June 23, 2019. The title was published in October 1929 with the Big Fat Mama Blues ; see. Canned Heat Blues / Big Fat Mama Blues (Discogs)
  2. ↑ This was previously advertised as Sternau Solid Alcohol : s. the advertisement in: Evening Star, July 17, 1914, p. 5 ( online at Chronicling America. Historic American Newspapers ).
  3. ^ For example, for 1962 Police Start Drive on Drinkers of Canned Heat. In: The Sarasota Journal, January 5, 1962 ( online at Google News ).
  4. ↑ The process is shown in a short sequence towards the end of the 1956 documentary film On the Bowery .
  5. ^ "Canned Heat" Causes Death Says Inquest. In: The Devils Lake World Vol. XII. No. 47, Nov. 22, 1922, p. (2) ( online at Chronicling America. Historic American Newspapers ).
  6. ^ Death Follows Heavy Drinking. In: The Brattleboro daily reformer. Vol. 9. No. 213, Nov. 7, 1921, p. 1 ( online at Chronicling America. Historic American Newspapers ).
  7. ↑ Quoted from Michael Taft: Talkin 'to Myself. Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942. Routledge, New York / London 2005 ISBN 978-0-415 97377-9 ( online preview at Google Books ).
  8. ↑ So Julia Simon: Time in the Blues. Oxford University Press, New York 2017 ISBN 9780190666552 , in note 83: “One of the most devastating portraits of addiction from the perspective of the addict […]”.
  9. ↑ David Evans: Tommy Johnson. Studio Vista, London 1971 ISBN 978-0289701515 , p. 58; quoted with Julia Simon: Time in the Blues. Oxford University Press, New York 2017 ISBN 9780190666552 , note 83.
  10. ↑ Entry at secondhandsongs.com
  11. ↑ online on YouTube. - After Rebecca Davis: Blind Owl Blues. The Mysterious Life and Death of Blues Legend Alan Wilson . 2007, p. 130 ( as a preview online at Google Books ), this is a very modified version, as Alan Wilson in particular would have had problems in advance with recording the eponymous Tommy Johnson song in a manner that seemed appropriate to him: "I just can't play it any way that sounds good to me."
  12. ↑ Rebecca Davis: Blind Owl Blues. The Mysterious Life and Death of Blues Legend Alan Wilson. 2007, p. 114 ( online preview at Google Books ) also pointed out that the photo on the cover of the band's first album from 1967 ( Canned Heat, Liberty - LST-7526) was a clear reference to Tommy Johnson's song Understanding is: […] “the average record owner typically sees only a group of longhaired musicians sitting around a table, which is covered with an odd assortment of objects. But to Tommy Johnson, it would have been clear what they were doing. To him, the paraphernalia - Sterno cans, handkerchiefs, sugar, and lemon slices - would have been just as obvious as a razor, a mirror and a rolled-up dollar bill to a cokehead. The band was making the drink that was their namesake. "