Henry Vestine

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Henry "The Sunflower" Vestine (born December 25, 1944 in Takoma Park , Maryland , USA ; † October 20, 1997 in Paris , France ) was an American guitarist .

Life

After his birth, his family moved to Los Angeles , where he discovered his love for blues music . In 1964 he tracked down the old blues musician Skip James with John Fahey and ED Denson , whom they helped to perform at the Newport Folk Festival . In early 1965 Vestine joined the band The Beans, founded in San Fernando Valley .

On November 11, 1965, Vestine became a member of the Mothers of Invention as a guitarist , which means he was not one of the founders, but one of the very early members of the group that had been reshuffled many times. In early 1966 he left the band because he didn't like the style of music and Frank Zappa's way of leading the band. In the same year he joined the newly formed group Canned Heat . On June 17, 1967, it had a highly acclaimed appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival . Vestine belonged to the first "classic" line-up of Canned Heat, who recorded their best and most important albums during this period. After an argument with Larry Taylor while performing at Fillmore West in 1969, Vestine left the band and was replaced by Harvey Mandel - shortly before the group performed at the famous Woodstock Festival . He then worked with Albert Ayler until his death. In 1970 Vestine returned to Canned Heat after Larry Taylor and Harvey Mandel left the band, and with them and John Lee Hooker recorded the highly regarded album Hooker 'n Heat ; it was Hooker's first album to hit the charts. After Alan Wilson's death, he stayed with Canned Heat and took on the album Historical Figures and Ancient Heads with Joel Scott Hill, who was new for Wilson ; after that the success of the band decreased rapidly. In addition to his work at Canned Heat, Vestine was briefly a member of the Irish new wave band The Vipers , which he accompanied on their reunion tour in 1991. He also released two solo albums.

Vestine's drug use often gave him problems with the other musicians on Canned Heat, as he sometimes collapsed on stage or missed gigs. He was aging quickly on the outside and looked like an 80-year-old man in the 90s. In his biography, Fito de la Parra describes how he no longer recognized Vestine when he came to the plane that was to take her on a tour in Europe in 1997. This tour should also be Vestine's last.

Henry Vestine died of cancer in Paris in 1997 at the age of 52, shortly after Canned Heat had finished a European tour. The music magazine Rolling Stone named him 77th of the best guitarists of all time.

Discography

With canned heat

See: Canned Heat discography

With Albert Ayler

  • 1969: Music is the Healing Force of the Universe
  • 1969: The Last Album

With other musicians

Solo albums

  • 1981: I Used To Be Mad! (But Now I'm Half Crazy)
  • 1991: Guitar Gangster

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fito De La Parra: Living the Blues. Little Big Beat, Lindewerra 2001, ISBN 3-00-007020-6 , page 316
  2. ↑ The 100 best guitarists of all time

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vestine, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Sunflower
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Takoma Park , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1997
Place of death Paris , France