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The official Henry "Sunflower" Vestine Tribute page Sanctioned by Canned Heat
In 1957, Henry Vestine (b. December 25, 1944, Tacoma Park, Maryland; d. October 21, 1997, Paris, France) moved with his family to Los Angeles where he spent his teenage years. Like Hite, he started collecting records and became interested in the blues. In June, 1964, Vestine, Fahey and Ed Denson tracked down the legendary and mystical blues singer Skip James. Locating the 62-year-old singer in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi, the three blues researchers arranged for him to appear at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. The following year, Vestine became a member of The Beans, a San Fernando Valley-based group. By 1965, he had joined the Mothers of Invention, where he stayed for only a few months before joining the Heat.
Henry Vestine was instrumental in the redscovery of skip James with Bil Barh, Phil Spiro, and John Fahey. The Quartet drove through the rural American South and eventually found him dying of cancer in obscurity, and conviced the master to begin performing again, most notably at Newport Folk 1966.
Johnny Otis produced the group’s first full-length album in 1966. It featured Hite, Wilson, Cook, Vestine, and Brotman in his studio off of Vine Street in Los Angeles. The record was not actually released until 1970; and “Vintage Heat” as it was titled, has since become the most re-packaged and bootlegged record in Canned Heat’s discography. Otis ran the board for two versions of “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” (with & without harmonica), “Spoonful” by Willie Dixon, and “Louise” by John Lee Hooker.
During this period, Alan Wilson, and Henry Vestine moved on to join the Electric Beavers, an ensemble featuring a full horn section which lasted for only a short time on a rehearsal basis only. Eventually, Canned Heat re-formed in November, 1966 for a one-off gig at a Mothers concert at UCLA. Two agents from the world renowned William Morris talent agency, were in the audience that night and, following their performance, offered to meet with the band the next day. Under the guidance of Skip Taylor and John Hartmann, the band’s career was revitalized and when the two agents left William Morris to form their own personal management and concert production company, Canned Heat became their number one project. They played a number of times at the Ash Grove where they came to the attention of singer/songwriter Jackie DeShannon. She was married to the head of A&R at Liberty Records, Bud Dain, and soon that all important recording contract with a major label became reality.
Canned Heat’s self-titled debut was released in July, 1967. The straightforward traditional blues effort was highlighted by covers of blues standards, including Willie Dixon’s “Evil Is Going On,” Muddy Water’s “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” and a take of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic “Help Me,” with vocals by Wilson. The Los Angeles Free Press reported, “This group has it! They should do very well, both live and with their recordings.” Canned Heat fared reasonably well commercially, reaching 76 on the Billboard chart.
Following a one week gig at the Ash Grove from August 22-26, the band went on their first national tour. Disaster struck when the group was arrested in Denver for marijuana possession. Only Wilson, a pioneer eco-warrior who had been out collecting leaves at the time, escaped arrest. Upon returning to L.A., the group held a press conference to announce that their bust had been orchestrated and that the Denver Police Department had planted evidence to use against them as part of an ongoing campaign of harassment waged against the owners and promoters of the Family Dog (a hippy ballroom) and its patrons.
Publicity aside, the members, with the exception of Wilson, ended up spending the weekend in jail before being released on bail. The arrest would have disastrous financial consequences for them in future years. Lacking the funds to mount an adequate legal defense, the band was forced to sell half of their publishing rights to Liberty Records for $10,000 so that they could secure the services of a top Denver attorney. The trial ended up with the band members only receiving probation, but the loss of their publishing continues to costs them thousands and thousands of dollars every year.
Canned Heat’s appearance at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in late July, 1969 was hampered by severe tension between Larry Taylor and Henry Vestine. Taylor finally refused to perform on the same stage as Vestine, and soon after this quarrel, Henry quit to form a band of his own, the short-lived Sun. In the first set of the Fillmore gig, Mike Bloomfield filled in for Vestine and was asked to join the band but declined due to his dislike of touring. Harvey Mandel sat in during the next set, played well and readily accepted the offer to become a member of Canned Heat.
In May, 1970, both Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor defected from Canned Heat to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. With Taylor gone, Henry Vestine returned on guitar, accompanied by bassist Antonio de la Barreda. De la Barreda had played with Fito de la Parra for five years in Mexico City and was previously a member of the group Jerome. The new lineup immediately went into the studio to record with John Lee Hooker on sessions that would yield the double album Hooker ‘N Heat. The format for the sessions called for Hooker to perform a few songs by himself, followed by some duets with Alan Wilson playing piano or guitar and finally, Hooker with some sympathetic backing by the group sans Bob Hite, who co-produced the album along with Skip Taylor. It turned out to be a major landmark in Hooker’s recording career: an artistic and commercial triumph of resounding proportions which recaptured and re-created the authentic early Hooker sound of the Bernie Besman era and managed to shine on the pop album charts.
Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson’s passing in September, 1970 sparked constant reconstruction within the group. In December, 1971, the band brought out Historical Figures and Ancient Heads. The album received very positive reviews and contained some special moments including Bob Hite’s vocal duel with legendary rocker Little Richard on the Skip Taylor written track, “Rockin’ With The King” and some sizzling guitar work by both Henry Vestine and Joel Scott Hill. Member changes continued throughout the next two decades while they toured Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the United States.
After an on-and-off career spanning 30 years with Canned Heat, Albert Ayler, Memphis Slim, Skip James, And Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown; on October 20th, 1997, Henry Vestine died in Paris, France following the final gig of a European tour.
Wherever Henry is, possibly the Vestine crater on the Moon, his amp is cranked and he is undoubtedly leaning on a wall of sound at a jam session with the greats. We offer this tribute in his memory.
- Canned Heat
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