Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, April 11, 1986, THE Friday EDITION, Page 4B and 5B, Image 12

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DON’T MISS THIS WEEK’S
GREAT SPECIAL!
SYS PIZZA
FREE DELIVERY AND STORE
TAKE OUT COUPON
Order any size pizza, choice of regular or Extra
Thick Crust or Deep Dish Sicilian and Receive
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STORE HOURS:
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Monday-Friday . • •••
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Saturday & Sunday
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1211 Alder on Campus • 686*9598
coupon expires 4 13/86
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PROFESSOR EDWIN S. GAUSTAD
University of California at Riverside
Department of History
will present a lecture on:
RELIGION* CONSTITUTION,
and the FOUNDING FATHERS
Monday, April 14
Room 177 Lawrence Hall. 8:00 P.M.
**********************
informal Reception for Pn>fcssor Cumstat!
4:00-6:00 P M
Collier House (PantIt v Club)
j|c $$ )|c $ ){i: $$*$*£$$** *
t a-cl toe sponsored by the GpsUm Bequest Committee of
College of Arts A Sciences and-the -Center for-the
' . ° Humanities
24” X 36”
COPIES
Bluesist Henry Vestine:
The Sunflower shows
i
Hhotii by karrn Mtllwnwl
Henry "The Sunflower" Vestine's 30-year career includes a stint as lead guitarist for Canned
Heat. He has also played with frank Zappa and lohn Lee Hooker, and regularly plays with
James T and The Tough and jams with other local blues artists when he's in Eugene.
My persona! acquaintance with Hnnrv ' ’The Sunflower ’' destine is not of long standing, but it is very deep. Both Henry and
I anf buried in the blues for life. That means we each have a lifelong commitment to the music, but it also means many other
things.
The blues touches many bases, such as disappointment, hard times beyond one s control, anger and fear of the unk down.
Bath blues musician plays or sings from these bases, though time may have burned out the anger, or personal self-acceptance
may have eroded the fear. . .
Henry is one of those in whom the anger, if it ever existed, is burned out. and a personal dedication to his music has brought
him a high level of self-accsplance At age 42. his face is deeply etched and his beard is graying in places. His eyes glitter fierce
ly. with a hint of scorn for extraneities. To one who doesn't know him. Henry would appear formidable. To one who does he ap
/xws triumphant, /' • • • 'v ‘\ v.-'
His ■30-year carver, had brought him international acclaim as one of the best blues and rock guitarists around. Henry gained
fame in the IWOs playing lead guitar as ' 'The Sunflower'' with C fanned Heat (one of the hottest boogie-blues bands to come out
of LA I fit hasalso played with blues greats such as John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins and rock stars such as Trank Zappa, who
led the Mothers of Invention and Mick Taylor, who played with British musician John Mavall's Blues BreakersCrusade.
Bet wiwmfou ringwith the newly reformed Camm! Heat. Henry now calls Eugene his home base. When in town, he'gigs with
hn.)i ^J^pMua^bma^J^ATand the Tough and jams regularly with fellow bluer artists in the area, particularly at the
HIurs laipJafyfayJorys. Tg^rii oil Monday nights
Mteimi^imEsat' down 'for some refreshments, as we often do. at the historic Whale House on Patterson Street, where he
talked about hisdife'witft ihe blues.
'v- * .'.I-‘ ,-*■
Ho«an*: relLu0^iutfy6ur. musical life before Canned Heal
\ eafine:;l gfew up in !jos”A’ni<eles and played parties on weekends
as I went thwuBli^hlgK'^lHtolrWe made a couple of records, even
Homans Ihllljj^schopl’
Vestine:'ln«jifnior.lHKh v hoof Then I went to college a little bit I
was pliying'fixmilhty/ajamyt’.'aiuf I hail a seven o' clock philosophy
class I jusi rauldn'Thandle it, soil quit, and decided. Tm gonna plav
the guitar ■■
Homans: How long after you left college did Canned Heat come
together? V •'; ' *
Vesline: About three years. I was working with the Mothers, with
Frank /ajtp*. 4hd I quit them Also. Bob Hite {known as The Hear."
vocalist withCanned Heat I and 1 used to trade records. so I knew him.
and he called me up to come hear this band playing at the Ash (.rove in
uw Angeles So I came down and heard them, and one night I called
him up and asked him, "can I play in your band’" He said yes Alan
(Witson. known as "Hhnd Owl." guitar and harmonica player with
Canned Heal! was with the band then
Homans: And that was about 1965?
Vestine: Yes lam (Taylor known as "The Mule." bassist with
Canned Heat I wasn’t there yet. but he came soon thereafter The
original Canned Heat was Bob. Alan me. Stuatl Brotman on bass, they
had Kenny Kdwards who later worked with Linda Ronstadt. on guitar,
and the drummer was another record collector named Pete Sawyer
That was it
Homans When did the group which recorded the first Canned
Heal album — the orange cover — come together'
Vesline: Pretty quick A couple of months after we started We had
one other bass player. Mark Andes, who later worked with Spirit, and
the drummer on that album. Frank Cook
Banians: So w hen that first album was a hit in 1966 you were a
big time, commercially successful group right?
Vestine: Pretty muc h so. yes I’d been working steadily for several
years though
Homans: What did hitting the big time, being invited to Monterey
and whatnot, do to you?
Vestine; {smilingI Well, it made me think I’m gonna make some
money . { Vestine picks up a midnight blue Ibanez electrk guitar and
dreamily picks a few chords as we talk I
Vestine: And our manager, this was his first problem This was
when the Beatles were hot. and they were out of the William Moms
agency, and they took acid and decided they wanted to be a rock n roll
band He told ’em he would have them headlining in l/mdon in a year,
and he kept his promise I wanted to get there too
Homans: You went through several years of high-profile national
success. "Boogie With Canned Heat,"and "Refried Hockey Boogie,'*
(two of Cannnl Heat's many albumsI you went to Woodstoc k
Vestine: I didn't go to Woodstock I had quit the week before, and
came lack nine months later People are always coming up to me in
nightclubs and saying. "Hey. I saw you in Woodstock." and I'll tell
’em. "No, you didn't. " All the others got two gold records, and I didn't
get any.
Homans: Tell us about Topanga Canyon {outside LAI and what
about |ohn Mavall's connection with the band.
Vestine: Well now. he wasn't part of the land, of course We did
Walking by Myself, and he plays the bass, on one of the albums Bob us
ed to have a house up in laurel Canyon, not far away from Topanga
and Mavall used to hang out there I guess he lived there for a while
This was after we left Topanga Canyon
Homans: So why was Topanga Canyon significant?
Vestine: Well, there was this kind of a little artistic, post-beatnik,
early hippie kind of community up in the woods Now it's a big Yuppie
area, costs a lot of money to live there, but it didn't use to And there
was this great Hub there called the Topanga Corral, which was the only
place around to get a drink of liquor besides the VFW It was a real
good, loose place to play, so we played there a lot. It was like our home
base club
Homans: Did you notice a tail-off in the popularity of the blues
after I he 1960a?
Vestine: We were a progressive blues band, and so I never noticed
any lailoff We were getting gigs with people like B B King and Otis
Kush, and they were playing plates they had never played before B B
plays Us Vegas now. even But there's been an upswing since the 70s
Homans: What does Canned Heat mean today? Has playing with
them changed?
Vestine: Okay, now when we went to Australia (with /ames Thorn
bun of lames T and the Tough) on our recent lour, of the five original
recording members, there are three still alive (Henry . Uny Taylor, and
drummer Adolfo "Fito"dela Cam) and we all went on the tour, so it's
as much of the original as you're gonna get
Homans So Canned Heat is still Canned Heat?
Vestine: Well. Larry doesn't always go with us, so then it's just Filo
I ami myself, just two-fifths
Homans: Yes, I'm sure you all could account for at least two fifths.
(laughterl What real unusual things have happened to you as you have
lived the blues?
Vestine: That's a strange question You should ask it again after we
drink some more beer, then I can tell some weird stories I’ve lived a
very unusual life; I don't think there's anyone who’s lived quite like I
have I'd rather not go into specifics Here's one. though When I met
(local dnimmerl Mac Singleton, we were at Moro Bay, California,
fishing for tuna on a commercial boat for three months at a time Mac
d»s ided to become a drummer w hile we were out at sea This was l%:»
Homans What goes around, comes around
Vestine: Yeah, he'd tie beating on the deck there; I vaguely
j remembered him. but I was on LSD the whole time I was on the fishing
I boat
Homans: You're kidding
Vestine: Lark at these eyes — would I lie? Let's go to another
subject
Homans: let's stop at laurel Canyon a minute Did the band ever
live all together at laurel Can von. and was that where Alan died?
Vestine: The Owl went down at Topanga Canyon I never lived in
laurel Canyon One time. Bob Hite had this great house in Hollywood
Hills, with our manager and several others Elvis Presley stayed there
some, when he was in Hollywood I think Mayall may have lived there
He may live there now His house burned down, and he lost his gigan
tic porn collection_
Homans: Tell us about your times with |ohn Lee Hooker
V estine: No. I won't tell you
Homans: I II pour beer on you
Vestine: Okay 1 met )ohn lee Hooker as a kid. when I was in LA. I
went to a concert at UCLA, brought a record, and he signed it. Anyway,
later we did the Hooker and Heat album, probably the best blues I ever
worked on. and then we did a tour, played Carnegie Hall and whatnot,
and a bunch of other gigs Recently I saw him in Corvallis, after I hadn't
seen him for a good w hile He’s tremendous! He was out in his three
(ontimicd on Puki- 8B
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