Blind Owl Blues: The Mysterious Life and Death of Blues Legend Alan Wilson

Whoever loves music and the special people who made great music will feel a debt of gratitude for such a rare biography as this. Most music biographies, especially of rock musicians, are just vicarious trips into hedonistic lifestyles beyond the reach of most people. Such books may be entertaining, but they rarely get at why we actually like to listen to the music–why we like to put the record disc on the turntable in the first place. Blind Owl Blues is a biography that enhances our whole understanding and appreciation of the contributions Alan Wilson made to the band he helped form, Canned Heat, and to the music world in general. Rebecca Davis rescued Alan Wilson’s legacy from oblivion with her biography. He had composed and sung Canned Heat’s two most significant American hits. However, because Wilson died young and was not a flamboyant or outrageous figure in the popular music scene, he did not leave the kind of mark that would have encouraged rock journalists and rock historians to perpetuate a posthumous legacy in the annals of rock. Now it is no guarantee that there is an interesting story behind someone whose name has fallen into relative obscurity, but Davis must have sensed, before undertaking to write this biography, that he had been a special person–and she was right. Thankfully, she is a very skilled and careful scholar. She found excellent living sources (as well as documentary ones), and used the information they shared, with narrative adeptness and judiciousness. In her biography we actually get to know a successful rock musician as a real human being. Also happily, we get to know why Wilson loved music, what he appreciated about music, and how he used his fine understanding of it. He wrote and arranged songs for the band he played in for half a decade. He also helped revive and facilitate the careers of several venerable blues artists. As Rebecca Davis says, this is a book more about Alan Wilson than about Canned Heat, but it does much to rectify their status in America as mere “two-hit wonders” (although “three-hit wonders” in Europe). Canned Heat, under the shared leadership of their band-members, were dedicated to the art of the blues (in the rock and folk-rock forms), and have been unfairly left out of important blues histories covering the latter-day period in which they enjoyed their brief popularity. Wilson and other discerning white American musicians of his generation revered and studied the African American blues legacy just as much as did the British rock musicians across the water. This is a fact that runs contrary to current dogma, which holds that white Americans did not appreciate blues music until they were reintroduced to it by the likes of the Rolling Stones and others during the British Invasion of popular music from the mid-1960s onward. This might be true for the mass of the American white population, but there were many like Alan Wilson, a bricklayer’s son from Massachusetts, who were discovering it and mastering the art form before anyone from the United Kingdom had ever crossed the water and played on the Ed Sullivan Show. So, read Rebecca Davis’ biography. Then ask yourself why Alan Wilson does not get more than a footnote in rock histories, and why the American band Canned Heat are not remembered in the same breath as their contemporaries in blues rock from Great Britain.

Alan was a serious student of music, learning the forms and expanding on them. I found his story to be the most interesting of all the musical biographies I've read. I first became interested in Alan's playing after I heard the Canned Heat collaboration with John Lee Hooker: "Hooker N' Heat". Hooker has always been a favorite of mine because of his mastery of the boogie trance. Alan's harp solo on Boogie Chillen contains a long note that rides the hypnotic rhythm, building the tension and then breaks free with the resolution notes. It triggers Hooker to shout "YEAH!". It's one of the most captivating passages of any blues recordings that I've heard. After I heard that for the first time, I thought about video footage I've seen of Canned Heat during his era, and I took an interest in his musical approach on guitar and harp. Alan was such an unassuming presence on stage but he played with a fiery intensity. The author of this book went all out with interviewing friends, family and collaborators as well as finding segments of Alan's own words. I can't say enough good about this book. Aside from filling in a lot of Alan's life details, it reveals an intensity of dedication to the forms of music that he was drawn to. I'm very happy to read about this fellow kindred spirit. There is also a considerable amount of material about the other members of Canned Heat.

This book has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the life of the late co-founder/leader of Canned Heat and blues man, Alan Wilson. For a reader like me, someone totally new to the "Blind Owl", it is a really good primer about his character, background, and artistic drive. The biography does come up a bit short on artistic analysis so if you, good reader, are already well versed on Wilson -and artistic analysis is an important feature to you- you may find this book wanting. That's not to say that this is a shallow read. The book states in the introduction that it "...is not an in-depth musicological study; rather, it is a biographical tribute." I feel it delivers as a tribute and promotes his music and awareness of his interests. Additionally, my understanding is that this is a self-published, self-financed first book; a culmination of years of research where many would-be prospective interviewees were unavailable for whatever reason. The pool of insights to draw from has been narrowed. I imagine this would make for quite challenging research efforts. Despite these hurdles, I feel that this biography delivers what it sets out to do. It is a key resource in learning more about the Blind Owl in a world where amplified information on him seems scant. Other salient points: the book, as other reviews have mentioned, has it's fair share of typos and some unnecessary repetition in places relating to Wilson's personal habits. As I awaited my second edition to arrive, I anticipated these first edition typos would be corrected. However, the typos are still there in the second edition waving at you. Apparently, photos were abundant in the first edition but in this second edition there are none. I am wondering why that is the case. I found the book to be engrossing. From everything I have gathered through this biography and what I could find on the internet, Blind Owl is sadly all-around under appreciated and underrated. I have been alive for almost the exact length of time Wilson has been gone and this year (2014) is the first I am learning about him? He is a most fascinating character with much to learn from so it is a shame. I have a feeling that his obscurity is due to wider cultural reasons, at least in-part. A documentary or biopic (a-la Daniel Johnston?) would be great to see...seems unlikely, but who knows... Despite these aforementioned flaws I think it is a good -if somewhat basic- biography that does what it purports to do. Yes, it has it's limitations but still serves as a good introduction on the life of Alan Wilson.

A terrific book. I applaud Rebecca Davis for the work she put in to produce it. It's obvious it was a real labor of love for her. Written in an easy flowing style, nearly every page has new information, stuff that will not be found anywhere else. John Fahey's endorsement of her found on the back cover is on target. The amount of people in Wilson's orbit she tracked down to interview, obscure or otherwise, is most impressive. Taking into account Wilson's personal problems and eccentricities, Davis writes with a sensitivity that perhaps only a woman can bring. Yeah, that's probably sexist. Oops. As to some of the reviewers who complain that there's not much insight into Wilson's creative process, well, you can hardly blame the author that of the four pivotal people in this regard who weren't available for comment (Wilson himself, Hite, Vestine and Taylor) three are dead and one isn't talking. As to the complaints about some typos, I'd be the first to complain - if it was a lousy book. But because it's such a solid piece of work, it's senseless to get your loincloth in a twist over a typo here and there. Regarding the author's comment on page 150 that the Beatles' Indian-influenced recordings culminated with "Love You To" and "Within You Without You," the third and final "Eastern" song not mentioned would be 1968's "The Inner Light,"the B-side to "Lady Madonna," a 45 that likely would have been in Wilson's record collection. With respect to the author stating on page 19 that in later years Wilson's music didn't show any significant jazz influences, I would propose that the very unique staccato lines he would occasionally play on harp would be a direct result of his jazz background, the best examples of which can be heard on the Hooker 'n Heat LP. To wander off on my own for a bit, I believe "Big Fat" to be the only commercially released Canned Heat studio recording during the Wilson era that features someone other than Alan playing harp. It would be Bob Hite, naturally. A few reasons. For starters, it's just way too simple. Nothing Wilson ever played was this basic, and it contains absolutely none of his fingerprints. It's also very easy to hear the obvious overdub for every single harmonica break. Alan could have played this in his sleep and he would never need to do multiple overdubs for such a rudimentary part, so it makes sense that Bear did his vocal first, then overdubbed each separate harp break. The coup de grâce, however, is that Hite can be heard playing the nearly identical riff on "We Like to Boogie," from the bootlegged June 1970 Bath show, while Alan and Harvey are on guitar. So I think "Big Fat" was a Hite vehicle all the way. "Catfish Blues" is one other track that Bear plays harp on during Wilson's life, found on Boogie House Tapes 3, but of course it's a live recording and was posthumously released. But I digress. As usual, I was terribly late in finding this book. I missed it the first go-around in 2007 and was late for this printing. Better late than never, as they say. In a book that has plenty of surprises, possibly the most startling one for me was the discovery that Wilson had absolute, or perfect, pitch. To say the least, he's in, ahem, pretty good company with Mozart, Bix Beiderbecke, Art Tatum and Hendrix. But this is also an important book simply because Wilson was such a beautiful player. Absolute killer tone and throat vibrato - and fearless in his phrasing. He's certainly my favorite player from the sixties - white or black. Expressed differently, as good as he was on guitar and as fabulous he was as a singer, his harp playing is what assures him a certain immortality. Davis' book undoubtedly won't be the last, but it will be hard to top. I'll put it this way. I've had one favorite book separated from the downstairs library that's been sitting on our LR coffee table for going on 10 years. Now I have two books permanently residing there.

and I wish I could say that I did. I have been an admirer of Alan Wilson since his work with Son House. He was expressive and exciting on his instruments and was incredibly innovative in many of his conceptions. I always felt he had a lot more left to play than he wound up having time for. Having noted this, I must say that this biography really misses. You get the sense of a dry and not sufficiently clueful tone very quickly, as authorial intrusions and conjecture pertaining to Wilson's early life are jarring and naive. Most readers will plod on, hoping for insight on the creative process that drove his most well-known work will emerge. These readers will be disappointed. Interviews with John Fahey and a few of Wilson's less well-known cronies are a little helpful in creating a larger understanding of Wilson's interest in Indian classical music and other non-blues music, but there is no sense of an artist creating a body of work, and the excitement that you would think would have been present during the creation of such a dare I say "fusion" work as "On the Road Again" is not conveyed. The author very vaguely alludes to the ex-Canned Heat drummer having his own book, which possibly explains why she apparently had little cooperation from him. One potential source very conspicuous in absense is Larry Taylor. Already an accomplished musician prior to his involvement with Wilson, Taylor has gone on to be one of the more respected muscians around. His work bespeaks an intelligence and sensitivity that would have added tremendously to the chapters dealing with Wilson's highest-profile music. I've often found that biographies written by authors who were not yet born during the peak years of their subjects have a real challange in grasping the context of the work. I don't feel the author has met this challange. Also - a few technical things: the author does not seem to be familiar with the Little Walter recording that "An Owl Song" refers to very specifically. Later she notes a passage in a lyric to a different song that she believes to refer to the members of Canned Heat. In fact, the lyrics she cites are clearly derived from a song by Boogie Bill Webb that was collected in a reissue compilation put out by Alan Wilson's record label during Wilson's life; Wilson was likely familar with Webb prior to the reissue and was almost certainly aware of the reissue. The very few recordings available by Boogie Bill Webb were exactly the kind of thing Alan Wilson immersed himself in. It would seem to me that the author's not picking up on things like this would indicate a general unawareness of Wilson's mileau, rendering the interest of Alan Wilson in particular puzzling. During the early rise of Canned Heat Wilson was interviewed at length for Down Beat magazine. You can find this interview on line. It reveals his consumate intelligence and artistry far more eloquently than this book ever does. Given the relative obscurity of Alan Wilson, it is unlikely that there will be more published biographies. Therefore, those of you out there who have a passion for knowing what there is to know about Wilson, you might as well get this. You should also know that the book is very poorly produced (the cover will curl forever once the book is opened for a few minutes) and that there are no photographs. Zero. Odd. Oh well.

Fascinating biography of Alan Wilson, co-founder of blues/rock band Canned Heat. The book traces Alan's musical beginnings as a high school trombone player to his mastery of harmonica and guitar and dedication to Blues and ultimately to co-founding Canned Heat. Along the way, the book tells of Alan's part in the "rediscovery" of some of the original Blues musicians, as well as his connection with fingerstyle guitar wizard John Fahey. The focus is on Alan, but there is considerable history of Canned Heat, and we learn among other things that although co-founder Bob Hite was the band's primary vocalist, Alan was the vocalist on two of the group's best known recordings - Alan's "On the Road Again" and "Going Up the Country." The book also tells us (perhaps sometimes too much) of Alan's personal demons, which may have either directly or indirectly led to his tragic early death.

A great read about a special musician.

Interesting and informative story of blues scholar\musician Alan Wilson. A founding member of Canned Heat and composer\performer of the group's.two huge hits: G0ING UP THE COUNTRY and ON THE ROAD AGAIN. HauNted by depression and possibly suffering from asperger syndrome, it's a sad story of a very talented but seemingly doomed bluesman.