Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson was the leader, singer, and primary composer in the blues band Canned Heat. He played guitar and harmonica, and wrote most of the songs for the band. Wilson performed at two iconic concerts of the 60’s, the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. Canned Heat also appeared in the film Woodstock, and the band's song "Going Up the Country," which Wilson sang, is featured prominently. Wilson also wrote "On the Road Again," the first major hit for a blues band composed of white musicians.
Aside from his love of music and the blues Wilson was also an avid conservationist and often slept outdoors to be closer to nature. In 1969, he wrote and recorded a song, "Poor Moon", which expressed concern over potential pollution of the moon. He wrote an essay called 'Grim Harvest', about the coastal redwood forests of California.
Alan acquired the nickname "Blind Owl" owing to his extreme nearsightedness and in one instance when he was playing at a wedding he laid his guitar on the wedding cake because he did not see it. He was legally blind and the blindness caused him to suffer deep depression that he often tried to escape through drug use.
Shortly before his death he had been checked into a psychological clinic after an attempted suicide resulting from depression due to both his deteriorating eyesight and being distraught over the L.A. smog and the destruction the environment in general. When Alan was released from the clinic he was placed under the care of fellow band mate Bob Hite.
On September 3rd, 1970 Wilson was found dead in a sleeping bag outside Hite’s Topanga Canyon home with an empty bottle of tranquilizers by his side. There was no suicide note and while his death was ruled an overdose it is generally thought that it was intentional.
No comments:
Post a Comment