Tuesday interlude: Canned Heat

I sorta had it in mind to write a post about how the political conventions today are mostly a big waste of time and money. The process is set up now so that the nominations are cut and dried weeks before the convention begins, the platforms are mostly paid lip service, and the whole thing is just one big party the corporate contributors throw for the party faithful, for which they expect considerations in return. But that's not telling you much you don't know, and besides, we might be surprised and learn something yet.

There are still stories like this one, though, which bring back memories of the experiences of an earlier outfit of scruffy, long-haired ne'er-do-wells:

I went to Denver
Late last fall
I went to do my job
Yeah I didn't break any law
We worked a hippie place
Like many in our land
They couldn't bust the place
And so they got the band
`Cause the police in Denver
No, they don't want none of them long hairs hanging around
And that's the reason why
They want to tear Canned Heat's reputation down

This one was a substantial hit at the beginning of 1969; I think it was used on a TV commercial not too long ago.



Al "Blind Owl" Wilson and Bob "The Bear" Hite, the principal members of Canned Heat, both left us years ago. In Denver, The Man is still on the job.