Deaths always come in threes, don’t they? This was certainly the case with three of the most prominent blues-rock artists of the ’60s. Janis Joplin, 27, had just been found in her hotel room at the Landmark Motor Hotel; her Southern Comfort-soaked voice silenced. Jimi Hendrix – also 27 – whose timeless electro-blues licks were already legendary, had suspiciously choked to death two weeks prior. Sadly, beating both to the great beyond was another 27-year-old blues-rock musician, Alan “The Blind Owl” Wilson of the band Canned Heat who died exactly two weeks before Jimi on September 3.
You may ask, who is the this person I deign categorize with these two legends? “The Blind Owl” was a different breed altogether. He wasn’t the showman that the other two were, nor did he strive to be, but his dedication, love and commitment to the blues was every bit as strong. Time hasn’t been as kind to him as it has been to others of the era who passed before their time. In this day and age he’s largely forgotten.
READ ON to find out more about “The Blind Owl”…
