Died On This Date (October 20, 1997) Henry Vestine / Canned Heat

Henry “The Sunflower” Vestine
December 25, 1944 – October 20, 1997

Henry Vestine is best remembered as a guitarist for boogie blues rock band, Canned Heat.  His original tenure with the band ran from 1966 to 1969.  Prior to that, he played in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.  He was one of rock music’s unsung guitar heroes, ranking in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list.  Vestine, along with childhood friend and fellow music junkie, John Fahey, was responsible for finding a hospital-ridden Skip James in 1964 and helping him re-launch his career during the folk revival.   In later years, Vestine did session work and toured with a reformed Canned Heat.  While in Europe at the end of such a tour in 1997. Henry Vestine died of a heart failure at the age of 52.

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