Song · Canned Heat
“On the Road Again” by Canned Heat
Released 1989
“On the Road Again” by Canned Heat appears on 14 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1989. Its best result is #46 on the WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,793 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"On the Road Again" is Canned Heat's boogie at its most hypnotic, recorded in 1967 and first heard on their second album, Boogie with Canned Heat, in January 1968. The band built it out of older blues songs and dusted it with the psychedelic colors of the mid-'60s, then let it drive and drive.
The unusual thing is who's singing. Canned Heat's records of the time usually had Bob Hite out front, but here second guitarist and harmonica player Alan Wilson takes the lead in that thin, high, almost falsetto voice, which makes the whole thing sound like it's drifting in from another room. Liberty trimmed it down for a single in April 1968, and it became the band's first chart hit and one of the songs they're best remembered for.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 454 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) | 500 |
| 1997 | 915 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2001 | 2001 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2002 | 799 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) | 923 |
| 2004 | 515 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2004 | 791 | 92.3 KGON | KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) | 923 |
| 2010 | 46 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2011 | 156 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 157 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2013 | 426 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) | 500 |
| 2013 | 555 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) | 1000 |
| 2014 | 574 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2015 | 558 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) | 1007 |
| 2026 | 836 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: On The Road Again.
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