Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
| ""Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Part 1)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Huey 'Piano' Smith | ||||
| B-side | "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Part 2) | |||
| Released | August 1957 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Label | Ace Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | J. Vincent, Huey Smith | |||
| Huey 'Piano' Smith singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Johnny Rivers | ||||
| from the album L.A. Reggae | ||||
| B-side | "Come Home America" | |||
| Released | October 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Genre | Blues rock, electric blues | |||
| Length | 3:30 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Songwriter(s) | J. Vincent, Huey Smith | |||
| Johnny Rivers singles chronology | ||||
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"Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" is a song written and originally recorded by Huey 'Piano' Smith in 1957, who scored a minor hit with the song (No. 52 Billboard).
Johnny Rivers cover
1972 saw the song as an international hit single for Johnny Rivers with instrumental backing from L.A. sessions musicians from the Wrecking Crew.[1] "Rockin' Pneumonia" reached number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the winter of 1973. It was only Rivers' fifth highest charting song, but spent much longer on the chart (19 weeks) than any of his two dozen hits to that date. On the U.S. Cash Box Top 100 the song peaked at number five, and in Canada it reached number three.[2]
Rivers' cover of "Rockin' Pneumonia" became his third Gold record. His last Gold record would be five years later with the 1977 hit, "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)."
Chart performance
Other cover versions
- In 1957 the tune was recorded by Larry Williams on Specialty Records. The back-up band included René Hall, guitar, Earl Palmer, drums, and Plas Johnson, tenor sax.[8]
- The song was covered by Flamin' Groovies in 1969 on their album Supersnazz.
- Aerosmith covered the song in 1987 for the Less Than Zero soundtrack.
- Grateful Dead covered the song on their Europe '72 tour at The Strand Lyceum, London, England 5/23 and 5/24/1972
- James Booker covered the song on his albums Gonzo: Live 1976[9] and King Of New Orleans Keyboard[10].
References
- ↑ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin’s Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
- 1 2 "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- 1 2 "Song artist 376 - Johnny Rivers". Tsort.info. 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- ↑
- ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
- ↑
- ↑ Larry Williams: Bad Boy The Legends of Specialty Records, Speciality Records 1989, liner notes
- ↑ Gonzo: Live 1976, Rockbeat Records, 2014-11-18, retrieved 2018-09-14
- ↑ King of the New Orleans Keyboard, Jsp Records, 2000, retrieved 2018-09-14