Song · Canned Heat
“Going Up The Country” by Canned Heat
From the album Boogie Up the Country (1987)
“Going Up The Country” by Canned Heat appears on 11 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2010 and 2025. It was first released in 1987 on the album Boogie Up the Country. Its best result is #23 on the WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,674 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Going Up the Country" is Alan Wilson's reworking of "Bull Doze Blues", a 1928 recording by the Texas bluesman Henry Thomas: Wilson kept Thomas's melody and basic rhythm, rewrote the words and gave it a rock setting, and it became one of Canned Heat's biggest and best-known songs. On the band's 1987 album Boogie Up the Country it comes back around with Fito de la Parra singing as well as drumming.
Henry Vestine, who played on the original, is back on guitar, Larry Taylor is on bass, and James Thornbury handles harmonica and flute, the instrument Jim Horn used on the first recording to stand in for the quills Thomas played. That breezy, get-out-of-town melody is as easy to love as ever.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 23 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2011 | 809 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 841 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2014 | 723 | Big 100 | BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2019 | 548 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2022 | 257 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2023 | 182 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2023 | 355 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2023) | 500 |
| 2023 | 791 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2024 | 354 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2024) | 500 |
| 2025 | 259 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2025) | 500 |
Also listed as: Goin' Up the Country; Going Up the Country.
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