""Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Part 1)" B-side "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Part 2) Released August 1957 Genre Rock and roll Label Ace Records Songwriter(s)
""Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Part 1) " (1957)
"Don't You Just Know It" (1958)
"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 ). It was inspired by the then current .
Johnny Rivers cover [ ]
1972 saw the song as an international hit single for Johnny Rivers , featuring Larry Knechtel on piano as well as other L.A. sessions musicians from the Wrecking Crew .[2]
"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.[3]
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) ."
The title is a reference to "walking" pneumonia and the Asian flu , hitting the United States in 1957-58.
Chart performance [ ]
Weekly charts [ ]
Year-end charts [ ]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7]
78
U.S. Cash Box [8]
30
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.[9]
The Crickets covered the song on their 1960 album In Style with the Crickets .
The song was covered by The Flamin' Groovies in 1969 on their debut album Supersnazz , and again on their second album Flamingo , in 1970.
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, 23 and 24 May 1972.
James Booker covered the song on his albums Gonzo: Live 1976 [10] and King of New Orleans Keyboard .[11]
Professor Longhair recorded the song in 1974, released only in 1997 on his album Rock 'n Roll Gumbo. [12]
References [ ]
^ "Johnny Rivers - Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu" . 45cat.com . Retrieved 27 April 2021 .
^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew . St. Martin’s Griffin . pp. 261–263 . ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7 .
^ Jump up to: a b "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . Retrieved 2016-08-29 .
^ Jump up to: a b "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 .
^ "Cash Box Top 100 1/13/73" . Cashboxmagazine.com . Retrieved 27 April 2021 .
^ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973" . Musicoutfitters.com . Retrieved 2016-08-29 .
^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1973" . Cashboxmagazine.com . Retrieved 27 April 2021 .
^ 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
^ Rock 'n Roll Gumbo , retrieved 2021-05-02
External links [ ]
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