"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song written by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, and

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

. The song was recorded in January 1946 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five and released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

. It topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks from August 1946, a record equalled by only one other hit, " The Honeydripper." The record was one of Jordan's biggest hits with both black and white audiences, peaking at number seven on the national chart and provided an important link between blues and country music, foreshadowing the development of "

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

" a few years later.

History and background

Although "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is now seen as epitomising the style known as

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s a ...

, it was written by white songwriters whose background was in

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while t ...

music. The song is credited to Darling, Horton and Gabler. Denver Darling (1909–1981) was a "hillbilly" guitarist and songwriter, as was his occasional songwriting partner Vaughn Horton (1911–1988). Darling and Horton had recently contributed "Don't Hang Around Me Anymore" to

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

, a hit for him in 1945. Horton's other writing successes included " Mockin' Bird Hill", " Sugar-Foot Rag" and an updated version of Jimmie Rodgers' " Muleskinner's Blues." The third credited songwriter was

(1911–2001), then the vice-president of

and Louis Jordan's record producer. A few years later, still at Decca, Gabler was also responsible for producing

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

's epoch-defining "

Rock Around The Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the Twelve-bar blues, 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful ren ...

" (and Haley, in turn, recorded a version of "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for his album, '' Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show''). The song summed up the feelings of excitement followed by disillusionment felt by many who were returning from serving in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Renditions by other artists

In 1974, the American country swing group

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted mor ...

recorded the song for their second album, the self-titled ''

''. It was also released as a single and became their first song to appear on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, James Allen described their rendition as a "twanged-up version of the old Louis Jordan song hat madecountry fans start to stand up and take notice of these scruffy but sincere traditionalists".

References

{{authority control 1946 songs Blues songs Louis Jordan songs Asleep at the Wheel songs Songs with lyrics by Milt Gabler Songs about trains Songs written by George Vaughn Horton