Choo Choo Ch'Boogie
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"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song first recorded in January 1946 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five. It topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks from August 1946, a record only equalled by one other hit, "The Honeydripper".
Although "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is now seen as epitomising the style known as jump blues, it was written by white songwriters whose background was in country and western music. The song is credited to Darling, Horton and Gabler. [1] Denver Darling [2] (1909-1981) was a hillbilly guitarist and songwriter, as was his occasional songwriting partner Vaughn Horton[3] (1911-1988). Horton's first writing success was with "Mockingbird Hill", and as well as working with Darling on such songs as "Address Unknown", a 1939 hit for The Ink Spots, also worked with Gene Autry. The third credited songwriter was Milt Gabler (1911-2001), then the vice-president of Decca Records and Louis Jordan's record producer. A few years later, still at Decca, Gabler was also responsible for producing Bill Haley's epoch-defining "Rock Around The Clock" (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, in lyrics such as :-
- You reach your destination, but alas and alack! / You need some compensation to get back in the black
- You take your morning paper from the top of the stack / And read the situation from the front to the back
- The only job that's open needs a man with a knack / So put it right back in the rack, Jack!
The record was one of Jordan's biggest ever hits with both black and white audiences, reaching # 7 on the pop charts. It provided an important link between blues and country music, foreshadowing the development of "rock and roll" a few years later.
