Boogie Down (Me): Cherokee Boogie (#6)

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Hooray, the first day of winter! Days get longer now! That’ll put a boogie in your step, especially after this cold start to the season. (Not applicable in Australia. ) And this song will hopefully put some boogie in your step as well. Here’s today’s song from my side of the list of songs with “boogie” in the title. #6: Cherokee Boogie - Johnny Horton Linda? This is probably safe. You like “The Battle of New Orleans,” and this had enough rockabilly in it to not give you a migraine. This song dates to 1950 and Aubrey “Moon” Mullican, the “king of the hillbilly piano players.” Jerry Lee Lewis said Mullican was his major influence in piano playing. Mullican died on New Year’s Day, 1966 (one of a boatload of country singers who’ve died on January 1: others include Hank Williams, Del Reeves, and Townes Van Zandt). While he’s in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, he’s generally been forgotten by the music world…except for this song. This has been covered enough times to make sure that Mullican lived a comfortable life. Neotraditionalists BR5-49 released a cover of this as their first single. Hank Williams covered it. So did Asleep At the Wheel, Jimmie Davis, and R&B singer “Bull” Moose Jackson. (Jackson and Mullican were both on King Records, and it was quite common for the label’s R&B singers to cover upbeat country songs.) This version, from 1959, was the first version I heard. We had this album when I was little, and it’s still a favorite. And, lest you think this might be disrespectful to American Indians, the co-writer was Chief William Redbird, a full-blooded Cherokee. Redbird, in addition to writing this song, was known for gifting headdresses to presidents. He gave one to every president from Woodrow Wilson to Gerald Ford. He’d sent one to President Carter, but by then he was too ill to present it in person. Redbird died in 1978 at the age of 79. Enjoy the history and the song! Cherokee Boogie Written by Moon Mullican and Chief William Redbird Recorded by Johnny Horton From The Spectacular Johnny Horton, 1959 He dances over here: