Released by Modern Records in November 1948, “Boogie Chillen’” rocketed up the “Billboard” R&B singles chart, reaching the #1 position in January 1949. It stayed in the charts for 18 weeks, becoming one of the era’s biggest R&B hits. “Everywhere you went,” John Lee Hooker recounted, “you could hear that song.” The single had a lasting impact on many aspiring musicians. It was the first song mastered by young Buddy Guy, then living in rural Louisiana, and Houston’s Albert Collins. Elias McDaniel, who’d later find fame as “Bo Diddley,” described it as “the first record I paid attention to.” B.B. King, then a Memphis-based disc jockey, placed the song in heavy rotation on his show. “That was a monster hit!” King recalled. “When John Lee made ‘Boogie Chillen’,’ that wasn’t blues. That was get up and get it! When people say ‘blues’ and you say ‘Boogie Chillen’,’ how in the heck could he be blue? He’s havin’ a ball. He’s havin’ a good time!”
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