Going up the Country - wikipedia Going up the Country `` Going Up the Country '' Single by Canned Heat from the album Living the Blues B - side `` One Kind Favor '' Released November 22, 1968 ( 1968 - 11 - 22 ) Format 7 - inch 45 rpm record Recorded August 6 -- 7, 1968 Studio I.D. Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California Genre Blues rock Length 2 : 50 Label Liberty ( no. 56077 ) Producer ( s ) Canned Heat, Skip Taylor Canned Heat singles chronology `` On the Road Again '' ( 1968 ) `` Going Up the Country '' ( 1968 ) `` Time Was '' ( 1969 ) `` Going Up the Country '' ( also Goin ' Up the Country ) is a song adapted and recorded by American blues rock band Canned Heat. Called a `` rural hippie anthem '', it became one of the band 's biggest hits and best - known songs. As with their previous single, `` On the Road Again '', the song was adapted from a 1920s blues song and sung in a countertenor - style by Alan Wilson. Contents 1 Background and composition 2 Releases and charts 3 Woodstock and influence 4 In popular culture 5 References 6 External links Background and composition Canned Heat, who were early blues enthusiasts, based `` Going Up the Country '' on `` Bull Doze Blues '', recorded in 1928 by Texas bluesman Henry Thomas. Thomas was from the songster tradition and had a unique sound, sometimes accompanying himself on quills, an early Afro - American wind instrument similar to panpipes. He recorded `` Bull Doze Blues '' in Chicago on June 13, 1928, for Vocalion Records ( no. 1230 ). For `` Going Up the Country '', Canned Heat 's Wilson used Thomas ' melody on the quills and his basic rhythm, but arranged it for a rock setting and rewrote the lyrics. In addition to the bass and drum rhythm section, Henry Vestine supplied a `` light electric rhythm guitar '' and multi-instrumentalist Jim Horn reproduced Thomas ' quill parts on the flute. Although linked to the counterculture of the 1960s ' back - to - the - land movement, Wilson 's lyrics are ambiguous : Now baby pack your leaving trunk, you know we 've got to leave today Just exactly where we 're going I can not say, but we might even leave the U.S.A. ' Cause there 's a brand new game that I do n't wan na play Releases and Charts `` Going Up the Country '' was first released on Canned Heat 's third album, Living the Blues, in October 1968. A month later, it was released as a single and reached number eleven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in December, making it the highest charting single of their career. In January 1969, the song peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. The song appears on several Canned Heat compilation albums, including Canned Heat Cookbook, Let 's Work Together : The Best of Canned Heat ( 1989 ) and Uncanned ! The Best of Canned Heat ( 1994 ). Woodstock and influence Canned Heat performed `` Going Up the Country '' at the Woodstock music festival in August 1969. The song has been described as the `` unofficial anthem '' of the festival and is featured early. In the film, Woodstock, Canned Heat 's spoken introduction to their performance of the song is heard, but the movie then cuts to the studio recording played over a montage of festival attendees. The 1970 soundtrack album Woodstock : Music from the Original Soundtrack and More features the festival performance of the song, but without the spoken intro. Several musicians have recorded renditions of `` Going Up the Country '', including Luca Prodan, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Deerhoof, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. In popular culture Canned Heat 's recording has been used on several television commercials for GEICO motorcycle insurance. References Jump up ^ Planer, Lindsay. Canned Heat : Living the Blues -- Review at AllMusic. Retrieved November 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Pearson, Barry Lee ( 1996 ). `` Canned Heat ''. In Erlewine, Michael. All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco : Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0 - 87930 - 424 - 3. ^ Jump up to : Greenwald, Matthew. Canned Heat : `` Going Up the Country '' -- Review at AllMusic. Retrieved November 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Shadwick, Keith ( 2007 ). `` Henry `` Ragtime '' Thomas ``. The Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues. London : Quantum Publishing. p. 411. ISBN 978 - 0 - 681 - 08644 - 9. Jump up ^ The flute in the album version and single version differ slightly ; in one version, the third note is held for only a moment, while in the other, it 's held for two or three seconds. Jump up ^ Russo, Greg ( 1994 ). Uncanned ! The Best of Canned Heat ( CD set booklet ). Canned Heat. New York City : EMI Records / Liberty Records. 7243 8 29165 2 9. Jump up ^ `` Canned Heat -- Singles ''. Official Charts. Retrieved November 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Bennington, Vicki ( April 24, 2008 ). `` Canned Goods ''. The Telegraph ( Alton ). Ohio Community Media. Jump up ^ `` Going Up the Country -- Song Search Results ''. AllMusic. Retrieved November 18, 2013. Jump up ^ `` GEICO Motorcycle TV Commercial, ' Parents Go MIA ' Song by Canned Heat '' iSpot.tv Jump up ^ `` GEICO Insurance TV Commercial - Where 's Gary, He 's Going Up the Country '' TV Commercial Spots Jump up ^ `` GEICO Commercial for GEICO Motorcycle ( 2017 ) : Frank Ditches Bowling Night '' Popisms.com External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Canned Heat Bob Hite Alan Wilson Henry Vestine Larry Taylor Adolfo de la Parra Harvey Mandel Studio albums Canned Heat Boogie with Canned Heat Living the Blues Hallelujah Future Blues Vintage Hooker ' n Heat Historical Figures and Ancient Heads The New Age One More River to Cross Reheated Live albums Canned Heat ' 70 Concert Live in Europe Live at Topanga Corral Compilations Let 's Work Together : The Best of Canned Heat Uncanned ! The Best of Canned Heat Singles `` Rollin ' and Tumblin ' '' `` On the Road Again '' `` Going Up the Country '' `` Let 's Work Together ( Let 's Stick Together ) '' Other songs `` Spoonful '' `` Got My Mojo Working '' `` Pretty Thing '' `` Dimples '' `` Talk to Me Baby ( I Ca n't Hold Out ) '' `` Evil Is Going On '' `` Goin ' Down Slow '' `` Catfish Blues '' `` Dust My Broom '' `` Help Me '' `` The Hunter '' `` Mean Old World '' `` Pony Blues '' `` Terraplane Blues '' `` Big Fat ( The Fat Man ) '' `` I Wish You Would '' `` It Hurts Me Too '' `` That 's All Right ( Mama ) '' `` Bring It On Home '' `` Killing Floor '' `` Meet Me in the Bottom '' `` Driftin ' Blues '' `` Boogie Chillen No. 2 '' `` That 's All Right '' `` Shake, Rattle and Roll '' `` Night Time Is the Right Time '' `` Chicken Shack Boogie '' `` Take Me to the River '' Related articles Discography Tommy Johnson Floyd Jones Jug band Boogie rock Johnny Otis John Lee Hooker List of band members Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Going_Up_the_Country&oldid=810947349 '' Categories : 1968 songs 1968 singles Canned Heat songs Liberty Records singles Hippie movement Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Song articles with missing songwriters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Português Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 18 November 2017, at 14 : 33. 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Question: who sings the song going to the country
Answer: Canned Heat