Canned Heat Version
"Going Up the Country" is virtually a cover of the song "Bull Doze Blues" recorded by Henry Thomas in the late 1920s, the flute solo taken note by note from the original. Thomas accompanied himself on guitar and quills, an early Afro-American instrument similar to panpipes. The melody that Thomas played on the quills was reproduced on the flute by multi-instrumentalist Jim Horn for the recording of "Going Up the Country". The only difference between the original and the Canned Heat version is the lyrics.
The group performed the song during their set at the Woodstock music festival in August 1969 and it has been described as the "unofficial anthem" of the festival and is featured during the opening credits of the film. In the full-length motion picture, Woodstock, Canned Heat's spoken intro to their performance of the song is heard, but the movie then cuts to the studio recording played over a montage of festival attendees. Conversely, the soundtrack album Woodstock features the festival performance of the song, but without the spoken intro. There are two versions of Canned Heat's studio recording, which differ by only one note in the flute phrase. In most versions, the third note of the opening flute phrase is cut short. This difference is repeated when the flute phrase is repeated at the end of the song. In some versions, the note is sustained for an extra second.
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