Keep On Chooglin'

Background

“Keep On Chooglin'” is the closing track of the original Bayou Country album, the second long-player Creedence Clearwater Revival released. It usually closed the Creedence Clearwater concerts from summer 1969 onwards.

The seven-minute, predominantly one-chord, shuffle-beat groove is one of the key cuts on the LP, and a convincing example of the swamp rock sound Fogerty established in these sessions. “Born On the Bayou”, “Proud Mary” and Keep On Chooglin' comprised a trio of songs built around the theme of the mythical Deep South.

John Fogerty wrote much of the original material for Bayou Country in early June 1968 in his small apartment in El Cerrito in the Bay Area during the turmoil caused by the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He used to stare at the wall in the night (without drugs or alcohol) and let the creative forces flow through him.

Many of the bands in the late 60's, including Grateful Dead and others, used to play long boogie grooves and jam on them for ten minutes or more. John Fogerty wrote “Keep on Chooglin'” out of the need to create a similar jam number for Creedence Clearwater (Art Thompson, Interview with John Fogerty, The Guitar Player, March 2008). 

Chooglin'

What exactly does "chooglin" mean? John Fogerty explained the word in the Reddit session on May 29th, 2013: "It was just a fun expression that I made up. It wasn't a real word but I wanted have a word that sounded kind of like "rockin," "shufflin," "boogie," kind of rock n roll."

Equipment

John Fogerty played the lead guitar parts on a Gibson ES-175.

Live versions

The first documented Creedence Clearwater concert with “Keep On Chooglin'” in the set list was played at Fillmore West in San Francisco as early as July 3rd 1968. The band kept playing the number regularly until the breakup of the group in 1972. By the big festivals of summer 1969 (Newport, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Woodstock), this boogie number had solidified its position as the concert finale and edged out the former closing song, “Suzie Q”. On the last tours in 1971-1972, the band delivered “Keep On Chooglin'” as a medley together with “Pagan Baby”.

The video footage of the closing number of the Woodstock concert was released on the Woodstock 3 Days of Peace & Music: Director's Cut - 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD in 2009.

The classic version Creedence Clearwater delivered in their homecoming concert at Oakland Arena on January 31st, 1970, was released on The Concert album. The TV footage (In Concert) was premiered in the USA next year in June.

The first concert of the CCR trio at Fillmore West was broadcast live by KSAN-FM in San Francisco. Another show at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York a couple of weeks later was broadcast live by WNEW-FM in New York. Another live version of “Keep On Chooglin' “ recorded during the Euro Tour in autumn 1971 ended up to the Live in Europe album.

John Fogerty added “Keep On Chooglin’ “ into his concert set list for the first time on the opening leg of the Deja Vu All Over Tour in Biloxi, Mississippi, on November 6th, 2004. Fogerty changed the intro slightly: it started with a finger-tapping Van Halen-style snippet, and like the Creedence Clearwater days, Fogerty also played the harmonica parts of the song.  John has used a blue Ernie Ball Music Man guitar in the live versions in the 2000's.   

“Keep On Chooglin'“ has appeared in numerous John Fogerty live concerts which have been broadcast on TV:

The Glastonbury version was also available on the special edition of the Revival album that was available at Walmart in the USA in October 2007. The CD included a bonus DVD featuring “Ramble Tamble” and “Keep On Chooglin' “ performed live at Glastonbury.

An excellent concert version with tasty guitar distortion effects is available on John Fogerty collection album The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection which came out in summer 2006. The live cut was recorded in Camden, New Jersey, USA, on July 15th, 2005.

Fogerty also performed “Keep On Chooglin' “ in Artist Confidential broadcast by Sirius XM satellite radio on October 19, 2009. The same channel also put on the air the John Fogerty album concerts at Beacon Theatre in New York on November 17-18, 2011. Radio listeners in Italy enjoyed the John Fogerty show broadcast by the Italian public radio RAI live from the historical Toscana town named Lucca on July 26, 2009.

“Keep On Chooglin' “ appears on two of the three John Fogerty live DVDs: The Long Road Home (2006) and Comin' Down the Road (2009).

In the movies

Critical reception

""Keep On Chooglin'" is Creedence Clearwater Revival's "rave-up," a good, long, toe-tappin' type song. As is usually the case with such numbers, it sounds better in person than on record. Nonetheless, CCR has managed to capture some of the excitement of a live performance on this album. Exactly what chooglin' is, or how you do it, is not explained. However, Creedence Clearwater Revival would like us all to keep on doing it (apparently we've been doing it all along without knowing it) and it seems like a good idea in these troubled times." -Ray Rezos, The Rolling Stone, March 1st, 1969.

"As for the album closer, 'Keep On Chooglin', I know it's considered an absolute anthemic classic and one of Creedence's most appreciated 'dance tunes', but I really can't find any important hooks in that song, except, of course, for the fact that it's quick, energetic and rip-roaring. Then again, so was 'Suzie-Q' (well, it was somewhat slower, but what the hell), and 'Chooglin'' adds little to its legacy. But at least 'Suzie-Q' had a riff, and 'Keep On Chooglin' has none, barring the possibility that its rhythmic structure is just copied from 'Bootleg', with some extentions. I dunno. Keep on chooglin'." -George Starostin.

"This song’s greatness lies in the sections of jamming. It is truly the other sections that are annoying. The verses are terrible, and the vocals are quite annoying at times. The song tries to be more upbeat than it deserves to be, especially for a band like Creedence." -The Stefan, Sputnik Music, December 12th, 2010.

"A bouncy seven-minute boogie on one chord." -The Uncut, February 2012. 

Fans' views

"You have to be careful when driving and listening to it, it's almost impossible not to speed when this song is playing!"

"This song just has everything a great rock 'n roll song needs. Great guitar solo's, a haunting mouth organ, everything just fits. Listening to KOC one doesn't need drugs to get high."

"A very simple tune musically - the essence of rock n' roll. An exhilarating extended rave up.  And a perfect mantra."

"This song just has everything a great rock 'n roll song needs. Great guitar solo's, a haunting mouth organ, everything just fits. Listening to KOC one doesn't need drugs to get high."

"Because he wrote this song for me and my wife. "Here comes Mary, lookin' for Harry; she 's gonna choogle tonight."

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Written by John C. Fogerty.

Recorded at Studio A, RCA Studios, Los Angeles, CA, USA, in October 1968.

Appears on Bayou Country album. 

Released on January 5th, 1969. 

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