Going Up The Country Amphetamine Annie Canned Heat

Going Up The Country Album: Living The Blues (1968)
Amphetamine Annie Album: Boogie With Canned Heat (1968)
by Canned Heat

Canned Heat's band members were notoriously avid record collectors; this was derived from an old and obscure Blues song called "Bull Doze Blues" by Henry Thomas. The song caught on in the summer of 1969 and was very popular among Hippies who appreciated the nature theme.

Going Up The Country was written by Alan Wilson, who was Canned Heat's vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter. Wilson committed suicide on September 3, 1970, becoming one of the first 27-year-old rock casualties, a group that would soon include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.

Canned Heat played this at Day 2 of the Woodstock festival, which was a big moment for the band. The song was kind of an anthem for the festival, as "Going Up the Country" described the pilgrimage to Yasgur's farm in upstate New York where the event took place. The band didn't put much effort into practicing for their appearance, and their 10 song set was uneven - their co-founder Bob Hite said in a 1974 Sounds interview, "We've always just fallen into something within a couple of days and then just gone out on the road and played.

Sometimes it's shown it and sometimes it's been incredible. The Woodstock performance which although there were a couple of tunes which weren't too good, 'Going Up The Country' was one of them."

The song was included on the Woodstock album, but Canned Heat's set was edited out of the official movie. It can be seen on the director's cut of the film.

Bob Hite sang lead on most Canned Heat songs, but this one was sung by Alan Wilson in his distinctive tenor.

The prominent flute in this song was played by Jim Horn, who made his biggest impact as a saxophone player, appearing on tracks by The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Beach Boys.

Boogie with Canned Heat is the second studio album by American blues and rock band Canned Heat. Released in 1968, it contains mostly original material, unlike their debut album. It was the band's most commercially successful album, reaching number 16 in the US and number 5 in the UK.

Boogie with Canned Heat includes one of their best-known songs. "Amphetamine Annie", a warning about the dangers of amphetamine abuse, also received considerable airplay.

I'm goin' up the country, baby don't you want to go?
I'm goin' up the country, baby don't you want to go?
I'm goin' to some place where I've never been before

I'm goin' I'm goin' where the water tastes like wine
I'm goin' where the water tastes like wine
We can jump in the water, stay drunk all the time

I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away
I'm gonna leave this city, got to get away
All this fussin' and fightin' man, you know I sure can't stay

So baby pack your leavin' trunk
You know we've got to leave today
Just exactly where we're goin' I cannot say
But we might even leave the U.S.A.
It's a brand new game, that I want to play

No use in your runnin', or screamin' and cryin'
'Cause you got a home as long as I've got mine

Amphetamine Annie

This is a song with a message
I want you to heed my warning
I wanna tell you all a story
About this chick I know
They call her "Amphetamine Annie"
She's always shovelling snow
I sat her down and told her
I told her crystal clear
"I don't mind you getting high
But there's one thing you should fear"
"Your mind might think its flying, baby
On those little pills
But you ought to know it's dying, 'cause
Speed kills"

But Annie kept on speeding
Her health was getting poor
She saw things in the window
She heard things at the door
Her mind was like a grinding mill
Her lips were cracked and sore
Her skin was turning yellow
I just couldn't take it no more
She thought her mind was flying
On those little pills
She didn't it was going down fast, 'cause
Speed kills
Well I sat her down and told her
I told her one more time
"The whole wide human race has taken
Far too much methedrine"
She said "I don't care what a Limey says
I've got to get it on
I'm not here to just see no man
Who come from across the pond
She wouldn't heed my warning
Lord, she wouldn't hear what I said
Now she's in the graveyard, and she's
Awfully dead