Although it became a blues standard,[3] music critic Charles Shaar Murray calls it "the greatest pop song he ever wrote".

[7] However, with Vee-Jay, he usually recorded with a small backing band, as heard on the singles "Dimples", "I Love You Honey", and "No Shoes".

Detroit keyboardist Joe Hunter, who had previously worked with Hooker, was again enlisted for the recording session.

[4] Hunter brought with him "the cream of the Motown label's session men, later known as the Funk Brothers":[7] bassist James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, plus guitarist Larry Veeder, tenor saxophonist Hank Cosby, and baritone saxophonist Andrew "Mike" Terry.

[8] The original "Boom Boom" is an uptempo (168 beats per minute) blues song, which has been notated in 2/2 time in the key of F.[9] It has been described as "about the tightest musical structure of any Hooker composition: its verses sedulously adhere to the twelve-bar format over which Hooker generally rides so roughshod".

[4] The song uses "a stop-time hook that opens up for one of the genre's most memorable guitar riffs"[10] and incorporates a middle instrumental section Hooker-style boogie.

[12] The song also appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 60, making it one of only two Hooker singles to enter the broader chart.

[25] Cash Box described it as "a rousing salute to the apple of a guy's eye" that's "exciting, funky-styled" and "a great swinger.

"[28] Beginning with the television series debut of NCIS: New Orleans in 2014, a portion of Big Head Todd's version has been used as the opening theme.