[1][2] The song is characterized for its bilingual lyrics and urban sound, all part of the Latin boogaloo music style of the late 1960s in New York City.

From El Barrio to the South Bronx, hipsters in knit shirts and Caesar haircuts went around whistling, clapping and singing, "I'll never go back to Georgia!

Of course, the farthest south most of these guys had ever been was Delancey Street to buy their Playboy loafers.″[5] Nevertheless, Jimmy Sabater was "struck both by the sentiment and the way the cadence of the line perfectly fit a clave rhythm.

And in 1965, when the song came out, the political timing was just right to make "El Pito" a rare crossover hit for Latin and black audiences".

[4] According to a story published by record label Fania, to celebrate the success of the song, five thousand whistles were handed out during a concert at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1967.