Called a "rural hippie anthem",[3] it became one of the band's biggest hits and best-known songs.

[5] Thomas was from the songster tradition and had a unique sound,[6] sometimes accompanying himself on quills, an early Afro-American wind instrument similar to panpipes.

[7] For "Going Up the Country", Canned Heat's Wilson used Thomas' melody on the quills and his basic rhythm, but arranged it for a rock setting and rewrote the lyrics.

In addition to the bass and drum rhythm section, Henry Vestine supplied a "light electric rhythm guitar"[5] and multi-instrumentalist Jim Horn reproduced Thomas' quill parts on the flute.

[8] Although linked to the counterculture of the 1960s' back-to-the-land movement, Wilson's lyrics are ambiguous, leading some to suggest they were about evading the draft during the Vietnam War by moving to Canada:[9] Now, baby, pack your leaving trunk, you know we've got to leave today Just exactly where we're going, I cannot say, but we might even leave the U.S.A. 'Cause there's a brand new game that I don't wanna play In October 1968, Liberty Records first released "Going Up the Country" on Canned Heat's third album, Living the Blues, and followed it with a single on November 22, 1968.