It was one of the first recordings in the style later dubbed "hillbilly boogie" to reach a widespread audience, and eventually sold nearly three million copies.

[3] "Guitar Boogie" is an uptempo twelve-bar boogie-style instrumental and is patterned after older boogie-woogie piano pieces.

[5] In his version, Smith performs the piano parts on guitar, alternating between boogie rhythmic patterns and soloing.

[10][11][12] The piece was released under the name "the Rambler Trio featuring Arthur Smith" by the independent Super Disc Records label.

AllMusic critic Bruce Eder describes these renditions as having "new accents and a beat that took it out of country boogie and Western swing".

Ten years later, a rendition appeared on the Ventures' 1972 album, Rock & Roll Forever[22] with Harvey Mandel guesting on lead guitar.