Huey "Piano" Smith - "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu"

Huey "Piano" Smith suffers from chronic and severe cases of both rockin' pneumonia and boogie-woogie flu. Such a dual affliction is admittedly as rare as steak tartare, but Smith's song, prototypically symptomatic of his condition, leaves no doubt about the authenticity of his so-called suffering. You see, taken together, the two diseases pose a contradiction: those sick with rockin' pneumonia experience music as euphoria, as a promise of infinite, untapped possibility, while the victim of boogie-woogie flu is largely incapacitated by the same stimulus, rendered utterly incapable of tapping the untapped. Hence, Smith is inspired by music to kiss a woman, though he ultimately finds "the gal too tall;" he is compelled to run, though his "feet are too slow." In fact, so profound is Smith's case that not even Jonas Salk himself would be capable of finding a cure. Thank goodness then that the man known as "Piano" learned to live with his ailment, even joining forces with the similarly sick: namely, a baritone sax player, who, if my ears do not deceive me, has a mean case of R&B fever, and a drummer with whooping cough of soul.

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