Composed for orchestra, Chicken Reel was completed March 18, 1946. It is exactly 3 minutes long. Chicken Reel was first performed May 12, 1946 at the Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler conducting. It was first recorded on June 20, 1947 by Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops, in analog mono sound. It was re-recorded in analog stereo sound by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops on June 6, 1962. It was not published until 1963.
Composer Quote: "When I got out of the Army, (in 1946) I went back to Fiedler and asked if he needed any new arrangements. I said I had an idea for one called "Chicken Reel," and he tried it out. Oh, he really liked that one. He had only one suggestion: "Let's put in a punch at the end," he said. Why don't you throw in the sound of a rooster crowing?" We worked out the ending like that. We had the clarinetist blow into the mouthpiece without the instrument to achieve the effect, and it proved to be just what was needed to make the piece right."