Comin' Down the Road

Background

“Comin' Down the Road”, paired with "Ricochet", was the fifth 7" single John Fogerty released during his solo career and the first one he launched on his own name. The 45 rpm was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Fogerty plays all the instruments by himself. The single was released in November 1973. It peaked at #40 in Germany but failed to chart in the USA. 

"Comin' Down the Road" is a rousing rocker with an intro reminding "It Came Out of the Sky". Years later, Fogerty talked to journalist Tom Wilk and imparted the song is, in part,  a tribute to Chuck Berry. (Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, July 5th, 1998)

In an interview in 1973, John Fogerty brought up a possibility to release a follow-up to the first Blue Ridge Rangers album. It's likely that "Comin' Down the Road" was one of the candidates considered for the LP. Fogerty went on strike in early 1974 and the album never materialized. (Melody Maker, September 8th, 1973)

Collector's notes

The songs on the 45 rpm have never been released on an official album. They're only available as a second-hand 7" vinyl single.

The single was released with different cover sleeves in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. The US version didn't have a cover sleeve. 

"Comin' Down the Road" was also released as a 7" single in the Speciale Jukebox series (Fantasy Galaxy JB 466/M 8977) in 1974. It had no picture sleeve (Peter Koers, Green River: An Illustrated Discography, 1999). 

For some odd reason, the Belgian version of the single sounds better than the several others releases that came out in various parts of the world (Robert Aerts).   

Live versions

The world premiere of the live version of "Comin' Down the Road" took place at the 50th Grammy Awards ceremony at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10th, 2008. The song was a part of a rock and roll medley with John Fogerty, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. The show was aired live on TV in the USA. 

Fans had eagerly waited for Fogerty to play this rarer gem of his catalogue live on stage. During the concerts in Sweden on May 23rd and 24th in 2008, Finnish, Italian, Dutch and American fans, who had taken over the seats quite close to the stage, showed Fogerty a wide canvas requesting "Please play Comin' Down the Road". A couple of days later on May 26th, John Fogerty delivered the song for the first time in a regular concert in Helsinki, Finland. From this date on, he performed this rock and roll tribute regularly until the end of 2009. In summer 2010, the song made a return to his set lists but only for three concerts.

The song also opened the concert at The Royal Albert Hall, London, UK, on June 24, 2008. The show was filmed and released on the Comin' Down the Road DVD next year. 

Furthermore, Fogerty performed the song at Austin City Limits at Zilker Park, Austin, Texas, on September 27, 2008. The concert was screened live in the USA.  

For the concerts in 2008, Fogerty added a third verse onto the song:

Well I put on my old blue flannel

Went and got me some down home y'all

Hitched me a ride on a southbound train

where the southern ´cross the dog

Saw all the people singing

They were steppin´up and down the line

If this ain´t heaven I must be close

'cause "Revival" is right on time

Critical reception

"Unpersuasive three minutes of belly whoops and commotion, designed to hoax the listener into believing Fogerty's having himself a real fine time, when he's really just as bored as the rest of us by all this re-cycled swamp sewage. The melody sucks like a sink plunger and his guitar sounds out of tune." -The New Musical Express, March 30th, 1974. 

"What I need for full recovery is a Creedence Clearwater Revival revival - something strong and fresh and worth having on the radio by my bedside. --- "Comin' Down the Road" sends him back to "Lodi" style voice and melody, but he's cluttered up his sound since those days, and there's no substitute for cleanliness." -Let It Rock, June 1974. 

Fans' views

"After CCR disbanded this was the first indication (at least to me), that John Fogerty was still going on. Besides, it's good rock'n'roll!"

"Reminds me of "It Came Out Of The Sky". It has just the right melodie, so you can sing it along as loud as you can."

"Another underrated song. This is what a Rock n' Roll song should sound like. If John would have arranged/produced this song for "Blue Moon Swamp", I think it would knock everybodies socks off."

"Ahhh, a personal favorite and another one that should be rerecorded and peformed live."

"Blazing guitars and the hard vocals (lots of great JCF screams!)."

"Where's the band? Who cares."

Thanks to Aarno and Robert. 

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