I Will Walk With You

Background

"I Will Walk With You" is the seventh track of Deja Vu All Over Again, the seventh solo album of John Fogerty. The collection of songs was released in September 2004. It reached #23 in the USA and #1 in Sweden. 

John Fogerty turns his attention to his baby daughter in "I Will Walk With You". The light-hearted string-band acoustic bluegrass is a story of a dad's love towards his newborn baby. The idea came to Fogerty as early as spring 2002. Initially, he planned to write a rock song but he dropped the idea very soon. One day he was watching mama give the baby a bath, took the acoustic guitar in his hand and it sprang into his head how the song could be presented (Scott Simon, Interview with John Fogerty, National Public Radio, USA, November 20th, 2004). 

"I Will Walk With You" is something that Fogerty wouldn't have written during the days of Creedence Clearwater. At the later age, he didn't despise gentleness anymore. "When you are in the moment, and actually feel the words you are writing, you are OK", he conceded to journalist Greg Kot in fall 2004 (The Chicago Tribune, October 1st, 2004). 

Personnel

Guitars, lead vocals, background vocals: John Fogerty

Dobro: Jerry Douglas

Bass: Viktor Krauss

Mandolins: Bob Applebaum and Michael DeTemple

John Fogerty bought a dobro in Nashville 1969. He started buying records and instruction things, and that's where he crossed the path of Jerry Douglas who handles the dobro parts on this track. 

Fogerty visited Douglas' album The Best Kept Secret and provided vocals and guitar on "Swing Blues #1". 

Live versions

The world premiere of the live version of "I Will Walk With You" was witnessed at KLRU-TV's Studio 6A in Austin, Texas, on August 10th, 2004 when the Austin City Limits TV concert was taped. It was screened by the PBS network in the USA on October 8th. However, TV viewers in America saw the song for the first time in the Live By Request show broadcast live from Englewood, New Jersey, already on September 22nd. In both concerts, Jerry Douglas played the dobro parts on "I Will Walk With You". 

Furthermore, he played the song live on Sirius satellite radio on September 30th.  

Kicked off in November 2004, Fogerty delivered "I Will Walk With You" in several concerts in North America on the Deja Vu All Over Again Tour. On European legs of the circuit next spring, he slowed down a bit and performed it only once.

In 2008, 2009 and 2011, "I Will Walk With You" was added to the set list in occasional concerts, including the Cosmo's Factory and Green River special shows at Beacon Theatre in New York on November 17th and 18th. Both album concerts were broadcast live by Sirius XM satellite radio in the USA. 

"I Will Walk With You" also appears on the Comin' Down the Road concert DVD filmed at Royal Albert Hall, London, UK, on June 24th, 2008.   . 

Critical reception

"Not that the album is without its inspired moments. The bluegrass arrangement on "I Will Walk With You" is tailored nicely to Fogerty's new vocal style. Famed instrumentalist Jerry Douglas adds tasty Dobro." -Jim Abbott, The Orlando Sentinel, September 17th, 2004.  

"On "Deja Vu," that new range shows up most clearly on "I Will Walk With You," a bluegrass-style song performed with a string band. Probably the gentlest song he has ever written, its core audience is his preschool-age daughter." -David Hinckley, The New York Daily News, September 19th, 2004. 

"This album's least ambitious moments — the profession of devotion in "I Will Walk With You," the Farfisa-organ-driven garage rock of "Radar" — are perhaps its most charming. But while John Fogerty may leave you wanting more, that doesn't mean you're not satisfied." -Anthony Decurtis, The Rolling Stone, September 22nd, 2004. 

Fans' views

"--- John has become softer by the Years. He´s able to write beautiful lovesongs."

"One of the most heartfelt songs John's written. This one always makes me feel sorry for his other kids, listening to it must be hurtful for them."

"Because I am myself a father this i a very emotional song."

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