Door to Door

Background

"Door to Door" is the flip-side of "Sweet Hitch-Hiker", the second 45 rpm Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1971 and the first after paring down to a trio (John Fogerty vocals and guitar, Stu Cook bass, Doug Clifford drums). It came out on June 30th, 1971. Both single cuts ended up to the Mardi Gras album one year later. "Door to Door" didn't chart. 

The band released the previous album, Pendulum, midst the turmoil in December 1970. Tensions within the group had been running high for some time. Tom Fogerty (rhythm guitar) resigned in February and the rest of the band left for a long vacation - each of them to a different destination. It was as late as June 1971 when Fogerty, Cook and Clifford hit the studio again.

"Door to Door" was written and sung  by Stu Cook. The shuffle is another song in the Creedence Clearwater catalogue describing the band members' life in various jobs before turning professionals.  "Door to door" was based on Doug Clifford's experiences as a salesman. 

"Sweet Hitchhiker" b/w "Door to Door" was the  last session the band held at Wally Heider's Studios in San Francisco. The rest of the Mardi Gras cuts were put onto the master tapes in the new studios of Fantasy Records in Berkeley.  

Recording session

"Door to Door" was written (lyrics), recorded and mixed at Wally Heider Recording in San Francisco in three days. The first day was spent to searching for the right sound on the drums. It had to be done due to a long recording break.  

According to engineer Russ Gary, John Fogerty played the guitar solo on "Door to Door" (Hank Bordowitz, Bad Moon Rising, 2007). 

John Fogerty played a Gibson Les Paul Custom on the track (Lars Bundesen). 

Cover photos

The cover of the single contains two photos: one featuring Clifford, Fogerty and Cook sitting on the balcony (Fogerty and Cook on the couch). Another side features the band posing in front of a bird statue.  The "couch photo" was taken in Pinole, a couple of miles to north of Berkeley in the Bay Area. 

The "bird photo" was taken in front of the Post Office to the north of and somewhat adjacent to Spengers Fish Grotto restaurant in Berkeley (1919 Fourth St). The statue was removed from there since then. A similar but different bird sculpture now appears near the southwest corner of the restaurant (on the corner of University Avenue and 4th Street and across the street of Berkeley Amtrak Railway Station where the photo of the back cover of the "Run Through the Jungle" b/w "Up Around the Bend" single was shot no less than a year earlier).

Collector's notes

The "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" b/w "Door to Door" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, USA. It was different from the one launched in Denmark, Israel,  Netherlands.  Fantasy also released a promotional single in the USA. It had no cover photo (Peter Koers, Green River: An Illustrated Discography, 1999).  

Live versions

Creedence Clearwater played "Door to Door" live for the first time in the closing concert of the Fillmore West in San Francisco on July 4th, 1971 - five days after the release of the single. Stu Cook sang the number with eyes closed. The show was broadcast live by KSAN-FM in the Bay Area.  Another summer 1971 live concert by the band in Forest Hills, New York, a couple of weeks later, was broadcast by WNEW-FM in the Big Apple.

The song remained in the group's set list until the breakup of the band in 1972. One of the versions recorded during the European Tour in autumn 1971 ended up to the Live in Europe album.

Critical reception

"Bassist Stu Cook's three selections are bad enough to qualify as offensive." -Jon Landau, The Rolling Stone, May 25th, 1972.  

"---solid rocker---" -Thomas Erlewine, All Music. 

Thanks to Petra, Robert and Dana. 

previous | next