Down on the Corner

Background

"Down on the Corner", backed with "Fortunate Son" was the fourth 45 rpm Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969. "Down on the Corner" also opens the Willy and the Poor Boys album. The song peaked at #3 in the USA, #31 in the UK and #2 in Germany.    

"Down on the Corner" combines elements from soul and funk. It is based on a low funky guitar riff, which kicks off the song and is repeated throughout the tune. Lyrically, the song describes a street band playing traditional instruments. Cosmo on the washboard is Rooster. Stu on the gut bucket is Blinky. Tom on the Kalamazoo guitar is Poorboy. John on the harp is Willy. The cover picture of Willy and the Poor Boys features the band playing in front of Duck Kee Market in the intersection of Peralta Street and Hollis Street in Oakland, California. Fogerty invented the characters on the week preceding the Woodstock Festival when the song was already evolving. The band was taping The Andy Williams Show in Universal City, California. Fogerty was looking out the window of his hotel room and saw the other band members hanging around by the swimming pool, waiting to be picked up for the taping (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015). 

John Fogerty got the inspiration for the album title from a Winnie the Poo ad in a paper. He twisted the Disney ad into Winnie the Poo and the Poo Boys. Obviously that was close to Willy and the Poor Boys.

Recording session

According to John Fogerty, the bass player had trouble with the bass line in the studio. John also describes in his autobiography that his brother couldn’t keep the rhythm going all the way through the song. Therefore, it was dubbed later in pieces (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015).  

Engineer Russ Gary run the tape machine at less than normal speed during the recording of backing vocal overdubs of "Down on the Corner" and other Creedence Clearwater tunes.  When the vocals are played back, they have a little crisper edge on them (Chris M. Junior, Creedence Clearwater Revival: Three of a Kind, Goldmine, December 26th, 2009). 

 

Written by John C. Fogerty.

Recorded at Studio C, Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, CA, USA, in September 1969.

Appears on "Down on the Corner" b/w "Fortunate Son" single and Willy and the Poor Boys album. 

Released on October 17th, 1969 (single) and November 2nd, 1969 (album). 

Spotify

Trivia

Phil Elwood, a San Francisco writer, had misquoted the words “Willie goes into a dance, the devil’s on the loose”.  Fogerty read that and thought, “That’s a cool line!” and added it into “Run Through the Jungle” (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015). 

Collector's notes

The "Down on the Corner" b/w "Fortunate Son" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in France, Italy, Spain and the USA. It was different from the one launched in Denmark, Germany, India, Israel, Nethelands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland.

Another German release (Liberty 15283 is rare.

In another Dutch version (Liberty 5C 006 90781) the band's name is misspelled Greedence Clearwater Revival (Peter Koers, Green River, 1999). On the labels of early original Spanish and French singles the band's name is also misspelled, reading Creedence Clearwater-Revival  (Robert Aerts).  

Live versions

There're two documented Creedence Clearwater gigs with "Down on the Corner" in the set list: the homecoming concert at Oakland Coliseum on January 31, 1970 and the concert in Essen, Germmany on April 12, 1970. It also appears on The Concert album recorded that night and In Concert TV show broadcast in summer 1971. The band also played the song in a jam session with Booker T and the MGs one day before. It features a guitar solo not heard on the original studio version. 

The band performed the song as playback or half playback in three TV shows: American Bandstand on September 20, 1969 Ed Sullivan Show on November 16, 1969, and Something Else a month and a half later on December 1st.  

During his solo career, John Fogerty performed "Down on the Corner" for the first time in the Vets Rousing Welcome Home benefit concert on July 4, 1987. After beginning regular touring in spring 1997, the dance song has become one of the corner stones of his concerts. 

"Down on the Corner" appears on each of his three live DVDs: Premonition (1998), The Long Road Home (2006) and Comin' Down the Road (2009). 

Extraordinary live versions of the song include the one John Fogerty performed with a full orchestra at the Night of Proms in Antwerp, Belgium, in autumn 2010. 

In the movies and TV series

"Down on the Corner" appears in a couple of films:

The song is also featured in TV series Banda sonora, episode #1.11 (2010).

Critical reception 

"---Doug Clifford's most underrated contributions to the band's discography -- as well as a choppy guitar chording away very much like patterns heard in soul and funk songs of the era. --- Lyrically, Fogerty captures perfectly the ambience of kids jamming away with more spirit than financial resources on a street corner. The gospel singalong traits of many a Creedence song come out in force on the harmonized chorus, as an ideal setting for the tapping of the feet on the corner as guys play for tips pictured by the words." -Richie Unterberger, All Music. 

Fans' views

"Gets people moving like no other CCR tune, and the concept of streetside musicians performing for fun is the best image any of us could have of CCR ... the drums at the end are the best."

"Makes me just wanna pick up my harp and blow."

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