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"Down on the Corner"
Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival
from the album Willy and the Poor Boys
A-side"Fortunate Son"
ReleasedOctober 1969
Recorded1969
Genre
Length2:47
LabelFantasy
Songwriter(s)John Fogerty
Producer(s)John Fogerty
Creedence Clearwater Revival singles chronology
"Green River"
(1969) 		"Down on the Corner"
(1969) 		"Fortunate Son"
(1969)

"Down on the Corner" is a song by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It appeared on their fourth studio album, Willy and the Poor Boys (1969). The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 20 December 1969. The flip side, "Fortunate Son", reached No. 14 on the United States charts on 22 November 1969, the week before Billboard changed its methodology on double-sided hits.[3]

In Canada, the single reached No. 4 in December 1969,[4] and No. 5 in New Zealand.[5] The song performed better in much of Continental Europe, where it made number 2 in Germany, number 9 in Austria, number 8 in the Netherlands, number 17 in Flemish-speaking Belgium and number 6 in French-speaking Belgium[6] than in the United Kingdom, where it stalled at number 31.[7]

Content

The song depicts the fictional band Willy and the Poor Boys, and how they play on street corners to cheer people up and ask for nickels.

Songwriter John Fogerty explained how the lyrics were derived:[8]

[I] was kind of inspired by seeing an advertisement in the paper one day,” he says. “It was an ad from Disney that said in great big letters ‘Winnie the Pooh’. Something in my brain said ‘Winnie the Pooh and the Pooh Boys’. Obviously, that was close to ‘Willy and the Poor Boys’. As I began to develop this idea it turned into music in that weird mystical, almost uncontrollable way, music comes to songwriters. Winnie the Pooh is still my favorite character who I’ve shared with my daughter Kelsy since the day she was born, though she's growing out of it. But I'm not.

The song makes reference to a harmonica, washboard, a kazoo, a Kalamazoo guitar, and a gut bass.[9] In a 1969 appearance on The Music Scene,[10] the band performed the song dressed up as “Willy and the Poor Boys”.[11] Stu Cook played a gut bass, Doug Clifford the washboard, and Tom Fogerty the Kalamazoo, which mimicked the appearance of the band as they appear on the album cover.

Billboard described the single as having "an infectious calypso beat."[12]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[13] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Down on the Corner - Creedence Clearwater Revival | Song Info | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Molanphy, Chris (February 28, 2019). "The Bad Moon on the Rise Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1990). The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties (25 October 1969 through 27 December 1969). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. ISBN 0-89820-074-1.
  4. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - December 20, 1969" (PDF). Collectioncanada.gc.ca.
  5. ^ "Flavour of New Zealand, 6 March 1970". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Creedence Clearwater Revival - Down On The Corner". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ^ "down on the corner | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Watch John Fogerty and Family Perform CCR Favorites". Best Classic Bands. 2020-04-15. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  9. ^ "Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down on the Corner". Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  10. ^ "Music Scene - Season 1 - IMDb". IMDb. December 1, 1969. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  11. ^ "1969 TV performance". YouTube. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  12. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. October 18, 1969. p. 86. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  13. ^ "American single certifications – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down on the Corner". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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