Down on the Corner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Down on the Corner”
Song by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album Willy and the Poor Boys
Released November 2, 1969
Recorded fall 1969
Genre Rock
Length 2:47
Label Fantasy
Writer John Fogerty
Producer John Fogerty
Willy and the Poor Boys track listing
Down on the Corner
(1)
"It Came Out of the Sky"
(2)


Down on the Corner is a song by American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was on their 1969 album Willy and the Poor Boys (the group's fourth album). The song chronicles the tale of the fictional band Willy and the Poor Boys and how they play on street corners to cheer people up and ask for nickels. The song is not autobiographical. The song has a washboard on it ("Rooster hits the washboard, and people just gotta smile") and it also has a gut bass ("Blinky thumbs the gut bass and he solos for a while"). In a 1969 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the band performed the song as "Willy and the Poor Boys"—Stu Cook played a gut washtub bass and Doug Clifford strummed a washboard, just as the band appears on the album cover.

This song was also performed by the Goo Goo Dolls on their 1989 album Jed.

An ABC For Kids Video Hits video use plasticine animation featuring the band as dogs (voices of Chris Lloyd, Malcolm McCullum, Armando Hurley and Jamie Rigg).

While the song itself is not the album's title track, it does contain "Willy and the Poor Boys" in the lyrics.