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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Down on the Corner

Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR or Creedence) was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums.

The group consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed country rock and swamp rock genres. Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they positioned themselves as Southern rock stylists, singing often about bayous, the Mississippi River, catfish, and other popular elements of Southern iconography.

CCR's music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay and often figures in various media. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone. CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

As it was stated at their induction,"Creedence Clearwater Revival, which disbanded in 1972, were progressive and anachronistic at the same time. An unapologetic throwback to the golden era of rock and roll, they broke ranks with their peers on the progressive, psychedelic San Francisco scene. Their approach was basic and uncompromising, holding true to the band members' working-class origins. The term 'roots rock' had not yet been invented when Creedence came along, but in a real way they defined it, drawing inspiration from the likes of Little Richard, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and the artisans of soul at Motown and Stax. In so doing, Creedence Clearwater Revival became the standard bearers and foremost celebrants of homegrown American music."

"Down on the Corner" is a song that appeared on their fourth studio album, Willy and the Poor Boys (1969). 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 spent fifteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached a peak of number three on the chart. Incidentally, the B-side, "Fortunate Son" reached number fourteen on the same chart during the same period.

The song makes reference to a gut bass in the line "Blinky thumps the gut bass and 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 bass, which mimicked the appearance the band as they appear on the album cover.

" The above text is a mashup from Wikipedia."

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