Maps of Music

Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)

Where the lyrics of Willy and the Poor Boys take you, and where it was really made.

The cover shows the band in character as an old-time jug band, shot on a street corner in Oakland at a market owned by Ruby Lee.

Key places

Recording studio in San Francisco (1969)

Recording site Hyde Street Studios — Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco is listed as the recording place for this album. Recording began shortly after the release of Green River, in the second half of 1969. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Willy and the Poor Boys: fourth studio album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Released 2 November 1969 by Fantasy Records, catalogue Fantasy 8397
• Last of three studio albums the band released in 1969
• Arrived just three months after the album Green River
• Rolling Stone ranked it number 193 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020

Background

• By fall 1969 the band was one of the most popular rock bands in the world
• Before this album, three consecutive No. 2 singles and the No. 1 album Green River
• Performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969
• Made several high-profile television appearances, including The Ed Sullivan Show
• John Fogerty had taken control of the band after several years of futility
• Bassist Stu Cook, drummer Doug Clifford and guitarist Tom Fogerty began to chafe under his leadership
• Clifford later said three albums in one year was overkill

Recording

• Recording of songs for the album began shortly after Green River was released
• The album was first planned around a concept introduced in Down on the Corner
• The jug band identity was dropped quickly, except for Poorboy Shuffle and the cover

Cover

• Band members and photographer Basul Parik went to the intersection of Peralta St. and Hollis St. in Oakland, California
• The cover photograph was shot at Duck Kee Market, owned by Ruby Lee
• The band remains in character on the cover

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California, in 1968.
• The members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs.
• Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz bought the label in 1967 and offered the band a chance to record an album.

Members

• John Fogerty: lead vocals, lead guitar, primary songwriter.
• Tom Fogerty: rhythm guitar, quit at the end of 1970 and died in 1990.
• Stu Cook: bass.
• Doug Clifford: drums.

Career

• Between 1969 and 1971 the band had 14 consecutive top-10 singles and five consecutive top-10 albums in the United States.
• Green River (1969) and Cosmo's Factory (1970) both topped the Billboard 200.
• The band performed at Woodstock in 1969.
• The band disbanded acrimoniously in 1972 amid lawsuits and disputes over business and artistic control.
• Cook and Clifford performed as Creedence Clearwater Revisited from 1995 to 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's original review said the album was the band's best one yet
• Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, also thought it was the group's best record
• Christgau praised Fogerty's subtlety as a political songwriter
• Christgau later included the album in his Basic Record Library

Reappraisal

• AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album one of the greatest pure rock & roll albums ever cut
• Erlewine said the songs are softer and more upbeat than on Green River, except for Effigy
• Erlewine said Fortunate Son is less dated than most protest songs of its era, but a little out of place on the album
• Blender contrasted the album with Sgt. Pepper's and psychedelic rock, and linked the difference to the band's Woodstock performance
• Barry Walters, reviewing the 40th anniversary reissue for Rolling Stone, called the album relaxed

Records

• Made the Top 50 in six countries in 1970, including France, where it reached No. 1
• The only single, Down on the Corner b/w Fortunate Son, peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 on 20 December 1969
• RIAA certified the album gold on 16 December 1970 (500,000 units)
• Certified platinum and 2x platinum on 13 December 1990
• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list placed it at number 392 (2003), 309 (2012) and 193 (2020)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was first planned as the work of an old-time jug band called Willy and the Poor Boys, and the band still appears in that role on the cover
• Down on the Corner tells of a fictional band that plays street corners to cheer people up and ask for nickels
• The album contains two songs linked to Lead Belly, Cotton Fields and The Midnight Special
• Fortunate Son has been used in the films Forrest Gump and Die Hard 4
• The 2008 remaster was released by Concord Music Group as a compact disc with three bonus tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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