Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy And The Poor Boys (1969)

Charts: US #3, AUS #2, CAN #2, FIN #3, GER #25, ITA #17, JPN #11, NL #3, NOR #2, UK #10. US: 2x Platinum.
Willy and the Poor Boys can be seen as a semi-concept album. The cover of the record shows the members of Creedence playing on a street corner as a jug band. This is the band referred to in the hit single "Down on the Corner." Creedence Clearwater Revival "becomes" Willy and the Poor Boys in a way similar to The Beatles becoming Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The concept is only carried out on two tracks however. On the instrumental track "Poorboy Shuffle," the group proves that they can play the instruments they brandish on the cover. In fact, while they were doing the cover shoot fooling around with their instruments they came up with the song, walked two blocks back to the studio and put it on tape. I'm always impressed when I hear it, especially since I know the washtub bass is not an easy instrument to play.
Creedence Clearwater Revival is probably best known as being a protest band. While they never embraced this label they also never shied away from it. "Fortunate Son" is another hit single off this album and it is also the strongest political song they ever recorded. Many people misinterpret the song as a strong patriotic anthem (a problem exacerbated by a Wrangler Jeans commercial in which the only lyrics played are "Some folks were born, made to raise the flag/Ooh they're red, white and blue," conveniently leaving out the rest of the verse which says "And when the band plays hail to the chief/They point the cannon right at you!") The song is as powerful today as it was then due to the fact that Fogerty did not hold back any punches. Even without a strong political statement Fortunate Son is one of the finest rock and roll songs ever.
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