Down on the Corner

The song tells of a fictional band, Willy and the Poor Boys, who play on street corners to cheer people up and ask for nickels. Fogerty said the idea came from a newspaper ad for Winnie the Pooh, which his mind turned into Winnie the Pooh and the Pooh Boys and then Willy and the Poor Boys. The lyrics name a harmonica, a washboard, a kazoo, a Kalamazoo guitar and a gut bass. It was released as the B-side of Fortunate Son, and the pairing peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 on 20 December 1969.

In Canada the single reached No. 4 and in New Zealand No. 5. It did better in continental Europe, reaching No. 2 in Germany, than in the UK, where it stalled at No. 31. Billboard described the single as having an infectious calypso beat. The band played the song on The Music Scene in 1969 dressed as Willy and the Poor Boys, with Cook on gut bass, Clifford on washboard and Tom Fogerty on the Kalamazoo. Jerry Reed covered it on his 1982 album The Bird, and his version reached No. 13 on the US Country chart.