"The Old Man Down the Road" is a song by American rock artist

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

. It was released in December 1984 as the lead single from Fogerty's comeback album, '' Centerfield''. It became Fogerty's only top 10 hit single as a solo artist, peaking at number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and spending three weeks at the number-one spot on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Tracks chart. '' Rolling Stone Album Guide'' critic Paul Evans regards the song as "functional swamp rock". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said that it shows that Fogerty is "still able to infuse a pulsing beat with deep-swamp mysteriousness." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a hard-hitting roots rocker which wastes no notes and pulls no punches."

Music video

The video for the song features what appears to be, through a little trickery, an extended single camera sequence that follows a very long electric guitar cord through various scenes. Fogerty appears throughout the video; four times as himself (standing next to the couple having a picnic, past the cheerleader on the phone just past when the bikers pull up, near the woman hanging laundry, and at the very end playing the guitar) and two other characters (the "backwoods" character at the very beginning of the video and the old man with the dog in his lap towards the end of the video.)

Charts

Weekly Charts

Year-end charts

Lawsuit

Saul Zaentz Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Zaentz's film pr ...

, owner of

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

claimed that "The Old Man Down the Road" shared the same chorus as "

Run Through the Jungle "Run Through the Jungle" is a 1970 song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released as a double A-side single with " Up Around the Bend" and on the album ''Cosmo's Factory''. History The song was written by Creedence's le ...

", a song from Fogerty's days with

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

years before. (Fogerty had relinquished copyrights and publishing rights of his Creedence songs to Zaentz and Fantasy, in exchange for release from his contractual obligations to them.) Zaentz sued (''Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty'') but the defendant Fogerty ultimately prevailed when he showed that the two songs were whole, separate and distinct compositions. Bringing his guitar to the witness stand, he played excerpts from both songs, demonstrating that many songwriters (himself included) have distinctive styles that can make different compositions sound similar to less discerning ears. After prevailing as defendant, Fogerty asked the court to require Zaentz to pay for the attorney fees he had spent to defend himself against the copyright infringement claim. In such (copyright) cases, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit required prevailing defendants seeking recompense to show that the original suit was frivolous or made in bad faith. This case, '' Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc.'', became precedent when the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

(1993) overturned lower court rulings and decided that Fogerty could be awarded attorneys' fees without having to show that Zaentz's original suit was frivolous. The lower courts then decided that Fogerty should be awarded his attorney fees, totaling $1,347,519.15."FANTASY INC. v. FOGERTY"
''Findlaw''. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

References