A barroom shuffle with a knowing wink—Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Get Down Woman” takes a compact blues riff for a slow walk and turns tough talk into toe-tapping stamina.
Let’s set the anchors first so memory has something solid to hold. “Get Down Woman” is a John Fogerty original on Creedence Clearwater Revival (the band’s debut), recorded at Coast Recorders, San Francisco, and released May 28, 1968. It sits on side two, track 2, runs about 3:08–3:09, and—unlike the album’s singles “Suzie Q,” “I Put a Spell on You,” and “Porterville”—remained a deep cut. The debut LP itself would climb to No. 52 on the Billboard 200 and later go RIAA Platinum; production is credited to John Fogerty and Saul Zaentz.
Spin it, and the feel tells you nearly everything. Fogerty builds the tune from a single, stubborn guitar figure, a shuffle that leans into the pocket without breaking a sweat. The rhythm section—Doug Clifford’s dry, square-shouldered backbeat and Stu Cook’s nudge-along bass—keeps the temperature reassuring, not insistent, while Tom Fogerty saws a steady rhythm that lets the vocal strut and grin. Archivists and song notes often frame it exactly that way: a “swing-shuffle thing,” Fogerty tipping his cap to old-school blues while proving how far touch and time can carry a two-and-a-half-minute idea.
As writing, it’s classic early-CCR: plain words doing heavy lifting. Without quoting it outright, the lyric plays with the push-pull of pride and plea—half bravado, half confession—delivered with the bark and snap that made Fogerty’s voice feel older than his years. There’s no elaborate bridge, no studio gilding; the hook is the feel itself, and the band has the sense to let it walk. On a debut that balanced long, radio-baiting covers with a handful of originals, “Get Down Woman” shows the songwriter already trusting economy—a key ingredient in the groove-driven run that would follow.
Placed where it is—mid-side two—the cut also does smart sequencing work. After the Muscle Shoals wink of “Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)”, this track drops the lights a notch and tightens the room before the set pivots to “Porterville,” “Gloomy,” and “Walk on the Water.” The choice reads like a small producer’s lesson: don’t stack fireworks; alternate pressure and release so the shorter songs feel lived-in rather than slight. (The album’s official track list and singles roll call make clear how intentionally this pocket piece sits between more obvious attention-getters.)
Older ears will hear something else inside its modesty: usefulness. In 1968, many bands proved intensity by getting louder; CCR often proved it by staying steady. “Get Down Woman” is the debut’s little field test of that creed—three minutes of shuffle that never shows off and never lets go. The guitars answer and retreat; the snare marks time like a job you know how to do; the vocal witnesses rather than preaches. Played on a kitchen speaker or a late-drive dashboard, it behaves the same way: company, not spectacle.
There’s also a whiff of biography humming under the hood. In the Coast Recorders room—fresh out of the Golliwogs era, name newly changed, ambitions sharpened—Fogerty is already tinkering with the template that will carry through the band’s hot-streak years: cut a live core, stack just enough overdubs, and keep the song’s human scale. Even on the debut, the credits and session notes underline that approach, which is why these early originals feel sturdier than “first-album” tags usually allow. Wikipedia
Listen for the little mercies that make it age well. Clifford’s snare sits a breath behind the bar; Cook’s bass escorts rather than shoves; the rhythm guitars leave air around the vocal; the turnaround licks flicker and then give the floor back to the shuffle. Nothing here begs for your attention—and that’s why it earns it. The song keeps its shoulders down and still gets you moving, which is a common virtue in CCR’s catalog and a rare one in most people’s lives.
Scrapbook pins, neat and true
- Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Song: “Get Down Woman” — writer: John Fogerty; ~3:08–3:09; side two, track 2.
- Album: Creedence Clearwater Revival (Fantasy; released May 28, 1968) — recorded at Coast Recorders (San Francisco); US Billboard 200 peak #52; later RIAA Platinum; producers John Fogerty & Saul Zaentz.
- Context: Remained an album cut; the debut’s singles were “Porterville,” “Suzie Q,” and “I Put a Spell on You.”
- Style notes: Frequently described by CCR historians as a Fogerty “swing-shuffle” homage built from a single riff—bluesy, compact, and groove-first.
Cue it up tonight and notice how the room changes temperature. The shuffle doesn’t hurry you; it steadies you. The vocal doesn’t grandstand; it grins and gets back to work. In a catalog famous for big choruses and bigger singles, “Get Down Woman” proves a smaller truth: sometimes a song doesn’t have to raise its voice to tell you exactly who it is—and who you are when you move with it.