Willy and the Poor Boys
About this Album
Willy and the Poor Boys was released on October 29, 1969. It was the band's fourth album and the third to appear that year, a remarkable pace even by the standards of the period.[6] It reached number three on the Billboard album chart.[6]
Retrospective critics praise its mixture of delta blues, rock and roll and gospel,[7] while Rolling Stone's reviewer of the later anniversary reissue argued that the preceding album, Green River, is the band's most sustained achievement.[9] The album contains the protest single "Fortunate Son," paired on release with "Down on the Corner."[4] A later expanded edition added bonus material, including a live version of "Fortunate Son" and an unreleased studio take of "Down on the Corner" recorded with Booker T. and the MGs.[8]