"Down by the River" is a song by Albert Hammond that was released as the lead single from his 1972 debut album It Never Rains in Southern California. Written by Hammond himself, it became his own debut charting hit in 1972. The song deals with ecology as the subject matter.
Upon re-release in 1975, it became an international hit for Hammond, charting in the top ten in West Germany and Switzerland and the top twenty in Austria.