Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Green River
Year: 1969
Round 2 of CCR. This one kind of hones in on more of a pop sensibility than their last album Bayou Country did. That one was more "swamp rock"--bluesy, hazy, more extended jams. Green River has more by way of pop songs, which I think suits the band best.
The middle of the album has three songs in a row that are especially solid (all three of which I've heard before many times on classic rock radio). Those would be "Wrote a Song for Everyone," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Lodi." "Bad Moon Rising" is one of the band's most signature songs. I can see this song rising directly out of the early rock-and-roll/C&W-inflected style that Elvis was peddling back in the mid-1950's. This album feels like a really natural extension of that sound. Lots of 12-bar blues, nothing murky, nothing psychedelic...this is really a "back to basics" sort of affair.
It's really very easy to see how CCR became one of the most popular bands in the world around this time. Their songs are really simple, catchy, and lacking in pretension. I think there are still a couple more CCR records in the 1001, and I look forward to hearing their progression into the 1970's.
Rating: Worth a listen
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