Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River

This record was one of three (!) released in 1969 and followed Bayou Country, continuing with their wild trajectory of hits - this time with the title cut as well as "Bad Moon Rising". Forgerty has said that this is his favorite album that the group released and it is easy to see why - it has some of their strongest songs and some terrific playing.

Blasting out right from the start with some razor-sharp blues riffs and John's "wealllll" drawl, you get "Green River" - named after the soda, according to the writer, although the lyrics reference a landscape (not the pop) that is as much in his memory as in the real world. One of their top numbers and a classic swamp-rocker. They deliver some seriously frantic, slightly political rock'n'roll in "Commotion" and a groovy blues with some more excellent licks and Voodoo imagery in "Tombstone Shadow". Side one ended with a sad, slow, gospel-ish ballad, at least partially about his failing marriage, "Wrote a Song For Everyone".

Flip over the vinyl and you get the other hit, "Bad Moon Rising", notable for its happy-go-lucky, country-sounding music'n'melody that is juxtaposed against dark, ominous lyrics. Wikipedia says that the traveling musician lament, "Lodi", wasn't a hit, but I swear it got plenty of airplay in the Mid-West and deservedly so - it is an incredibly memorable story'n'melody and something that all too many guitarists can relate to. "Cross-Tie Walker" is a term that Fogerty came up with for hobos riding the rails and he creates his own Johnny Cash-styled country blues to tell the tale. Another of my favorites is the truly sinister-sounding, feedback-laden minor-blues, "Sinister Purpose", jam-packed with updated Muddy Waters riffs. For the finale, the boys swagger'n'sway with a swampy take on "Night Time is the Right Time", continuing with their tradition of updating classic tunes.

While I dig most of their albums, this one probably is their most consistent overall. This should be in every rock'n'roller's collection!