Green River
On their third album, Creedence Clearwater Revival finally got rid of the sometimes directionless five-minute jams that weighed down their first two records.
"Green River" is probably their tightest album, and their best as well. There is virtually no filler here - the singles are magnificent, and even the album tracks are great.
It opens with the title track, a concise 2 1/2 minutes of tough, "swampy" backbeat and vivid imagery, highlighted by the pithy, intertwined guitar figures of John and Tom Fogerty, and John Fogerty's brief, melodic, less-is-more solo.
Other highlights include the classic rockabilly of "Bad Moon Rising", the melancholy "Lodi", the sinister, soulful blues "Tombstone Shadow", and the slow, mournful "Wrote A Song For Everyone".
But everything is good, really, including the brisk, semi-acoustic country-rocker "Cross-Tie Walker" and the album's only cover song, an energetic rendition of "The Night Time Is The Right Time".
The musicianship is excellent, too. Doug Clifford's stop-start drumming on "Wrote A Song" and "Sinister Purpose" is among his best and most imaginative. John Fogerty plays fiery lead guitar on "Tombstone Shadow", and he and his brother complement each other superbly on the appropriately dark blues-rocker "Sinister Purpose".
Both "Green River" and "Bad Moon Rising" made it to #2, and the album itself was a #1 record back in the autumn of 1969.
There is not a single weak moment on this magnificent fusion of rock, blues, R&B, folk and country, and "Green River" is not just Creedence Clearwater Revival's best album, it is by far the best American rock record of the 1960s.
"Green River" is probably their tightest album, and their best as well. There is virtually no filler here - the singles are magnificent, and even the album tracks are great.
It opens with the title track, a concise 2 1/2 minutes of tough, "swampy" backbeat and vivid imagery, highlighted by the pithy, intertwined guitar figures of John and Tom Fogerty, and John Fogerty's brief, melodic, less-is-more solo.
Other highlights include the classic rockabilly of "Bad Moon Rising", the melancholy "Lodi", the sinister, soulful blues "Tombstone Shadow", and the slow, mournful "Wrote A Song For Everyone".
But everything is good, really, including the brisk, semi-acoustic country-rocker "Cross-Tie Walker" and the album's only cover song, an energetic rendition of "The Night Time Is The Right Time".
The musicianship is excellent, too. Doug Clifford's stop-start drumming on "Wrote A Song" and "Sinister Purpose" is among his best and most imaginative. John Fogerty plays fiery lead guitar on "Tombstone Shadow", and he and his brother complement each other superbly on the appropriately dark blues-rocker "Sinister Purpose".
Both "Green River" and "Bad Moon Rising" made it to #2, and the album itself was a #1 record back in the autumn of 1969.
There is not a single weak moment on this magnificent fusion of rock, blues, R&B, folk and country, and "Green River" is not just Creedence Clearwater Revival's best album, it is by far the best American rock record of the 1960s.
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