Creedence Clearwater Revival, The #19 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

 

(Continued from Part One)

 

Later in the year, the band released the album Green River, their first #1 album.  The lead single was inspired by the movie The Devil and Daniel Webster, in which a hurricane wiped out most of the town.  "Bad Moon Rising" climbed to #1 for three weeks in the U.K., something the group would never achieve in their homeland.  The group had to settle for #2 in the U.S. and #3 in Australia, Norway and Sweden with this Platinum-selling song.

All-Pro wide receiver Andre Rison took on this song as his nickname "Bad Moon Rison".  Once again, the flip side was ignored by some radio stations, although the ones that played it found out it was a huge hit in their markets.

 

So much great material, even more appreciated when one considers the fact that CCR released six albums in just two years.  The title song became Creedence Clearwater Revival's third #2 song in the U.S. and a Top 10 hit in most countries.  He explained the basis of the song in his Storytellers special:

     "Green River" is really about this place where I used

      to go as a kid on Putah Creek, near Winters, 

     California. I went there with my family every year 

     until I was ten. Lot of happy memories there. I 

     learned how to swim there. There was a rope 

     hanging from the tree. Certainly dragonflies, 

     bullfrogs. There was a little cabin we would stay in 

     owned by a descendant of Buffalo Bill Cody. That's 

     the reference in the song to Cody Jr. ["Up at Cody's 

     camp I spent my days...]

  Creedence became famous for one of the top artists in history with double-sided hits, but this time, "Commotion" was ignored with peril for the radio stations that did not play it.  Not fond of the fast pace and noise of modern life, the song came out of John's frustration with it.

"Tombstone Shadow" came from a visit by John to a fortune teller in San Bernardino, California, who told him to avoid airplanes and that he had 13 months of bad luck ahead of him.

 

The phrase that named "Cross-Tie Walker" was introduced in "Green River".  Close your eyes and you can hear those train wheels turning and whistles blowing.

 

"The Night Time Is the Right Time" is an R&B song recorded by American Nappy Brown in 1957.

Under John's direction, the group practiced, recorded or toured constantly.  Music festivals were beginning to pop up throughout the country, which CCR took advantage of.  They performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival and the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969.  Creedence was set to headline Woodstock, but because of numerous delays, they didn't play until late in the night and followed the Grateful Dead, who put the audience to sleep.  As John later said, as he looked over the crowd, they were all asleep, covered with mud.

 

In 1969, CCR displaced the Beatles as the #1 act on the planet, selling 12 million albums worldwide.  They released the album Willy and the Poor Boys.  The lead single, "Down On The Corner", jumped to #2 in West Germany and Australia and #3 in the United States and has sold over two million copies.

(above photo by Jim Marshall)

In an appearance on the Cass Elliott Variety Hour, the band took the stage as Willy and the Poor Boys, the fictional band created in the song.  Cook played a gut bass, Clifford the washboard, and Tom the Kalamazoo.  

 

One of the fan favorites from the group can be found on the flip side of that single, the powerful "Fortunate Son", about how U.S. Congressmen and Senators love to send our sons and daughters into battle, but don't ask the same of their sons and daughters.  It was a #4 smash in Canada.

 

The album, which has sold over two million copies in the United States alone, also included two outstanding remakes of Lead Belly songs.  One is "Cotton Fields", which reached #1 in Mexico.

 

Willy and the Poor Boys reached the Top 10 in every major country except West Germany and Japan.  Lead Belly heard this song when he was in prison in the 1920's.  "The Midnight Special" originated from prisoners in the American South.  The Midnight Special was a steam locomotive train that rolled by the Louisiana state prison, and the light from the train would shine into prison cells.  

 

"It Came Out Of The Sky" is a satire about a space object that falls to Earth and the subsequent greed and paranoia that ensue.  The story is told from the point of view of the meteorite.  The CCR smash "Hey Tonight" is its sequel. 

 

  Unlike few in his generation, John certainly was aware of the problems of society, but the message of "Don't Look Now" is that the hippies who wanted peace and love weren't doing anything about those problems.  If hippies are doing nothing but enjoying life, "Who's going to be the garbage collector?", Fogerty asked in the Thomas Kitts book John Fogerty:  An American Son.  Clifford gave his view of the song in Bad Moon Rising:  The Unauthorized History of Creedence Clearwater Revival by Hank Bordowitz:

             That's a song that will slap you right in the

             face...It's a sobering tune, if you listen to the

             lyrics. It's a period of time when everyone 

             was pointing the finger at our generation

             saying "This isn't right, this isn't right". But

             how many people were really going to do

             something about it? It's real easy to point 

            your finger and knock something, but to get 

            in there and roll up your sleeves and

             change it for the better these are the real 

             leaders in the world. That song can really

             ring a chord of truth about a lot of people's 

             basic laws. 

Cook's bass on "Feelin' Blue" is one of the highlights, along with those simmering harmonies.

 

"Side O' The Road" is another great song on the album influenced by "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG's, which CCR often toured with.  It is the only instrumental Creedence recorded. 

Much more from the amazing CCR!