CCR – Page 2 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Sweet Hitch-Hiker

I was headed over to see my then girlfriend in 1985 and I was exiting off of the interstate. That is when I saw a beautiful girl hitch-hiking. She was stunning and conservatively dressed. So being a caring guy… I wanted to do a good deed! I stopped and asked her if I could help. She got in the car and was very nice and well spoken. She asked me where I was going and I told her to my girlfriend’s house.

Then came the question…did I want a “date” for that night…I told her my girlfriend would probably frown on that idea so I took her back where I found her and let her out…she was totally nice but yea I was a naïve 18 year old and ever since then this song reminds me of her…So this song is for her where ever she is now.

This is a great song that was on what was regarded as Creedence’s worse album.

The Mardi Gras album. By this time John’s brother had quit and the other two (Stu Cook and Doug Clifford) members had wanted more to do with the band’s direction. John told them for this album they would have more to do like writing and singing 3 songs each…they were not ready for that and the result was Mardi Gras…it was universally panned but there are some good songs on it…mostly the Fogerty contributions. It was their last studio album.

The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #36 in the UK in 1971. The album peaked at #12 in the Billboard Album Charts and #11 in Canada.

From Songfacts

This was the first CCR album that John Fogerty did not dominate. Other members of the band had accused him of being a control freak, so Fogerty let them do more of the songwriting and have a more prominent role on this album. It was the beginning of the end for CCR, as the album was a flop and this song the last of their hits.

In the line, “We could make music at the Greasy King,” The Greasy King was the nickname for the local burger stand in Berkeley, California near their rehearsal space, which they called “Cosmo’s Factory.”

This was the first single CCR released as a trio – Tom Fogerty left before the album was recorded.

The band started a four-continent tour as this was released.

Since they did not have other new songs to go along with this track, it was released as a single a year before the Mardi Gras album was issued.

The follow-up single, “Molina”/”Sailor’s Lament,” was never released in North America. It was released in Germany and became a major hit there in late 1971.

Sweet Hitchhiker

Was ridin’ alongside the highway
Rollin’ up the country side
Thinkin’ I’m the devil’s heatwave
What you burn in your crazy mind?
Saw a slight distraction
Standin’ by the road
She was smilin’ there
Yellow in her hair
Do you wanna, I was thinkin’
Would you care?

Sweet Hitchhiker
We could make music at the Greasy King
Sweet Hitchhiker,
Won’t you ride on my fast machine?

Cruisin’ on through the junction
I’m flyin’ ’bout the speed of sound
Noticin’ peculiar function
I ain’t no roller coaster
Show me down
I turned away to see her
Whoa, she caught my eye
But I was rollin’ down
Movin’ too fast
Do you wanna, she was thinkin’
Can it last?

Sweet Hitchhiker
We could make music at the Greasy King
Sweet Hitchhiker
Won’t you ride on my fast machine?

Was busted up along the highway
I’m the saddest ridin’ fool alive
Wond’ring if you’re goin’ in my way
Won’t you give a poor boy a ride?
Here she comes a ridin’
Lord, she’s flyin’ high
But she was rollin’ down
Movin’ too fast
Do you wanna, she was thinkin’
Can I last?

Sweet Hitchhiker
We could make music at the Greasy King
Sweet Hitchhiker
Won’t you ride on my fast machine?

…

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Who’ll Stop The Rain

I love CCR…what a band they were…they didn’t have the resources the Beatles, Stones, and The Who as in a big record company, managers, and producers but they kept up with their British counterparts.

John Fogerty wrote this song. The song has been dissected a lot and some say it was a protest of the Vietnam War like “Fortunate Son”. Fogerty has said that when he was at Woodstock, He watched the festival goers dance in the rain, muddy, naked, cold, huddling together, and it just kept raining.

So when he got back home after that weekend, he sat down and wrote “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” making it not a Vietnam protest at all, but a recounting of his Woodstock experience.

Another great single by CCR…the B side to this song was Travelin’ Band.

The song was on what was perhaps their best album Cosmo’s Factory. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, The UK, and Canada.

Who’ll Stop The Rain peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #8 in the UK in 1970.

John Fogerty: When interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine, John Fogerty was asked, “Does ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain’ contain lyrically specific meanings besides the symbolic dimension?” His response: “Certainly, I was talking about Washington when I wrote the song, but I remember bringing the master version of the song home and playing it. My son Josh was four years old at the time, and after he heard it, he said, ‘Daddy stop the rain.’ And my wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘Well, not quite.'”

From Songfacts

This was used in the 1978 motion picture of the same name starring Nick Nolte as a Vietnam veteran. The movie was going to be called Dog Soldiers, but when the producers got the rights to use this song, they changed the title to Who’ll Stop The Rain.

This was released as the B-side to “Travelin’ Band.” It’s one of the many CCR singles to stall at #2. Creedence Clearwater Revival never had a #1 hit in the US.

The line, “I went down Virginia, seekin’ shelter from the storm” gave Bob Dylan the idea for the title of his 1975 song “Shelter From The Storm.”

This is one of many rain-themed CCR songs, including “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”

Bruce Springsteen opened with this song during his summer stadium tour of 2003 whenever it was raining

During the lockdown John and his family has played a lot of Creedence’s songs for fans… This is one.

Who’ll Stop The Rain

Long as I remember The rain been coming down.
Clouds of mystery pouring Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, Trying to find the sun;
And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who’ll stop the rain.

I went down Virginia, Seeking shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, Wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, Still I wonder Who’ll stop the rain.

Heard the singers playing, How we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together, Trying to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pouring, Falling on my ears.
And I wonder, Still I wonder Who’ll stop the rain.

…

Creedence Clearwater Revival – It Came Out Of The Sky

Walter and Eric said they’d put him on a network TV show
The White House said, “Put the thing in the blue room”
The Vatican said, “No, it belongs to Rome”
And Jody said, it’s mine but you can have it for seventeen million

This is one Creedence song that you don’t hear everyday…that doesn’t make it any less of a song than their others.

It’s about a farmer called Jody who finds a UFO and become famous. The event first triggers fear and later greed. Between the lines, there’re also sarcastic remarks on American show business, media and politics.

The character of “Jody” comes up in other songs of John Fogerty. Jody is in Almost Saturday Night, Hey Tonight and this one of course.

The song name checks different people and places. Ronald Reagan, Spiro Agnew, The White House, Hollywood, and the Vatican. Also in the mix are news reporters Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid.

It Came Out Of The Sky was never released as a single in America. In the UK it was backed with Side of the Road. It didn’t get much airplay there and didn’t chart.

The song was on the album Willy and the Poor Boys…a great album that peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1970. Creedence had 18 songs in the top 100 and 9 top 10 hits yet no number 1’s in the Billboard 100…which I still find hard believe.

The song appeared in an episode of Better Call Saul and WKRP…the classic episode of Turkey’s Away.

It Came Out Of The Sky

Oh, it came out of the sky, landed just a little south of Moline
Jody fell out of his tractor, couldn’t believe what he seen
Laid on the ground and shook, fearin’ for his life
Then he ran all the way to town screamin’ it came out of the sky

Well, a crowd gathered ’round and a scientist said it was marsh gas
Spiro came and made a speech about raising the Mars tax
The Vatican said, “Woe, the lord has come”
Hollywood rushed out an epic film
And Ronnie the popular said it was a communist plot

Oh, the newspapers came and made Jody a national hero

Oh, it came out of the sky, landed just a little south of Moline
Jody fell out of his tractor, couldn’t believe what he seen
Laid on the ground a shakin’, fearin’ for his life
Then he ran all the way to town screamin’ it came out of the sky
Oh

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Travelin’ Band

Seven thirty-seven comin’ out of the sky
Won’t you take me down to Memphis on a midnight ride
I want to move
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

This one is a rocker and doesn’t let up. It came off of perhaps their best album Cosmo’s Factory and was released as a double A-side single with Who’ll Stop The Rain on the other side.

“Travelin’ Band” is very similar in style to the music of Little Richard, which Fogerty saw as a heartfelt tribute to the singer. Specialty Records, which owned Richard’s catalog, saw things differently and sued the band, reaching a settlement to earn some royalties from the song.

After the basic track was cut, John Fogerty went back to the studio and added many of the instrumental parts, including horns and piano, which he played himself.

Travelin’ Band/Who’ll Stop The Rain peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, and #8 in the UK in 1970.

From Songfacts

Written by lead singer John Fogerty, this song is all about the hectic lifestyle of Creedence Clearwater Revival and their road warrior ways. In 1969, the band toured constantly and played many of the major festivals, including Woodstock. There was a rush of excitement in going from place to place, but as their drummer Doug Clifford explained, their baggage was constantly getting lost (“baggage gone, oh well”) and they spent a lot of time waiting around in the heat during those famous festivals. The traveling got easier for the band when they got their own private plane.

The lawsuit claimed the Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” was being copied, but Creedence bass player Stu Cook said he thought it sounded more like “Long Tall Sally.” Cook described the song as a combination of ’50s Rock classics, but not a ripoff of any one song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W6y_j7RmL4

Travelin’ Band

Seven thirty seven comin’ out of the sky
Won’t you take me down to Memphis on a midnight ride
I want to move
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Yeah
Well I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land tryin’ to get a hand
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

Take me to the hotel baggage gone, oh well
Come on, come on won’t you get me to my room
I want to move
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Yeah
Well I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land, tryin’ to get a hand
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

Listen to the radio talkin’ ’bout the last show
Someone got excited, had to call the state militia
Want to move
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Yeah
Well, I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land, tryin’ to get a hand
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

Here we come again on a Saturday night
With your fussin’ and your fightin’ won’t you get me to the rhyme
I want to move
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Yeah
Well, I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land, tryin’ to get a hand
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Won’t you give myself a hand?
Playin’ in a travelin’ band
Well, I’m flyin’ ‘cross the land, tryin’ to get a hand
Playin’ in a travelin’ band

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Long As I Can See the Light

Introgroove did a 50th-anniversary post on the great Cosmo’s Factory album and it got me thinking about this song again. This song has a gospel feel with soul. It’s the closest thing to a love song that John wrote while still with Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It was the B side to “Looking Out My Back Door.” This continued the great double A sided singles that they released.

Lookin’ Out My Back Door/Long As I Can See The Light peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1970.

John Fogerty: “About the loner in me. Wanting to feel understood, needing those at home to shine a light so that I can make my way back.”

Cosmo’s Factory peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1970.

Long As I Can See The Light

Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move.
Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon,
‘Long as I can see the light.

Pack my bag and let’s get movin’, ’cause I’m bound to drift a while.
When I’m gone, gone, you don’t have to worry long,
‘Long as I can see the light.

Guess I’ve got that old trav’lin’ bone, ’cause this feelin’ won’t leave me alone.
But I won’t, won’t be losin’ my way, no, no
‘Long as I can see the light.

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Oh, Yeah!

Put a candle in the window, ’cause I feel I’ve got to move.
Though I’m going, going, I’ll be coming home soon,
Long as I can see the light.
Long as I can see the light.
Long as I can see the light.
Long as I can see the light.
Long as I can see the light.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Midnight Special

When I hear John’s voice and that tremolo on guitar I can feel the hairs on my neck rise. John’s voice was just as much of an instrument as his guitar.

In Alan Lomax’s book Folk Song USA, the Midnight Special was a real train… the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Limited. A traditional folk song, Leadbelly popularized it upon his release from Sugar Land prison in Texas, where he could hear the Midnight Special come through. In the song, the light of the train gives the inmates hope: if it shines on them they take it as a sign they will soon go free.

Midnight Special was on the album Willy and the Poorboys. The album peaked at #3 in the Billboard Album Charts. CCR’s version of Midnight Special didn’t chart. Only two versions of the song have reached the US Billboard Hot 100…one by Paul Evans in 1960 and Johnny Rivers in 1965.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaqrW6tUCLY

The Midnight Special

Well, you wake up in the mornin’, you hear the work bell ring
And they march you to the table to see the same old thing
Ain’t no food upon the table, and no pork up in the pan
But you better not complain, boy, you get in trouble with the man

[Chorus:]
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me
Let the Midnight Special shine a everlovin’ light on me

Yonder come miss Rosie, how in the world did you know?
By the way she wears her apron, and the clothes she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
She come to see the gov’nor, she wants to free her man

[Chorus]

If you’re ever in Houston, well, you better do the right
You better not gamble, there, you better not fight, at all
Or the sheriff will grab ya and the boys will bring you down
The next thing you know, boy, Oh! You’re prison bound

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have You Ever Seen The Rain

CCR is one band that crosses genres. I haven’t met many people that don’t like them. I can’t say the same for my band The Beatles, or The Stones, The Who, and others. Country fans, Metal fans, Rock fans, and bluegrass fans. It’s something about John Fogerty’s deceptively simple songs that says something to everyone.

John Fogerty did almost all the overdubs for the band until the Pendulum album when other members contributed. Pendulum is the album this song is on. Time was running out on this great band. John said this song was about the impending breakup of the band…Tom Fogerty had told the band he was quitting after the album was finished.

John’s brother Tom Fogerty quit the band after this album and CCR was then a trio. Tom’s voice was close to John’s and he felt restricted in CCR. If you want to hear what Tom sounded like…check out this post by Christian on the forgotten Forgerty brother. Creedence did release one more album after this called Mardi Gras without Tom and it has a few good songs but it’s not up to their standard.

I could tell you my feelings on this song but just listen to it today and it will make your Friday even better.

The song peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #3 in New Zealand and #36 in the UK in 1971.

John Fogerty: “That song is really about the impending breakup of Creedence. The imagery is, you can have a bright, beautiful, sunny day and it can be raining at the same time. The band was breaking up. I was reacting: ‘Geez, this is all getting serious right at the time when we should be having a sunny day.’”

From Songfacts

This song is John Fogerty’s take on the imminent departure of his brother Tom from the band, and the overall tension in the group at a time when they should have been enjoying their success. The line, “I want to know – have you ever seen the rain comin’ down on a sunny day?” refers to Tom leaving while CCR was at its commercial zenith. The flip side of this single, “Hey Tonight,” is John reassuring the band that all would go well despite the adversity.

Tom Fogerty left the group in early 1971, after this album was released. He released three solo albums before dying of tuberculosis in 1990. A fourth album, completed in 1988, was released posthumously.

According to John Fogerty, this song’s meaning changed for him over time. Introducing the song at a 2012 show in Arizona, he said: “This song was originally written about a very sad thing that was going on in my life. But I refuse to be sad now. Because now this song reminds me of my little girl, Kelsy, and every time I sing it, I think about Kelsy and rainbows.”

Fogerty added that this is his all-time favorite song, even though it’s one he wrote himself.

Musically, this song was inspired by the group Booker T. & the MG’s, whose most famous song is “Green Onions.” They opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival before CCR recorded the Pendulum album. John Fogerty loved the sound of Booker T. Jones’ Hammond organ, so he used it on some tracks for the album, including this one.

According to Stu Cook, this song and another track on the album, “Pagan Baby,” were written and rehearsed from scratch during one recording session. “Pagan Baby” was done in one take.”

This was used in the TV show Tour Of Duty, which was set in Vietnam during the war. >>

Bonnie Tyler covered this song for her 1983 blockbuster album Faster Than the Speed of Night. Her version reached #47 in the UK. >>

In 2006, Rod Stewart covered this song on his album Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time. >>

Allison Moorer covered this for her 2015 Down To Believing album. She explained why to Billboard magazine: “The record label wanted me to do a cover. I said ‘I don’t really think the record needs a cover on it,’ and we certainly have enough songs, but in the spirit of being cooperative, I said ‘OK, if you really want one, I’ll come up with something.'”

“If I was going to do a cover, it was going to be something that I had always wanted to do,” she continued. “I’m a huge Creedence fan, and that song might be my very favorite song of theirs. I’ve always thought it was the perfect country / rock song, and this record to me is a country / rock record, so I thought ‘If I’m ever going to this, this is the perfect time. I think what you hear on the record is actually the second take.”

As part of the CCR50 campaign to honor the 50th anniversary of Creedence Clearwater Revival, a video was commissioned for this song starring Jack Quaid, Sasha Frolova and Erin Moriarty as childhood friends in Montana. Directed by Laurence Jacobs, it takes a nostalgic turn when one of the friends moves away.

Willie Nelson recorded this with his daughter Paula Nelson for his duets album To All the Girls… The veteran country singer’s cover was included in the closing moments of the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies’ season 2 finale on July 21, 2019. The interest generated drove Nelson’s cover to a #36 debut on the Country chart dated August 3, 2019.

Have You Ever Seen The Rain

Someone told me long ago
There’s a calm before the storm
I know it’s been comin’ for some time
When it’s over so they say
It’ll rain a sunny day
I know shinin’ down like water

I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?

Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know been that way for all my time
‘Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know it can’t stop, I wonder

I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?

Yeah

I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down On The Corner

This is one of the first bass runs I ever learned…It was on the album Willy And The Poor Boys album.

The song was part of yet another double A-sided single paired with Fortunate Son. Down on the Corner peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100,

On the cover, the band is seen down on the corner performing to a (very) small crowd outside the Duck Kee Market. This location had no real significance except it just happened to be half a block from the recording studio. John Fogerty recalls only ever going in there one time, and that was sometime after the album’s release.

The album cover and building and below picture is recently.

From Songfacts

This song tells the story of a fictional jug band, Willy and the Poor Boys, who were street musicians “playing for nickels, can’t be beat.” The name of the jug band was also the name of CCR’s fourth straight million-selling album.

Just as The Beatles took the role of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Creedence became Willy And The Poorboys for this album. This is the only song that played to the concept, but CCR appeared on the cover as the fictional band. The Willy And The Poorboys persona suited the group, as they really were a basic, hardworking band who paid their dues before hitting it big. They sold the jug band theme by performing this song with a washtub bass and washboard.

John Fogerty did all the singing on this. He recorded a bunch of vocal tracks that were overdubbed to create the effect that he was harmonizing with himself.

The line in this song, “Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo” is often misheard. A journalist named Phil Elwood thought the last part of the line was “Devil’s on the loose,” and published it in a newspaper article. John Fogerty got a big kick out of this, and as a nod to Elwood, put this line into the CCR song “Run Through the Jungle”:

They told me, “Don’t go walking slow
‘Cause Devil’s on the loose”

John Fogerty claims that bassist Stu Cook couldn’t play the bass properly for the song. “Eventually, we spent six weeks rehearsing the song, but Stu still couldn’t do it when we got to the recording session,” Fogerty says in Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music. The problem, according to the CCR frontman, was that Cook had no rhythm. This led to a tense moment in the studio, but they eventually managed to get the song down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvVU3kZXio0

Down On The Corner

Early in the evenin’ just about supper time,
Over by the courthouse they’re starting to unwind.
Four kids on the corner trying to bring you up.
Willy picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp.

Down on the corner, out in the street
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

Rooster hits the washboard and people just got to smile,
Blinky, thumps the gut bass and solos for a while.
Poorboy twangs the rhythm out on his kalamazoo.
Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo.

Down on the corner, out in the street
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

Down on the corner, out in the street,
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

You don’t need a penny just to hang around,
But if you’ve got a nickel, won’t you lay your money down?
Over on the corner there’s a happy noise.
People come from all around to watch the magic boy.

Down on the corner, out in the street,
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’;
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

Down on the corner, out in the street
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

Pictures from http://www.popspotsnyc.com/creedence/

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around The Bend

Love the beginning riff in this song. This song was the B side to Run Through The Jungle.

It was written by lead singer and guitarist John Fogerty, this is a very upbeat Creedence Clearwater Revival, giving a hint that, as bad as things were in the early ’70s, there might be some hope for the future: Things would improve “Around The Bend.” Bass player Stu Cook described the song as “Kind of the opposite of ‘Run Through The Jungle.'”

This song required a bit of translation for British audiences. In England, if you go “around the bend” it means you go crazy. Then the band toured the UK, they had to explain to the British press that the song was not about dementia or mental problems.

The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand, and #3 in the UK in 1970.

From Songfacts

In his memoir Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, John Fogerty said that this song came to him when he was riding his motorcycle through the California hills.

Movies this song has appeared in include Michael (1996), Remember the Titans (2000) and Invincible (2006). It was also used in a 2008 episode of the TV show My Name Is Earl.

Elton John covered this song shortly after it was released, and his version appears on several compilation albums. Hanoi Rocks recorded it for their 1984 Two Steps From The Move album.

In 2016, Wrangler used this in a commercial for their jeans, surprising after John Fogerty lashed out at the company when they used “Fortunate Son” in ads without his permission beginning in 2000. Fogerty doesn’t control the rights to the songs he wrote for CCR, so they can be used without his consent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlN_Byy2yvA

Up Around The Bend

There’s a place up ahead and I’m goin’
Just as fast as my feet can fly
Come away, come away if you’re goin’
Leave the sinkin’ ship behind

Come on the risin’ wind,
We’re goin’ up around the bend

Bring a song and a smile for the banjo
Better get while the gettin’s good
Hitch a ride to the end of the highway
Where the neon’s turn to wood

Come on the risin’ wind,
We’re goin’ up around the bend

You can ponder perpetual motion,
Fix your mind on a crystal day,
Always time for a good conversation,
There’s an ear for what you say

Come on the risin’ wind,
We’re goin’ up around the bend.

Yeah

Catch a ride to the end of the highway
And we’ll meet by the big red tree,
There’s a place up ahead and I’m goin’
Come along, come along with me

Come on the risin’ wind,
We’re goin’ up around the bend

Yeah

Do do do do
Do do do do
Do do do do
Do do do do yeah
Do do do do
Do do do do

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River

One of my favorite songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100, #19 in the UK, and #5 in Canada. If you want proof that life isn’t fair… Green River was kept from #1 because of the novelty bubblegum song “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies.

The song is an example of a perfect rock song. Great lick, lyrics, and wonderful guitar fills by John Fogerty.

The song was on the album Green River which peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Chart.

John Fogerty: “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…”

The actual specific reference, Green River, I got from a soda pop-syrup label. You used to be able to go into a soda fountain, and they had these bottles of flavored syrup. My flavor was called Green River. It was green, lime-flavored, and they would empty some out over some ice and pour some of that soda water on it, and you had yourself a Green River.”

From Songfacts

John Fogerty has said that Green River is his favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival album, in part because it sounds like the ’50s albums by the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash that came out of Sun Records in Memphis.

Asked about his songwriting by Mojo magazine, John Fogerty replied: “More common is me fooling around on the guitar coming up with a riff or a lick or even just a tone which sparks some kind of creativity. Your mind gets a vibe, like the lick for ‘Green River’ – that’s what it sounded like, a green river, haha. And that was a title I had carried around since I was about eight years old.”

Green River

Well, take me back down where cool water flow, yeh
Let me remember things I love
Stoppin’ at the log where catfish bite,
Walkin’ along the river road at night,
Barefoot girls dancin’ in the moonlight

I can hear the bull frog callin’ me
Wonder if my rope’s still hangin’ to the tree
Love to kick my feet way down the shallow water,
Shoe fly, dragon fly, get back t your mother
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River

Up at Cody’s camp I spent my days, oh,
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers
Old Cody, Junior took me over,
Said, you’re gonna find the world is smouldrin’
An’ if you get lost come on home to Green River
Well, come home

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Lookin’ Out My Back Door

When I first started to pay attention to the lyrics to this song…I would have bet Mr. Fogerty wrote it under the influence while looking out his back door. John said the song was written for his son Josh, who at the time was three years old. It was inspired by the Dr. Seuss book And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street. In the book a kid is watching a parade go by with wondrous and magical animals and characters. Fogerty put the action “out my back door” to a place he could escape to.

The song was on the album Cosmo’s Factory… arguably Creedence’s best album. The song peaked at #2 in the Billboard 100 in 1970. Creedence had 16 songs in the top 100 in their short career but no number 1’s. Five songs peaked at #2. I never understood that but that is a post for another day. They were on a small label..Fantasy Records.

The album did peak at #1 in 1970.

There’s a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin’ high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list’ning to Buck Owens.

Great imagination John…

From Songfacts

Much like The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” many people thought this was about drugs when it was really an innocent song inspired by a child. According to the drug theory, the “Flying Spoon” was a cocaine spoon, and the crazy animal images were an acid trip. This was even less plausible than the Beatles misinterpretation since Creedence Clearwater Revival was never into psychedelic drugs.

This is played in the film The Big Lebowski.

The album cover shows Creedence Clearwater Revival’s rehearsal space, which is not their original digs: they started rehearsing in a shed in the backyard of their drummer Doug Clifford’s house. Clifford once said it was “better than working in a factory,” so their rehearsal rooms became known as “The Factory.” Clifford’s nickname was Cosmo, so this space was known as “Cosmo’s Factory.”

John Fogerty played a bit of dobro on this track. He’s seen holding the instrument on the cover of the 1969 album Green River, but “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” is the only time he played it on a Creedence song. In 1993, he bought a dobro at a vintage guitar show and set out to master the instrument, playing it for hours on end and using it on his 1997 solo album Blue Moon Swamp. He got some help along the way from Jerry Douglas, a preeminent dobro player who was part of Alison Krauss’ band Union Station.

Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Just got home from Illinois lock the front door oh boy!
Got to sit down take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in pretty soon I’m singin’