143. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Green River (1969)

1. The second CCR album of 1969, and a very strong companion piece to Bayou Country. Song for song, this is another brilliant, sharp, compact album that puts its foot on the gas and doesn’t let up. It’s tough to single out individual tracks when the whole is this great.
2. Evidently other bands in the SF area, where CCR was based, were annoyed by the band’s work ethic and drive. Whereas the rest of the scene was focused on acid-driven psych rock, Fogerty didn’t like the idea of 45 minute guitar solos, later saying he “thought music should get to the point a little more quickly than that.” Mission accomplished here. In a sense, it recalls the 00’s Garage Rock revival of the Strokes, White Stripes, Vines, etc. — a shift in focus to tight, 3–4 minute blues guitar-driven pop songs. It’s weird to imagine that as early as 1969 there were rock fans bemoaning that rock had gotten away from itself, but here we are.
3. I’ve always been a connoisseur of quality track listings, the belief that an album’s greatness is not simply the result of how many good songs the album has but in fact the sequencing of those songs to capture a story. The National’s Sleep Well Beast, for example, features a ton of great songs but they’re poorly sequenced, preventing any from capturing their full heft. Sequencing was different in 1969 than in the post-CD era, given the need to split records into halves (and the need to physically flip the disc). Here we have a perfectly sequenced album. Side one is four perfect songs in a row, culminating a lovely slow jam (“Wrote A Song For Everyone”). Then, side B busts open with the musically jovial but lyrically foreboding “Bad Moon Rising.” If you’re a listener in 1969, when you flipped to side B and heard this, you knew you were going to wear that vinyl out.
4. In all, this album has everything a rock fan might want, seamlessly shifting between genres, never losing momentum, never a dull moment. Highly recommend.

Next up: The Beatles finish things out with one last trip to Abbey Road

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