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101. 'Green River' - Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
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In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival were unstoppable — and ‘Green River’ proved why. Hot off the success of ‘Bayou Country’, CCR delivered a masterclass in American rock, blending swampy grooves, bluesy riffs, and excellent storytelling. Tracks like “Bad Moon Rising” and “Green River” became instant classics, while the poignant “Lodi” showed a more reflective side of the band. Despite its short, punchy songs and straightforward style, ‘Green River’ left an enormous impact — shaping roots rock and cementing CCR’s place among the legends of that era.
Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6CzynKICOTJryzSDUxROtv?si=898d6d84d0fe4759
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Long Live Rock and Roll Podcast. After the success of Bayou Country, Credence Clearwater Revival returned with Green River, an album that would define their sound and solidify their place in rock and roll history.
00:00:14
Speaker
With its mix of swamp blues, country and rockabilly, the album showcased John Fogarty's vision, backed by the talent of his bandmates. From the driving riffs of Bad Moon Rising to the bittersweet storytelling of Lodi, Green River captures the essence of Credence's roots-driven style and was a musical statement that still echoes through American rock music today.
00:00:35
Speaker
Joining me to discuss this album is my co-host, Mr. Felipe Ameren. How you doing, bro? I'm doing great, man. How you doing? Yeah, not bad, thank you. It's all going all right. Yeah, all going all right, man. Nice, nice, nice. Credence.
00:00:46
Speaker
Yeah. Credence. Smile on my face whenever we talk about Credence and John Fogarty. And every time we do an episode, um every time we do an episode about Credence and we do another album, because that was one of the first ones we did. I think it was episode three, maybe. It might have been the third episode we did.
00:01:05
Speaker
um Whenever we do one, I hear a new song. I listen to another album. And I think, my God, these guys are unstoppable. And I regret not sorting out with you to come and see John Fogarty all those years ago.
00:01:20
Speaker
I think at the time I couldn't afford it. I think, know, I had a few other gigs booked in and some festivals and I was like, I can't justify buying going to another gig, but I'm just praying that he does another run around the UK at some point, or was the one you saw him at, did he say was his last one? No, I don't think, I don't think he's planning to retire or anything. It was, it was his birthday on that day. I think he was turning 78 or something a couple of years ago. Yeah.
00:01:43
Speaker
His, his voice is still like the same, still singing in the same keys and, and, uh, ah it's just yeah Guitar play and vocals like just like the record. he still he still has it.
00:01:55
Speaker
yeah and And he's still passionate about it, which I think is... it's It's a skill in itself to still have that that love for music and perform as if that is. Yeah.
00:02:07
Speaker
It matters, man. it matters. Anyway, so today we are talking about the further the the middle one of their 1969 albums. And i want touch on this i I want to touch on this as well.
00:02:18
Speaker
And do you know what? Actually, we we'll mix things up a bit. First of all, we'll do what we normally do, which is the terms and conditions. which means if you are listening to this on Apple or Spotify, do us a massive favour, scroll down, give us five stars, write us a little review if you enjoy the show, and it helps us because we move up and up the charts, get seen by more people and our visibility grows.
00:02:38
Speaker
If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure to like and subscribe so you stay up to date with our new content and make sure you share this video with any other Creedence fans you know. So what we'd normally do is I'd run through the album details, um but I want to talk about where this album sits in Credence's discography, or not not their discography, their 1969 stuff.
00:02:55
Speaker
The 1969 discography. Isn't that incredible that we can talk about a band to this extent, um about ah three albums in 1969, which is a mammoth task itself. But I actually went through and I listened to all of them. Sorry, three great albums. Yes. one Yeah. yeah um I listened to all of them and I think the journey you can hear in one year between this band is incredible.
00:03:26
Speaker
We're going to talk about Creedence versus the other music scene later on in the episode, but just a quick, I don't want to spoil what you have to say, but a lot of things other bands were doing, if you look at bands like Grateful Dead, at this point in their career,
00:03:41
Speaker
There was a lot of acid-inspired bands out there playing 30-minute extended jams, weren't there? Yeah. And lots of instrumentation. You can talk about that later. The first album, Bayou Country, has three songs that are over five minutes.
00:03:59
Speaker
And you kind of get, from a couple of those songs, you kind of get that little, okay, we're trying our hand at some jams here. We're trying this. We're trying to fit in. And then you hear Green River, which they're just like, we don't fit in here.
00:04:15
Speaker
And that's fine. So what we're going to do is we're going to do what we do well, which is short, sweet, to the point songwriting, where most songs are under under four minutes.
00:04:26
Speaker
And then we we definitely will do um Willie and the Poor Boys another time. But you hear much more of a gospel-y, soul-y side on that album. But we'll get to that later. But the transition between Bayou Country...
00:04:39
Speaker
And ah Green River, I think, is phenomenal because of that realisation. Actually, this, you by your country, we're going to try and look at what others are doing around us. And then Green River being like, no, this is not us. So we're going to stick to what we're good at Yeah, exactly. And and it's it's ah it's when they found the formula, isn't it?
00:05:00
Speaker
And I think there was this relentless songwriting period from John Fogarty and he just wanted to put the songs out, song after song after song. know So and there's a song about that in the album.
00:05:17
Speaker
about the fact that he was writing like relentlessly and actually causing problems in in his personal life. Yeah. yeah But what did it i mean what do we do to deserve John Fogarty? My God. Yeah. What a songwriter. I will just do the album details quickly, get that out of the way so that we can talk about. um Yeah, I mean, we already spoke about the work ethic, and then we can start talking about the lyrics and storytelling and songwriting on the album because i think that's the most important aspect. There's musical innovations as well, but the key in this album is the lyrics.
00:05:46
Speaker
um So the album was released August 7th, 1969. It was recorded between March and June of the same year at the Wally Heider studio in San Francisco. The genre is quite obviously swamp rock and the length is just under 30 minutes at 29 and a half minutes released on the fantasy label and produced by the man himself, John Fogarty.
00:06:06
Speaker
now Let's talk about the lyrics and storytelling. So you to kick off? Because I know that's your forte normally. Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about it. um I think this ah um the first song being Green River really means something. It's a title track and it's the first track.
00:06:22
Speaker
And lyric-wise is about... remembering your childhood is what it is. And don't forget to mention in a few interviews that this song is about a river he used to go to when he was a kid, but it wasn't called Green River, right? He just named it ah named it Green River because that's how he remembered it.
00:06:41
Speaker
you know what it is? Green River. It is the Putah Creek in Northern California. There you go. That's where him and his family used to go on holidays. Yeah, because that's the thing. he was his he's He's a country boy. So he he talks. the The other subject of that but comes up in the album is the difference between living in the city and living in ah in a countryside. So Commotion is about you know life in the city. And how you see, if that's actually his vision of what life in the city is, you see that he doesn't fit in.
00:07:12
Speaker
no so So those two songs are really... like that Commotion is the second one, isn't it? the second fact so So you have him talking about life in the country ah on the first track and life in the city on the second track. That's a great start for an album. So yeah, Ring River, he says, is about ah childhood memories and and remembering going to that river, but he said it could be any river in any country, a you know, any countryside of town.
00:07:38
Speaker
And and and well the point is, if someone has that sort of memories about the river, about nature, about, you know, being your kid in the countryside, they can relate to the song.
00:07:49
Speaker
so That's how he's really clever about not actually naming the river I feel it's more about the experiences with his family and having a place yeah that him and his memories take him to in in a good time.
00:08:02
Speaker
But that's that's quite a big feature throughout the album. It's it's based on nostalgia and a sense of home. This is my home. And although there's the talks about, you know, um the city in commotion and there's talks about the the restrictions of living where he does in the song Lodi, this still is his home.
00:08:23
Speaker
And this is where he grew up. This is where he was born. This is where him and his family ah resided. And this is where their memories and their life and his upbringing began. Yeah, and and and when you when you when you look into a commotion, it's him looking at the city lifestyle as something he doesn't belong to. It's like, you know, you know there's some talks from the White House, whatever. it's It's like, I don't even care about the political news.
00:08:48
Speaker
you know And it's into, like, you know, people are talking, but they don't mean anything. That's basically what it is. A lot of talk, not not ah not a lot of meaning. And also, everyone is just...
00:09:00
Speaker
a upset or angry or or frustrated so you have that feeling from from the song you know this commotion you know yeah and and he's like the way he sings about it is ah is almost like an outsider right and he was an outsider that's it's like i don't it's not where i you know where i fit and obviously as a touring musician he's been all over the world and in in loads of um you know, the biggest cities in the world. But is still, his music is not about that. His music is like about the roots of of his his country country life. and and it was And I think it relates a lot to it to ah huge part of America and Canada and, you know, North America. You also get that sense with the song Cross Tie Walker, because that song is about life on the move. Maybe he meant being on tour, but life on the move and having no sense of home.
00:09:56
Speaker
yeah And again, this all just comes back to to it's so wholesome just knowing that this guy loves his home. Sure, there's problems. Maybe there's problems with it in the wider sense politically in the country, but he doesn't care what's going in the White House. there This is his home and his memories are here and he wants to be here.
00:10:15
Speaker
But we also then find out in the song Lodi that It's not good. it's It's not always good because living in a small town, the song's about a down and out musician who's stuck in his town, isn't he? Yeah. And it's not his town, by the way. Lodi, I think it's in California, but it's not where he was born.
00:10:32
Speaker
So that's another, it's another town. Yeah. It's like this guy went to Lodi to play and he got stuck there. And he's reflecting on his failure and disillusionment through the whole, you know, the process of the song. But it's just a great,
00:10:46
Speaker
I think the whole album lyrically is just a great um testament to this sense of not not everything is perfect in the world and that's okay. Not everything is perfect with your home.
00:10:58
Speaker
You can be patriotic. You can be proud about your home, but not everything has to be okay. Not everything has to work. ah and this And that's some something interesting about that, which is I see the character in that song as the musician he could have been.
00:11:14
Speaker
That could have been his fate. So that's a musician who didn't make it, let's put it like that, didn't make it as ah as a famous songw writer, the musician in the story. Because I see it as a character. i don't see it as him.
00:11:27
Speaker
It's just like Bob Dylan and Hendrix would create their characters to tell stories. I think i think he did a little bit of that. He probably been through a lot of the that kind of like playing in small bars and pubs yeah and people don't really care about the music and just getting drunk and and and and listening to you just background noise for them. ands That's why it's like, you know, if i if i if I had a dollar for every song I sang to those drunk people, you know, that I could afford my my train ticket out of this place. Yeah.
00:11:55
Speaker
And it's pretty much what it is. I think he's been in that situation, but he um it made it. like he you know He made it as as a touring musician, as an internationally ah famous songwriter, singer, and the guitar player. yeah But I think he can't ah he's speaking to everyone who's been in that position in life or even as a musician as well. Professional musicians were playing not in the in in the best conditions or not in the best venues, but there's still some poetic value to all of that. It's still like, you know,
00:12:23
Speaker
still talking about ah he he wants to do something, he wants to play, he wants to bring music to people. yeah And I think and it's beautiful. Apparently people in Lodi joke about that song and they say they stuck in Lodi.
00:12:35
Speaker
I don't know don't know if that's true, never being there. but you know I wonder if they're offended by it in the sense that imagine you, ah um ah a musician based in London, imagine you wrote a song about Birmingham and how you have no opportunities there.
00:12:48
Speaker
People in Birmingham would be like, oh, you mind your business. I would say that about my hometown. i if i say it i hope they get offended there you go um in terms of the songwriting as i alluded to earlier we are back to basics with this because they tried the longer jams in the previous album and they're great like no problem i've got no problem with them but they do these short songs so well and the perfect example has to be bad moon rising where it's just um
00:13:19
Speaker
Yeah, sorry. i Yeah, that one is on this album. I get confused. Yeah, it's on this album. Because you listen to all of them. They've got two of their most famous hits on each album. It's incredible. But yeah, Bad Moon Rising. It's just...
00:13:31
Speaker
How long is it? And for those listening and watching, if you go down to the description or the show notes, you will see a link to a Spotify playlist. And we do this for every episode. The whole album, the album we're talking about, every song will be in a dedicated Spotify playlist. And any any other song we mention throughout the episode will be added there as well.
00:13:48
Speaker
So if we mention a song or a particular section of a song, you can go and listen to that on the Spotify and then come back to us and you'll sort of be along with us. You know what we're talking about. Bad Moon Rising, two minutes, 22 seconds.
00:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, sorry. incredible and it says oh you don't mean you don't need more than that there's a solo in there as well bro it's not like it's just a quick country song My God. um they I think at the time, um right yeah I'm not quite sure if it was about a hurricane or something, but i think some some sort of natural disaster um ah influenced him to to write the song.
00:14:22
Speaker
so But what i find amazing about it, and it reminds me of Help by the Beatles, which is like really sad or or dark lyrics, and the song is so uplifting in a way. It's such a huge contrast. It's singing about the end of the world and it makes you dance.
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah. And it's so upbeat it's so happy and you you get a happy smile on your face whenever you talk about it. But yeah, that is funny. is It's is's just great. And I think he's got the same sort of ah um concept with um commotion, which is also kind of like an uptempo, like it's got and a positive vibe to it, although the lyrics are not necessarily happy.
00:15:04
Speaker
And Tombstone Shadow is another song. The lyrics are great, but the lyrics are not really, there's nothing positive about the lyrics in that one. And the song is not negative.
00:15:14
Speaker
ah The melody and the rhythm, it all makes you feel good. Yeah, you know exactly. i think the the other thing is that i mean I'll save some points I have for maybe the music section, but how sophisticated I find the writing in places like the one part that sticks out to me is that in Lodi, there's a key change halfway through the song.
00:15:34
Speaker
Yeah. And it just does such a good job. It's not Lodi is not even the longest song. The longest song is um wrote a song for everyone.
00:15:45
Speaker
yeah And that is beautiful, by the way, because it's just so soft. and you know the little Reminds me of the band, that one, doesn't it Yes, yes, it does. Great point. um but the band The band, in case I don't know which band we're talking about. la Lodi is three minutes, 13 seconds long, but they still fit in a key change that it wasn't even necessary. I'm happy to listen to Lodi, how it was for the first two minutes, but they do this incredible little instrumental passage that doesn't last long, but they change key in it, and then they do the rest of the song in the new key.
00:16:19
Speaker
And it's not like a key change at the end of a Eurovision song, where they do the chorus once, and then it's a... Well, that those are the cheesy ones, right? Let's do the chorus again, but one step one. Yeah, snare hit, new key, ah, finish with... you know There's still a whole other verse to go.
00:16:33
Speaker
And it's just so... clever because it's nothing big it's not an incredible musical achievement and it sounds legend like they play yeah no it's just a simple key change but it's really effective yeah and it sounds like they play slightly faster i think it changes the vibe of the song i agree it's it's like the the train started to move You know, the train's leaving the station now. Great point. Maybe he's not stuck in Lodi at that point. You know, I think that the key change brings a change of vibe in the song that makes feel even more positive, regardless of the negative side of the lyrics, I guess. Yeah, great point.
00:17:16
Speaker
ah Did you want to talk about Bad Moon Rising at all anymore? Because is the most famous song on the Yeah, is the most. I think, i think um so we talk about the lyrics um and I think this ah ah ah the idea of singing about ah the end of the world in such a great, simple way is just brilliant. But the riff,
00:17:35
Speaker
is what makes the song the guitar it's not and it's not a riff in the sense that you play you know the sequence of notes and form is a small short phrase and play it over and over is a rhythm guitar thing that's really drives the song you know do you remember when we did the chuck berry episode a few episodes ago how many times did we say in that album how many times did the songs all start the same in terms of that same little, that idiot it you know, that kind of guitar thing.
00:18:03
Speaker
But it didn't get boring because every time there was something a little different. And I feel like I'm not saying at all that anything's the same here. I just found it as an interesting comparison. But you have this great little intro that is just so short.
00:18:15
Speaker
but yeah that that did did which is essentially the melody yeah which is essentially what the vocals i think that's that's clever arrangement yeah whereas the guitar says it first and then the vocals come and repeat what the guitar was saying great point man And it's it's really clever in terms of arrangement. and It's like you're repeating ah the same voice in terms of the same melody, ah but you the first time there's no lyrics, second time there is lyrics. So ah zriga there's a really strong rhythm, really solid and strong rhythm all the way through the song, and it's a shuffle, it swings.
00:18:49
Speaker
you know and it's it's not it's not the most obvious shuffle because it's too fast for you to actually realize but it's swinging all the time all the way to the end the song which is very bluesy um also talking about the blues influence um the There's a song here for me. It's a blues song, Tombstone Shadow, because this that's a story which some people claim was real. I don't know, because I've never seen John Forgot to himself talking about this.
00:19:15
Speaker
But he ah he went to this gypsy man in San Bernardino, I guess, the town. and And this guy is just telling him that he's going to have 13 months of bad luck.
00:19:31
Speaker
And it says, like, fly in no machine. So, like, don't get up in the sky. Don't get into airplanes and stuff like that. Because, you know, otherwise you're going to die. And it's going be like bad luck for a long time for you. And, again, the song doesn't feel, ah ah you know, sad or or worrying or anything like that.
00:19:48
Speaker
And it's a blues structure. It's like 12-bar blues, three chords. Exactly. That's the formula. And the fact that you're talking about gypsy and you're talking about bad luck,
00:20:01
Speaker
And it's there's almost like a little bit of black magic in it. And that is very bluesy. yeah So that is proper kind of blues songwriting. And that reminds me a lot. You should put that one on the playlist.
00:20:13
Speaker
um Born Under a Bad Sign by Albert King. because it's the same sort of thing is this man talking about his bad luck, but Albert King song is about, he knows he was born with bad luck and his whole life is doomed. So it's about that.
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah. In this case, John Fogarty seems to be having a great time and life is going well, but this gypsy man tells him like for $5, he tells him his life is not, it's not going to be that great for the next year. Yeah.
00:20:44
Speaker
yeah The other, the other one that the, Let's talk about the music now, okay? The music of the album, because you've taken us nicely from Tombstone Shadow, and there's a song on the previous album called Penthouse Pauper that does the same job.
00:20:55
Speaker
And for me, Penthouse Pauper, Tombstone Shadow, and Green River orally symbolize this newfound identity that i feel Credence establish on this album, and that is the identity of Swamp Rock.
00:21:13
Speaker
Now, what is Swamp Rock? Swamp Rock is blending blues, rockabilly, country, even rock itself at the time, you know, with so with with some of the guitar sounds.
00:21:26
Speaker
And it just, for me, the Green River is perfect example of this vibe and the the sound it gives off. You've got that twangy guitar with the steady rhythm, the you know, the the bass and the drums throughout the album are incredible, just holding the steady steady rhythm.
00:21:39
Speaker
the Southern flavored imagery talking about their home. You know, remember the other day we spoke about Bruce Springsteen and how we called his sub genre, Heartland rock, because it's rock music that has anthemic sides of it, at anthemic elements to it, but it's talking about America.
00:21:56
Speaker
And it's so funny when you think, well, this whole genre is based on the fact that they're talking about this part of the country, but it's the same for swamp rock. That's why it gets its name through all the swamps and the creeks um from where they were growing up in California.
00:22:08
Speaker
but And I just think that they established this sound so nicely because it's a, if you go to Bayou country, there's one song there that's an obvious blues. um I will just, for the sake of it, will just go and find it. The song I'm talking about.
00:22:23
Speaker
ah the the Yeah. um But it is an obvious blues song. ah i think it's good golly, miss Molly. Yeah, it is. Good golly, Miss Molly. That's the live a little Richard song, right? Yeah.
00:22:33
Speaker
Oh, is it a cover? Yeah, yeah. Ah, of course it is. Yeah. But still, musically, they could have done Swamp Rock with it, but they didn't. It's still a blues. This is what I'm saying about Bayou Country, having trying to do the extended jams, doing just an out-and-out rock and roll blues cover, but then for Green River, absolutely nailing on, this is our sound and this is Swamp Rock. And we're going to show you with Green River, Tombstone Shadow, you know. Yeah.
00:22:59
Speaker
yeah Exactly. And it's it's like establishing style, isn't it? That's the genre that they pretty much created in a way, isn't it? Yeah. it's not There's no no bands that did that level before them.
00:23:12
Speaker
um There's something about, um well, the the fact that they play everything with two guitars, bass and drums that i think I think makes the album very special.
00:23:23
Speaker
Yeah. ah um I read an interview with... um Sorry, do you mean the rawness of it? The production, how it's just later? Yeah, exactly. Because if you compare them to everyone else you know in the 60s, everyone was experimenting with... ah So we're kind of getting to the other topic, which which which is...
00:23:41
Speaker
We put on on our notes here, Credence versus The Rest. Shall we come back to that? I just have one more thing say about the music, and that was the John Fogarty's distinct guitar tone, which at this time, John's... I've said it before, his guitar tone is almost abrasive.
00:23:56
Speaker
I don't think it's nice to listen to. If you if someone isolated John Fogarty's guitar tones, I'd be like, no, thanks. I need this tone differently. But it fits so well into the music, the lyrics, the ambience of the album.
00:24:13
Speaker
And it was heavily influenced by rockabilly and blues. And the song for me that I'm going to put in the playlist now is a song called Key to the Highway by Albert King, which I think that album came out five years before this one. But even if it even if the album's not, it's just um a reminder of me a reminder for me of that guitar tone and how we could have got it from the blues and that early rock and roll stuff.
00:24:36
Speaker
And you hear it perfectly in commotion. It's got that fast chugging riff, the really aggressive and raw twang to it, that abrasive tone. And I just think that actually John Fogarty's guitar tone is something that sticks out here a lot and is actually really important.
00:24:52
Speaker
It is important, but there's something about that, which is... ah The riffs and the solos are just perfect. buts that that There's no flaws in his playing. Yeah. Right.
00:25:03
Speaker
Like ah so precise in terms of rhythm, great note choices. Everything is in the right place. Still, he doesn't make the music about guitar.
00:25:15
Speaker
It's impressive how the guitar is the loudest voice in the band and sometimes the most ah memorable part of the song. But still, the songs are about the melodies and the lyrics.
00:25:28
Speaker
Maybe melodys melodies, lyrics, and the rhythm over everything else. is is is is For me, it feels like the music is bigger than the musicians, which it should be, in my opinion.
00:25:40
Speaker
I love when musicians have that, when they put their ego aside and say, let's write something that is good. yeah It's going to make people feel good. And it's it's just as a whole sounds great. It's not about anyone.
00:25:52
Speaker
Like there's not um there's no complicated bass lines. Not saying they're easy to play. It's not about that. But they're not complicated in terms of like too many notes. There's not too many drum fills.
00:26:04
Speaker
Mm-hmm. But they're all really, really, really good musicians. They know what they're doing. yeah And John Fogarty was really picky with arrangements. He would sometimes write the bass lines and tell the drummer which beat to play.
00:26:16
Speaker
yeah Although he said he came up with 90-something percent of the ideas, he would always allow them to to jam and create. So they were jamming in studio and playing as a four-piece band.
00:26:28
Speaker
think it's important give the other rest of it. Yeah, because he could have recorded everything. He can play everything. I think it's important to give the other band those credits because we all we've mentioned, we haven't even spoken about the rest of the band. I mean, for anyone who doesn't know ah the rest of the band, you've got Fogarty's brother, which, what was his name? Hold on.
00:26:45
Speaker
glass So, yeah, you've got Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. And then Tom Fogarty on rhythm guitar. ah But they they all deserve the plaudits for this album. It doesn't matter that John wrote 90% of the stuff.
00:26:59
Speaker
The album sounds how it sounds because the other band but Because the rest of the band, although they took on what John was saying about player bass line like this, they executed it. Yeah, I think it's kind of hard to stand out as a rhythm guitar player. so ah So no one is going to be talking too much about it. But the rhythm guitar is just perfect for the songs. Yeah. And... and As I said at the start of the episode, every every new time I hear Credence, they go up in my estimations about probably being one of the best and most important rock bands ever.
00:27:30
Speaker
Exactly. and and And when you think about the job of those three musicians um ah behind him, it's it's is the definition of rhythm section. We talk about it. What is rhythm section? We normally think it's bass and drums, but like in jazz music, you would call the piano and the guitar ah part of rhythm section.
00:27:50
Speaker
Good point. Yeah. or basically anyone who's not soloing at a certain moment in the song, the rhythm section, and they sound as a one piece plus the lead guitar player, lead singer as another layer. So they have the whole band as piece,
00:28:08
Speaker
huge rhythm section, ah huge in terms of sound. there's only three people and they don't over that much. That's what I like about it. now yeah and And that brings us to to the next topic, I think, which is that what makes them so different from everyone else.
00:28:21
Speaker
Cool. Go for it. Anyway, we're mixing the topics because it's not it's all is's all the same thing at the end. Basically, i'm think about what people were doing in the 60s. The Beatles, since they stopped touring, they knew they didn't have to create stuff in the studio that had to be ah reproduced live.
00:28:43
Speaker
ah Maybe the Beach Boys had the same sort of feeling. ah Everyone started add orchestras and stuff. So you had some live bands, like you've mentioned, Grateful Dead, even Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple. Those guys were live bands. And they have the studio bands who are more into overproducing, adding orchestras and and layers and layers of instruments and backing vocals and all the stuff.
00:29:07
Speaker
And I think Creedence sits in in the middle of that. they're not They were great live act, but they also try to bring that live performance to the studio sessions and that in order to make it more, I don't know, more raw, maybe. they don't They were not concerned about doing... um
00:29:27
Speaker
overproduced stuff and and and extremely long songs. And I think they've made a point, which is really important, to to distance themselves from the whole 60s vibe.
00:29:40
Speaker
Okay, that's that's crucial to understand ah why their sound it it it is how it is. ah Because they it didn't want to be like anyone else. They did not want... to to to bring the orchestra and stuff, and and didn't they didn't want to play the 45-minute songs live and just you know and just play in extended solos.
00:30:00
Speaker
um So they made a point of staying away from alcohol and drugs. And this clearly shaped the way they they wrote and performed songs.
00:30:12
Speaker
So you can argue that all the substance that people have used ah you know in the 60s
00:30:20
Speaker
has influenced the way they they write. so I mean, Hendrix, remarkably, was a guy who was into everything. and and And his music wouldn't be what it is without all of that, without everything that's part of his personality, including his addiction. I think you can say that about the Beatles as well. You can say that about the Beatles. Although they were much more good boys, they did that to show drugs, Stones as well, you know.
00:30:46
Speaker
um the And the the whole point of those periods, are we going to try are these things? They're going to change the way we think, and then we can write different stuff. Whilst Creepness was like, we're not taking anything.
00:30:57
Speaker
we're going to play music. the The music is going to come from our hearts and our brains, but there's no external influence in a way. And that just makes them different. It's not better or worse, in my opinion.
00:31:09
Speaker
That approach is not like, um clearly, for your health is better. but i'm saying um ah That musical approach is not necessarily you know the the only one, but but it's what made them special in a way.
00:31:24
Speaker
Yeah. it's Like 100% focused on playing well, writing well. and And also, there's no quantity versus quality here. Three great albums in one year. So a lot of hits, a lot of great songs, all written and recorded in a short period of time.
00:31:42
Speaker
Maybe because they were hyper-focused. Yeah. But then on top of that, I only said 69 because it's crazy to think they did three albums in one year. But they also did an album in 68 and one in 70 as well. And they're all excellent.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah. It's crazy, man. It's crazy. Yeah. And this ah this this story, um my favorite story about this album is the song, ah Wrote a Song for Everyone. Because it's when when John Forgot is talking about the fact that he didn't give his family enough attention for, you know, a certain period of time. He was, like, relentlessly writing songs. And then I think his wife got upset because he didn't, you know,
00:32:18
Speaker
or didn't take the kids for a walk or whatever. yeah It was like focused on writing songs. And he said he felt under pressure to keep bringing money to the family and you know and keep everything up and running as it was. So he said, I need to write more songs. I need to to make the band more successful. I need to keep doing this.
00:32:36
Speaker
And maybe that's one of the motivations that made him write so many good songs in a short period of time. But it comes with the regret of not living your personal life to, to ah you know, ah to do a better standard, would say.
00:32:51
Speaker
Heartfelt lyrics. Emotional lyrics that combine the the... It just... I mean, what was what the album where we said that the guy had just completely wrote what he was feeling onto paper. i so't Maybe it was Beach Boys.
00:33:07
Speaker
um I don't remember. But anyway, it's just, excuse me, it's just great to hear and read the lyrics of this album where we were talking about that sense of home, the sense of nostalgia, loving your your county, loving your town where you grew up, but also looking at the life of a musician from songs like Lodi, and now you've just told me this one. i didn't know that about Rose Song for Everyone, but that's a lovely little story. Yeah, it's a sad song because of that. It's the slowest and longest song in the album. ah The only one that features a lot of drum fills as well. as beautiful ah arrangement. And and yeah, it's it's sad because it's him realizing that that the his...
00:33:41
Speaker
um Well, sacrificed to get where he is. Exactly. sacrificed his personal life at that moment in time to keep doing the music he was doing. and know Yeah.
00:33:53
Speaker
Excellent. Well, um I think that's it. me The only thing left to talk about is the cultural and commercial impact of it. I mean, you know, the album went to number one on the Billboard 200, cementing their status as literally one of the biggest bands of the time.
00:34:08
Speaker
Bad Moon Rising got to number two, Green River also hit number two, the album went platinum. um And I think the the more important part, that the the innovative part, is that it really helped shape the roots rock genre um because it was modernizing this traditional American style you were saying. So when we're talking about Creedence versus the rest, the others were going off and using modern techniques and modern production and modern this and that to make extended jams, orchestral pieces.
00:34:35
Speaker
But Credence just kept the traditional American style of music, the country, the rockabilly, and they modernised it in their way by blending the genres, by making it better production than you would have had in the 50s, but keeping that traditional American values.
00:34:50
Speaker
And I think the important part is being that when you look at who it would have inspired, generations later, you've got people like, you who did I put in my notes? ah Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen. know, we said Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen's character idea is the same kind of thing that they're going for in Swamp Rock, which is good old American music talking specifically about where we're from.
00:35:16
Speaker
and Springsteen did that, but stadium rock talking about America. you know i think that yeah i think the main the main difference between Bruce Springsteen and Credence is like Springsteen would be more about America and actually make sometimes you would make clear which political issues he's talking about. Yeah. It's more evident. This is this.
00:35:35
Speaker
Correct. Credence is is generic in a good way, which is like this could be you in any countryside country. anywhere in the world, any small town, or could be you coming from a small town or going to the big city.
00:35:50
Speaker
Or Lodi could be the story of any gigging musician in the world. every Every person who ever picked up a guitar to make money out of it has been through that sort of situation. So I think they can't there's something even more universal about their music, which is not only American, which is not only...
00:36:10
Speaker
uh um you know american root yeah think it's i think it's great points yeah great in terms of the lyrics of course the music yeah it's like everything that american music uh um represents is is somehow there in their music i guess lovely favorite song uh wrote a song for everyone okay mine would have to be um a big fan of tombstone shadow that's my favourite one. And ah The Night Time Is The Right Time is a wonderful cover as well. We haven't actually mentioned that one, but that's a great cover of a Ray Charles song.
00:36:45
Speaker
And the vocals are just beautiful. He's singing like a soul singer in that one. It's just... And the backing vocals as well. you the Just so gospel-y. I've put that Ray Charles song in the playlist for you all, so that should be that. amazing how they play someone else's music and and they make it their own. It fits in the album because of the sounds and the grooves.
00:37:06
Speaker
does It doesn't sound like it was written by someone else. They did another one, didn't they? They did. I put a spell on you. Yeah, Susie Q, their first hit. It's a Dale Hawkins song. Anyway, you know what I'm not going to put those in the players because we'll get to them the next time we do a Creedence album. Not all of them. We can even talk about Creedence cover songs. All the songs they've covered. We don't have a um a monologue for you today. Felipe's incredibly busy man. He had a few recording sessions this week and loads of gigs.
00:37:35
Speaker
I can improvise one. Do you want to? ah Kind of. yeah go up So yeah, here's my improvised monologue. um My first contact with Credence was pretty much my first contact with ah rock music back in the day. I remember my dad um being surrounded by his friends. Everyone was drinking, having a good time, and someone had a CD player. thats We're really old, right? CD player. And...
00:38:02
Speaker
And they were listening to some sort of a ah generic pop music. And my dad was like, this is crap. Let's listen to some good rock roll. And for some reason, he had the CD with him. Let's put some credence in it. I was like, what's that?
00:38:15
Speaker
And he gave it to me. He said, put it there. It was a compilation, 22 And they fit in one CD, 22 songs, because they're so short. ah as I put but a song like Molina, was one of the first songs I've ah ever heard.
00:38:28
Speaker
As soon as I heard the groove, the guitar, the vocals, was like, my God, this is great music. I need more of that in my life. And that's what Creedence represents for me, and I think to a lot of people, is that instant effect of good rock and roll as soon as you listen to it.
00:38:46
Speaker
It contains folk, country, blues, early rock and roll, rockabilly, boogie. It's all in there, but it's their own music. And it's true. It comes from the heart. And the lyrics communicate with everyone from, again, as ah as I said at the beginning, from the countryside to the big city.
00:39:05
Speaker
If you listen to a Credence, um they will become part of your life. And they would never leave. can tell you that. The more you listen to it, the better it gets. and if And if you if never listen to a Credence album from start to finish, start with this one.
00:39:21
Speaker
It will change your life for the better, um and you won't ever stop listening to them. So let Credence be a part of your life, and you're going to be a happier person, just saying that.
00:39:34
Speaker
Bro, your improvised monologues are better than your written ones. That was incredible. That was amazing. And so when you started talking about me and my dad, i was like, oh, that's so emotional. Excellent. Yeah, I would say that, like, just to finish, don't forget it. Definitely wrote a song for everyone.
00:39:49
Speaker
So just have a listen to it. It's great. i can't I can't top that, so I'm not going to try. But it is just an incredible album. And as I've said at the start the episode, and I said it again midway through, you hook on to Credence.
00:40:00
Speaker
You hook on to some songs. And I had this thing, when I do sports, playlist on my Spotify. I listen to an album. I take each song I like and I put it in a playlist. So if I ever want to listen to Creedence, I've got all the songs I liked or I thought I liked in that playlist.
00:40:14
Speaker
And then I go back a year later and I listen to the album again I'm like, why the hell didn't I put this song in the playlist? And then soon I realise every song from every album ends up in the playlist, which is just a testament to Creedence, as you said.
00:40:27
Speaker
Fantastic band, iconic. And what stands out most is how they they don't ever... They never go away from what is them and from what's their music, their style, their background, their memories.
00:40:43
Speaker
And it's just fantastic. Everything they've done, I've listened to has been incredible. And on that note, we will end the episode there and say goodbye to you guys. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Long Live Rock and Roll podcast.
00:40:57
Speaker
If you're listening on Apple, Amazon or Spotify, make sure you go down. give us a quick review hit the five stars it takes 20 seconds of your time but does the world of good for us and if you're watching on youtube make sure to like and subscribe to stay up to date with our new episodes we're also putting out shorter videos as well you'll probably see that i've done a little motorhead versus judas priest one and we've got one of felipe's coming up in the next few days which is going to be talking about jimmy page as a session musician just short little videos we thought be interested in and touching more on the topics that we want to talk about We obviously want to talk about Credence and all the albums that we do, but these episodes are really structured. we spend a lot of time researching them. It takes a bit of time editing. we thought we should do some shorter videos either side, but so we get to get all of our rock and metal and all the stuff we love talking about. Get it out onto the channel for you guys to enjoy. So thank you again for joining us.
00:41:43
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for being with us. Thanks for joining the conversation once again. Keep on rocking, everyone, and don't do anything that we can do. And as usual, guys, take care and long live rock and roll.