ALBUMS: Chronicle (1976); Green River (1969); Willy and the Poor Boys (1969); Mardi Gras (1972).
MVC Rating: Chronicle 5.0 Green River 4.5; Willy and the Poor Boys; Mardi Gras 4.0
In the liner notes. (Stop. Need to explain: Liner notes are essays, histories or any little write-up written on all that ample space on the cover, jacket or sleeves of records. It’s a way to give some history, preview the new record or point out something. They all but disappeared when CDs came out b/c space was so tight on the much smaller recordings.)
But I digress.
In the liner notes, Greil Marcus makes a reference to ‘striking a chord.’ Marcus is the godfather of rock writers who once wrote for Creem. Five points if anybody remembers that influential magazine. Anyway, I continue to digress. So Marcus wrote this in the liner notes to ‘Chronicle,’ the 20-song greatest hits double -record released after the group broke up.
So here in part is what he wrote:
“Making music against the grain of the post San Francisco pop music of the Sixties, Creedence struck a true chord with records that were clean, demanding, vivid and fast — with what might be called straightforward lyricism.”
The keyword here is chord. Listen to Creedence and you will notice rock and roll chords, minor chords that sound just right, rhythm guitar out front. Chords are different notes that make a nice sound when they get played together.
I could go a dozen ways in a post about CCR. My first two 33 and-a-third RPM LPs were ABC by the Jackson 5 and Cosmos Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Up Around the Bend, Run Through the Jungle, Long as I Can see the Light.) Excellent stuff.
Loved both albums. I was into Michael Jackson early. Basically Michael and I were the same age so it was about 9 or 10 when I got into MJ. I remember Mama Pearl jumping out of the radio, and of course the best — ‘I Want You Back.’ Both of those albums, ABC and Cosmos Factory, are long gone from my collection. Although I think I still have Wilson Pickett’s 45 ‘Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You.’ As I write this, I’m thinking now how I came to like such disparate music. J5 and CCR were far apart except for two things: they connected to a lot of people and had something you can’t manufacture — talent.
They were hit machines.
I remember I was about 9 or 10 when I got Cosmos Factory from my father who was out of town on a business trip and came back with the album. He knew I liked CCR because on long trips from Georgia to see grandparents in Texas, I’d flip the dials on the radio. ‘Looking out My Back Door’ was big then as was ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’ which my mother loved. Probably ‘Rollin’ on the River.’
This was some family harmony tied to music by these long haired rockers who sounded like they crawled out of the bayou we just drove past in Louisiana. But they were actually from the SF Bay Area, Fremont, I think. A town that would be many years later where my employer ran the local paper there (in addition to a handful of other papers.)
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.