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CD reviews

Green River

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River Audio CD

A fair review of the Creedence Clearwater Revival "Green River" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Creedence Clearwater Revival reviews here, or go back to the Creedence Clearwater Revival tabs.

Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: Green River
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-09-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks:

Third album has much to offer
It just missed the top spot in America (as several Creedence Clearwater Revival singles did) but went all the way to number one in Britain. While the title track was successful when released as a single, the other single taken from the album (Bad moon rising) became even more successful.

Other highlights here include Wrote a song for everyone (a plea for mutual understanding that is just as relevant today as it ever was) and Lodi (a very sad song), while the other songs are all worth hearing.

This album helped to consolidate Creedence Clearwater Revival `s already high reputation when first released, but even better was to come with the next two albums (Willy and the poor boys, Cosmo's factory) before arguments within the group affected the quality of their music. If you're building a collection of original albums by Creedence Clearwater Revival, this may not be the best place to begin, but it should certainly be on your list.

Since I purchased my copy, this album has been re-issued with different packaging and extra tracks. Amazon puts reviews for both versions on both product pages, but I recommend this album whether or not it has those extra tracks.

There's A Bathroom On The Right
I guess I'd have to say that my favorite CCR album is the one I am listening to at the time. It's hard for me to rate this album among CCR's catalog of fine releases. I was 13 when this album came out and was just beginning to earn some of my own money cutting grass in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. This was the first album I ever bought with my own money so it has a special place in my mind. This is the first that I bought of the newly remastered set of CCR releases. I have since bought the rest of them and I am very pleased with the sound and the packaging. If you are a CCR fan, then you will want to get all of the new releases. They are excellent!!!! Of course, who can forget the ever popular misunderstood lyric? Yes, there is a bathroom on the right!.

swamp rock
Still holds up after all this time. One of my first albums. How could these guys not be from the swamp!.

The Great American Band's first completely original effort
All six of the original foursome's albums (from 1968's Creedence Clearwater Revival through 1970's Pendulum) have been struck from new digital masters and augmented by previously unreleased tracks. With Concord Music Group having purchased the Fantasy catalog, the fortieth anniversary of Creedence Clearwater Revival's debut LP provides a suitable opportunity for a fresh round of reissues. Those who purchased the 2001 box set can pick up most of the bonus tracks separately as digital downloads (the two longest bonuses are CD-only). Those who didn't buy the box, and think they'll buy all six reissues may want to consider the box set for its inclusion of pre-Creedence work from the Blue Velvets and Golliwogs, the seventh CCR album Mardi Gras, the 1970-71 live recordings and several box-only bonuses. But for those just wanting to pick up a few favorite albums, these reissues are the ticket. Each is presented in a digipack with original front and back cover album art and a 16-page booklet with photos, credits and new liner notes.

Creedence's third album (their second for 1969), Green River, is their first completely original effort as a band. Gone are the lengthy San Francisco jams, replaced by concisely written and arranged songs that concentrate Fogerty's evocations of an idealized South. The album opens with the title track's sumptuous memory of a mythical childhood, a song so deeply soaked in Southern swamps that it's hard to imagine it being written in the urban hills of California's Bay Area. The Fogerty brothers intertwine their twangy electric guitars with familial telepathy. The sound first explored on Bayou Country is now heard on every cut, mellowing the blue "Tombstone Shadow" and providing an introspective stage for Fogerty's ballads. Even the frantic "Commotion" is given a Cajun base for its lyrics of a country boy demolished by the city's hyperactivity. Fogerty's social conscience stretches biblical allusions to then present day situations on "Wrote a Song for Everyone," and with "Bad Moon Rising" the visions turn catastrophic. There's a great deal more darkness here than on any other Creedence LP.

Fogerty's guitar could be sinewy or ring with the influences of Chet Atkins, as does his solo on "Cross-Tie Walker. " Country music also makes an impact on the sorrowful, highly personal lyric of "Lodi. " The album closes with its sole cover, a slow rockabilly take on Ray Charles' blue-soul "The Night Time is the Right Time. " The 2008 CD's bonus tracks include a pair of pre-LP backing tracks that were never completed, the country-shuffle "Broken Spoke Shuffle" and the twangy "Glory Be. " Also here is a trio of live tracks from the group's 1971 European tour. "Bad Moon Rising" is rushed (as are so many songs played live), a medley of "Green River" and "Suzie Q" is condensed to four-and-a-half-minutes, pointing out the two songs' similarities more than giving the latter its full due, and "Lodi" is a fittingly weary lyric for a band reduced to three of its original four members. [�2008 hyperbolium dot com].

2008 Reissue of "Green River"
Of course, all 6 albums released by CCR in 1968-1970 are essential, but "Green River," an album that yielded 4 hit singles and went to #1, was the album that really established CCR's fame. "Green River" is one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's best albums. Before this album, they only had one true hit, "Proud Mary. " Personally, I probably prefer "Willy and the Poorboys," but since all 6 true CCR albums are so solid, it is hard to choose a favorite.

"Green River" features the best non-hit CCR song, "Wrote a Song for Everyone. " All of the songs are great, with a dark undertone to all of them, except the cover "Night Time Is the Right Time," the weakest track here. It is easy to see why this album was so popular in the summer of 1969, a time of intense turmoil for the country. This album perfectly reflected a time when the country might be seen as teetering on the brink of implosion.

The album sounds great on this reissue, but the original album sounded great too. I wouldn't expect the bonus tracks to be revelatory, since a band that released 6 albums in little more than 2 years would hardly have left much on the cutting room floor. There are 5 bonus tracks on "Green River," 2 unfinished studio cuts (no vocals) and 3 live tracks from the 1971 European tour. "Glory Be" actually sounds like it could be a great song, a real fast rocker a la "Commotion. " "Broken Spoke Shuffle" is a generic instrumental workout. The 3 live tracks show that CCR merely duplicated their songs in live performance, without straying very far, only offering an extended solo on "Green River" that segues into "Susie Q. "

This is a great album, but if you already own it on CD, you're not getting much from this reissue but some non-essential bonus tracks and a slightly improved sound. .

You can see a complete list of all Creedence Clearwater Revival discography, or go back to the Creedence Clearwater Revival tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.