WE DON'T DO DRUGS. THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOES.

As you gotta know, Creedence had a shitload of hits. They were a machine, at least a couple on every LP. But their real worth is as an album band. Every album had a couple hits, a cover or three, and most had a long song or two. They churned those LPs at a dizzying pace, six LPs between 1968-'70. There were a shitload of deep cuts that were more interesting than the hits. To wit, these two from Bayou Country, their second LP (cover above). That record had as hits the title song and "Proud Mary", the latter I could do without hearing ever again. (I bought when I was twelve years old for shit sakes.) Two of my favorites on that LP are "Penthouse Pauper", as much for the lyrics as the music, and their thorough reworking of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly". Fogerty's guitar tone on that one, already awesome, would be pushed into the stratosphere with some Davie Allan type fuzz. As it is, it's not far off from Nuggets-era garage rock, with the dumbing down of that riff. Compare it to the original below. Yeesh. But, "Proud Mary" my ass.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper mp3 at Internet Archive
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Good Golly Miss Molly mp3 at Internet Archive
Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly (streaming) at YouTube

OWE ME A COKE

Here's a juxtaposition for you. John Fogerty and Rick Nelson covering each other. Kinda sorta anyway. The Fogerty song that Nelson covers is "Almost Saturday Night" from Fogerty's eponymously titled second solo album. The Nelson song that Fogerty covers, "Hello Mary Lou", is not really Nelson's. It was written by Gene Pitney, but Nelson had the hit with it. And Fogerty didn't cover it himself per se, it was covered when he was in Creedence on their last LP, Mardis Gras. I have to say Creedence did better with "Hello Mary Lou" than Nelson did with "Almost Saturday Night". Creedence had more oomph than Nelson did later in his career. Check Fogerty's homage to James Burton's playing on "Hello Mary Lou", tone and licks. (Burton was the guitarist on Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou".)

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Listen:
Rick Nelson - Hello Mary Lou mp3 at Snuhthing Anything
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Hello Mary Lou mp3 at Internet Archive
John Fogerty - Almost Saturday Night (streaming) at YouTube
Rick Nelson - Almost Saturday Night mp3 at Internet Archive

TEENAGE ME IS ABOUT TO SHIT HIS PANTS.

This is a gift to my younger self. When I was in my early teens, there was one band that mattered to me more than any others, Creedence. For whatever reason, after buying their fifth LP Cosmos Factory as my first album ever, I hitched my wagon to them and no other band came close. I did a term paper on them, collected their back catalog and checked out the sources of their covers, and of those there were some good ones. On their first LP, Screamin' Jay Hawkin's "I Put A Spell On You", Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q" and Wilson Picketts's "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)". On their second Bayou Country, Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly". On their third LP, Green River, they covered Nappy Brown's "The Night Time Is the Right Time" (likely picked up from Ray Charles's version). On their forth LP, Leadbelly's "Cotton Fields", and "Midnight Special" a traditional folk song that no one seems to know who wrote. Cosmo's Factory yielded Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me", Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby", Arthur Crudup's "My Baby Left Me" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", a hit for Marvin Gaye just a couple years earlier. When you're as young as I was, you didn't know shit about any of these songs or the artists that recorded them. But it was a map for future digging.

I never got to see Creedence other than a TV special that was on around that time. If I had known that they played at Woodstock, I would have been hysterical after going to see the movie and not seeing them in it. So, these clips are for my younger self. Although I still think that Creedence was a damn good band, John Fogerty's  solo career has kind of diluted things. Nevertheless, I would have gone ape shit back then to see Creedence on the big screen.



There's some other videos below, a few more Woodstock clips and the odd TV appearances. The kicker for me, oddball lover that I am, is not even a real Creedence video, It;s a thing I ran across on Vimeo, a guy with the handle "Soul Train Bro", Dude lets you watch him listen to side one of Bayou Country. This is not one of those videos where you get someone totally unfamiliar with a band to react either in a quizzical or excited way, and you, familiar with the band, laugh your ass off. No, Soul Train Bro does little more than listen, making about four comments during the whole thing. That's an exaggeration, but there are minutes that tick away while he moves and reacts so little, you'd swear the video is frozen. It's just so out there in its nothingness that it's right up my alley. Like a classic rock version of Eno's Music For Airports.

The oddball icing on the cake is Soul Train Bro's Vimeo channel, which is totally unrelated to Creedence. It's just him sharing his listens on a variety of LP sides. Led Zepp, Betty Davis, Jethro Tull, 13th Floor Elevators, Deep Purple, Rory Gallagher, Sabbath and others. My younger self would want no part of Soul Train Bro's listening parties. My current self values the raising of any freak flag, even if the person holding the flag doesn't even know it. Fuckin' Soul Train Bro is okay in my book.

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Video:

Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell on You (live) at YouTube Woodstock

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Keep On Chooglin' (live) at YouTube Woodstock

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River (live) at YouTube Woodstock
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary at YouTube From the Dionne Warwick Special Souled Out
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary at Vimeo From the Ed Sullivan Show
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River at YouTube The Andy Williams Show
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put A Spell On You at YouTube Promo film
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Sweet Hitch-Hiker at YouTube Promo film
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bayou Country, Side One - Soul Train Bro at Vimeo Soul Train Bro listens and comments. Exhilarating.
Soul Train Bro - His channel at Vimeo

OKAY BOYS, SHOW ME "PLAIN"

Many years ago a friend of mine went on a Bowie fast. She liked David Bowie so much that she stopped listening to him so she wouldn't get sick of him. This was back when he only had about a half dozen albums out. Though the term "Bowie fast" was kind of comical, it made sense. I'd done something similar in the past without really labeling as a fast, but I've laid off LPs that I played a lot so that I wouldn't tire of them. In some cases, not only did I not get sick of them, when I went back and listened to them again, I heard parts that I hadn't heard before despite having heard them a zillion times.

Last night I ended an unintended Creedence fast. It had just gotten to the point that I pretty much knew every lick of every song on their first five or six LPs. The candle was flickering. Then this stay at home order. Day after day of the same thing. Had to break it up. I'd resisted going to familiar albums but ended up going with Green River anyway. It had been a while. I'd forgotten how good they were at their peak. Fogerty wrote some damn good songs, oh shit, i don't want to go down that path. I haven't got all night, Here's a couple, neither from Green River. "Suzie Q" is their first single and hit, a Dale Hawkins cover. "Penthouse Pauper" is Creedence at their most Creedence. That song could have been a hit had it not been on the same LP as "Born on the Bayou" and "Proud Mary". It's my favorite Creedence song and that's all I really give a shit about.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Suzie Q (Part 1) mp3 at  Tumblr

FUCK YEAH NON-HITS

Okay, I think there's enough of an age gap between me and some of you that I can rationalize pushing shit on you. Five words: Buy albums, read liner notes. Exhibit A: For those of you who have no more than a greatest hits package of Creedence, if even that, listen up. Buy a fucking long player. Because the only way to hear Creedence is in the context of a never intended as a hit type song in the middle, or end, of a side. You won't get a "Graveyard Train" or "Penthouse Pauper" on a greatest hits package, but they're on the same album, along with a cover of "Good Golly Miss Molly". Kind of unbelievable that these are on the same LP as fucking "Proud Mary", one of the only two songs from their Bayou Country LP that will show on your compact little compilation (the other, "Born On the Bayou"). Now. Buy albums, read liner notes.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Graveyard Train mp3 at Internet Archive
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Good Golly Miss Molly (streaming) at YouTube

NICE BAYOU, SWAMP MAN.

A photo of Creedence chowing down at Taco Bell, around 1967. The five item menu days. Tacos, tostadas, burritos, Bellburgers and frijoles. That's it. Pre-Enchiritos. Long before the ridiculous combinations, Aurally, there's a live version of "I Put a Spell On You" from right around that same time ((I think). I dig it. There's more distortion than there is on the record. And with that I am done for the night.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell On You (live) mp3 at Internet Archive

PRE-FLANNEL

Man. Look at those get-ups. Goofy hats, plaid pants, puffy sleeves, ascots. Epic fail. That's Creedence, then the Golliwogs, just a year prior to "Suzie Q". Yeesh. Here's one by the them in the earlier incarnation, and a great cover by the Nashville Ramblers. The latter, most badass.

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Listen:
The Golliwogs - Fragile Child mp3 at Internet Archive
The Nashville Ramblers - Fragile Child (streaming) at YouTube

BASIC GREATNESS

I just ran into the clip below of Creedence playing "Born on the Bayou" at Woodstock, in 1969. It caught me off guard. Having followed John Fogerty throughout most of his career, my impression includes many post-Creedence moments that taint my opinion. I can be overly harsh. Tonight I must have left my cynicism in the can because I thoroughly enjoyed the clip. This I know, Creedence was a great band, particularly their first five albums. It's not that big of a stretch to consider them in the running for the American version of the Stones. That is, of course, without the flash, hot chicks or drugs.

"Penthouse Pauper" is one of the shorter songs on Bayou Country (which also contained "Born on the Bayou"). That one manages to feel like an extended jam in just three and a half minutes. "Ramble Tamble" was the first song on the first LP I ever bought, Cosmo's Factory. Fuck me, my twelve year old mind is still trying to wrap itself around that one. Try going from top 40 to that. One of my most memorable leaps. An all-time segue. "My Baby Left Me" is one of several covers from the same LP. That's another thing, they always chose good covers and always managed to make them sound like Creedence songs.

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Listen
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Ramble Tamble mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - My Baby Left Me mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Visit:
The Great(est) American Rock 'n'Roll Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at The Adios Lounge More deepish cuts and an excellent profile.

THAT WAS A GOOD EPISODE

Not messing around tonight. I was going to post the first song picked at random that was what I considered a really good record. The Slit's cover of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" fit the bill. I've heard all four of the versions below many times, and the Slits is far and away my favorite, though technically it's probably, no, certainly the worst. But I identify with it, like many of you who know it, because if you are of a certain age, the Slit's version came out during a crucial period in your life. And if you can't identify a good song with an episode, what good is it?

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Listen:

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at William Burkey (?)
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Chilthorne (?)
Gladys Knight and the Pips - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Zatoon (?)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (streaming) at YouTube

DEATH MARCH

This song is a perfect example of so many things. It is what used to come between hits on LPs. Call it album filler, piss break special, whatever. It's from the days when songs like that weren't throwaways; they were good, and this is Creedence at their non-hit, deep track best. Devoid of flash, it's little more than guitar, bass and drums, with a harp solo. If you're Creedence fiend, you know the song, but listen to it again. I don't think I've ever heard a more basic rhythm section before in my life. And the rhythm guitar? Even Tom Fogerty went off to take a piss. But John Fogerty's fills, his singing, the song itself, lyrics and all; they all create this dark mood, this doom.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Graveyard Train mp3 at Shimmy She Wobble

THE GATOR'S GOT YOUR GRANNY

A friend of mine posted a video of Tony Joe White doing "Polk Salad Annie" a couple days ago, and I've been on a swamp rock thing since. It reminded me again how lucky I was to have been exposed to AM radio. This sucker was a hit in 1969, as was Creedence's "Green River", and a year or so later, Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses". It would seem that it was the era that swamp broke, but those were but three. Not quite the critical mass. But you know what? If it wasn't for the limited musical outlets back then, I may never have heard it. Record companies and radio stations wouldn't have pulled out all the stops to cram everything into one radio format, So, now, if you want to bail and go listen to the same stuff you always listen to, you go on right ahead. I'll be over hear, listening to Mr. Laid Back Badass and his swamp buddies.

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Listen:
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie mp3 at AM Then FM
Tony Joe White - Roosevelt and Ira Lee mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Dale Hawkins - Susie Q mp3 at Rocky52.net
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses mp3 at The Walrus
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle mp3 at 8106
Blue Ridge Rangers - Working on a Building mp3 at Dr. Mooneys 115th Dream
Southern Culture on the Skids - Tobacco Road mp3 at BillyChic.com

LET'S KNOCK THIS ONE OUT

You know what's cool? Creedence covering Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly".  Ir's a perfect song for them to cover, for a bunch of reasons. John Fogerty wrote the hits, you know that. At the pace they churned out LPs, they had to pad them with something, and they did that with covers. Most of the covers were interpreted well; the framework is there, but there are deviations that put an indelible Creedence stamp on them. That's all you can really ask of a cover. Being that most weren't recorded with designs on the charts, they could be more about Creedence the band, and less hit machine or songwriting. It's not just this one, almost all of their covers were hot shit. This one is early, from their second LP, Bayou Country. Consider that "Good Golly Miss Molly" is on the same LP as the hit "Proud Mary". That's a pretty gnarly contrast. 

The Adios Lounge just posted the above video of a 1970 live set. (Good Golly Miss Molly is at 34:15). You should just watch if from the Adios Lounge, because he's annotated the set with comments from Fogerty about each song. It's a good post.

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Listen:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Good Golly Miss Molly mp3 at http://n1.vmuzike (?)
Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly mp3 at Music KA81 (?)
Video:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Live, Royal Albert Hall, 1970 at YouTube 12 song live set
Visit:
Creedence Clearwater Revival timeline at Riders on the Storm

HAD A GOOD RUN

Back when I was about twelve, my record collection consisted of one 45, Dave Clark Five's "At the Scene." Having played it over and over, I was ready for the next big purchase, a record album. I had stashed away my lawn mowing funds, so it was just a matter of deciding what record to buy. I didn't want to make an arbitrary choice, so I decided to consult someone who was as close to an expert as was available to a snot nosed twelve year old. One of my friends had an older brother, and one of his friends was a reviewer for a local semi-underground magazine called The Door. One day I was over at their house messin' around. The older brother's friend was there, so I summoned the courage to ask him, knowing that there was a possibility that I'd be seen as naive as I was. "Cameron, what record should I get?." His compact answer was something along the lines of "Get Creedence's Cosmo's Factory" and, though I don't remember him being curt, I don't remember him going into any amount of detail about why I should get that particular album, not that it would have mattered. Regardless, I had my shopping list. Within a few days I'd make the trek to Welch's Music, the closest record store. It was actually a music store, in the old school sense. The kind of music store that sold musical instruments, sheet music and records. It had a couple soundproof rooms for lessons, and 45s behind the counter in pegboard mounted racks. They had the record, for good reason. Cosmo's Factory was Creedence's latest album, they'd had hit after hit with the previous four, and "Up Around the Bend," was riding the charts. So, I bought the record and began a Creedence obsession that would last for most of my teens, still ahead of me.

In the ensuing couple of years, I devoured anything and everything Creedence. There was a TV special, with a lot of live footage. I taped the audio from that, with a hand held microphone and my families new portable cassette recorder. (The special also had the concert opener, Booker T and the MGs, performing "Time Is Tight," my first exposure to another future favorite.) By the time I reached 8th grade and was given the opportunity to give an oral report to my history class on any subject, Creedence it was. I'd studied all I could find on the band, including reviews and a paperback bio, Inside Creedence. When the day came, I rolled out my butcher paper Creedence timeline, with hand drawn illustrations, and spoke as authoritatively as I ever have on any subject.

Ahh, the good ol' days. Before I started finding the flaws in my favorite bands. That was not to last. Two albums later, after the departure of John Fogerty's brother Tom, Creedence became a three piece. Though the rhythm guitar played by Tom Fogerty could be duplicated in the studio, the big change on their seventh and final LP, Mardi Gras, was that drummer Doug Clifford and bassist Stu Cook were given bigger roles. A guess would be that they seized the opportunity of Fogerty's exit to present an ultimatum. It has been said that it was John Fogerty who gave them the ultimatum. Whatever the real story is, when your lead guitarist and vocalist, chief songwriter, and undeniable face of the band starts letting go of the reins, what you have on your hands is recipe for disaster. Was it just easier to do that, rather then disband? Was it John Fogetrty's way of saying "See here? This is what happens."? Who the hell knows, but it was my first taste, as a fan, of finding a favorite band fallible. And it was my first favorite band. A flawless band has not materialized since. Just give me a band, and I'll find a wart. Maybe that's why I like music so much. Everyone screws up, no matter how good they sing, write, or play, rock the flannel with leather pants, or choose covers. You're going to suck at some point.

(That guy Cameron that recommended Cosmo's Factory was the young Cameron Crowe, pre-Rolling Stone, pre-Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and pre-Jerry Mcguire, when he was just the friend of Mark Gallagher's brother Jim. He was about the same age as he's portrayed in his autobiographical film Almost Famous.)

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Listen
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Ramble Tamble mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Creedence Clearwater Revival - My Baby Left Me mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Visit:
The Great(est) American Rock 'n'Roll Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at The Adios Lounge More deepish cuts and an excellent profile.

ANOTHER MIXED BAG

Just browsing today, thanks. Landed on the Hound Blog and, I must say, he's done it again. A great post about the Jesters, one of the last bands to record for Sun Records, and one of many bands called the Jesters. I never heard of these Jesters, and that's what the Hound is good at, pulling something out of his ass that prompts the "where the hell have I been?" reaction. If you're thinking rockabilly because of the Sun Records connection, think again. These mid-60's Jesters play stuff that would fit nicely sandwiched between, aww, let's see, Nuggets type stuff, the Gun Club, Them, mid-60's Stones, and what not. Listen to "Get Gone Baby" and tell me it doesn't sound a little like the Gun Club. Oh, and listen to the version of "Cadillac Man" below, the A-side of the only 45 that the Jesters actually had released on Sun. It's Jim Dickinson on vocals, a suitably wacked out version that didn't fly when it was released. (And that was their only A side, and it wasn't even with their own singer. I tell ya, that Jim Dickinson had his finger in everybody's pie.) There's half a dozen more at Hound's blog, all great fodder for your next game of "Stump the Hipster." Good stuff Maynard.

After hearing "Get Gone Baby," I thought I'd look for the Gun Club's "For the Love of Ivy," because that's the song it reminded me of. I didn't find it, but what I did find was the White Stripes covering the Gun Club's "Jack on Fire" (along with 32 other covers, link below), and a Gun Club cover of Creedence's "Run Through the Jungle." So, I'm two links into a chain of covers, and thinking that this may have opened up a can of worms and take all night. Thankfully, I found a suitable stopping point, Creedence doing "My Baby Left Me," a cover of the Arthur Crudup song that Elvis did while at Sun. So, I'm back at Sun Records, always a suitable place to stop.

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Listen:
The Jesters - Get Gone Baby mp3 at The Hound Blog
The Jesters w/Jim Dickinson- Cadillac Man mp3 at The Hound Blog
The Jesters - Six more songs at The Hound Blog
The White Stripes - Jack On Fire (live) mp3 at Cover Me
The Gun Club - Run Through the Jungle mp3 at Plain or Pan
Creedence Clearwater Revival - My Baby Left Me mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Bonus, not so related link:
The White Stripes - 32 more live covers at Cover Me
Earlier semi-related post:
Jack On Fire

HERE COME AMOS!

The best that I can figure, there are a few swamp rock commonalities. Used in varying degrees, these would include a Southern drawl, fringe leather anything, sideburns, a laid back pace, and swamp or Southern imagery. These aren't all present in all swamp rock artists, or at all times, but they do pop up pretty frequently. The one thing that really is essential is that guitar; there's something about it, the tone, the reverb, or the picking. It sounds kinda damp. All of the songs below have some variation of that, though I'm not sure all would be classified as straight up swamp rock. But these are the artists that came to mind when I heard Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" today.

The bonanza here, at least for Southern Culture on the Skids fiends, is over thirty of their live sets available at the Internet Archive. I'm not a fiend, but if I was, I'd be digging it. My own preference for Southern Culture On The Skids, is to hear them serendipitously, and like them from afar, until I run out of things to dig into. They can get on that list right behind Tony Joe White.

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Listen:
Dale Hawkins - Susie Q mp3 at Rocky52.net
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses mp3 at The Walrus
Roy Head & the Traits - Treat Her Right mp3 at Friday Night in Athens
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle mp3 at 8106
Blue Ridge Rangers - Working on a Building mp3 at Dr. Mooneys 115th Dream
Southern Culture on the Skids - Tobacco Road mp3 at BillyChic.com
Southern Culture on the Skids - Too Much Pork For Just One mp3 at PublicCollectors
Live sets by Southern Culture on the Skids:
Southern Culture on the Skids - Live at the Berkeley Cafe 2009 at the Internet Archive
(NOTE: 38 songs, scroll to bottom for individual mp3s or single zip)
Southern Culture on the Skids - Over thirty additional live sets at Internet Archive
Southern Culture on the Skids official site
Watch:
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie video at YouTube
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses video at YouTube
Southern Culture On The Skids - Camel Walk video at YouTube

THE FUCK YOU DID

You should know the song, "I Put a Spell On You." It's been covered a zillion times. The original by Screamin' Jay Hawkins is undeniably the best, at least it is over here. The man was nuts, especially when you consider he competed for airplay with far less out-there contemporaries. As great as the original is, some of the covers are cool too, especially if context carries weight. The first version I ever heard was by Creedence. It was on their first album, released right smack dab in the middle of the hippie era. There's one part of their version I've always liked. It's the single note sustained feedback, between 2:18 and 2:29 in the song. That's right, eleven seconds. And it doesn't scream like, say, Hendrix. It's more like it's on its last breath. When the solo resumes, the song stumbles to its feet.

Today I came across another version, by Os Rocks, a sixties garage band from Africa. How's that for context? (Aquarium Drunkard has another African garage cut too, by the awesomely named A-Cads).

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Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You mp3 at Music Is Art
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Put a Spell On You mp3 at A Barrel of Nails
Os Rocks - I Put a Spell On You mp3 at Aquarium Drunkard