Green River (album)
Encyclopedia
Green River is the third studio album
by American
rock and roll
band Creedence Clearwater Revival
, released in August 1969 after their second release Bayou Country
which was released in January of the same year (see 1969 in music
). In 2003, the album was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. It features two of the band's best-known songs, Bad Moon Rising
and the title track.
and released their breakout single "Proud Mary" b/w "Born on the Bayou
", which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
. Prior to recording their new album in March, Creedence conducted a test session at the recently-built Wally Heider Studios
where they recorded three instrumental test tracks (two of which, "Broken Spoke Shuffle" and "Glory Be", are included in the 2008 remastered CD). The recordings for Green River lasted until June. While completing the forthcoming album the band issued two singles: "Bad Moon Rising" b/w "Lodi" and "Green River" b/w "Commotion", in April and July. Both reached #2 on the Billboard charts.
called it "a great album" with the reviewer further stating "they are now creating the most vivid American rock since Music from Big Pink
".
Allmusic gave the album 5 stars (out of 5) with Stephen Thomas Erlewine
stating: "If anything, CCR's third album Green River represents the full flower of their classic sound initially essayed on its predecessor, Bayou Country."
, which happens to be a small agricultural city in the Central Valley about 70 miles from John Fogerty
's hometown of Berkeley
. After playing in local bars, he finds himself stranded and unable to raise bus or train fare to leave. Fogerty later said he had never actually visited Lodi before writing this song, and simply picked it for the song because it had "the coolest sounding name." However, the song unquestionably references the town's reputation as an uninteresting farm settlement, although the narrator does not mention any specific complaints about Lodi. The song's chorus, "Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again," has been the theme of several city events in Lodi.
Note: All tracks recorded mid-1969, except for † recorded March 1969
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
, released in August 1969 after their second release Bayou Country
Bayou Country
Bayou Country is the second studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in January 1969, and was the first of three albums CCR released in that year .- Original album :...
which was released in January of the same year (see 1969 in music
1969 in music
-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
). In 2003, the album was ranked number 95 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. It features two of the band's best-known songs, Bad Moon Rising
Bad Moon Rising (song)
"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the UK Singles...
and the title track.
History
In January 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival released their second studio album Bayou CountryBayou Country
Bayou Country is the second studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records in January 1969, and was the first of three albums CCR released in that year .- Original album :...
and released their breakout single "Proud Mary" b/w "Born on the Bayou
Born on the Bayou
"Born on the Bayou" is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revival's second album, Bayou Country. It was released as the B-side of the single "Proud Mary" and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.As the songwriter, John Fogerty, commented:...
", which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Prior to recording their new album in March, Creedence conducted a test session at the recently-built Wally Heider Studios
Wally Heider Studios
Wally Heider Studios was a recording studio in San Francisco, California between 1969 and 1980, started by recording engineer and studio owner Wally Heider.-History:...
where they recorded three instrumental test tracks (two of which, "Broken Spoke Shuffle" and "Glory Be", are included in the 2008 remastered CD). The recordings for Green River lasted until June. While completing the forthcoming album the band issued two singles: "Bad Moon Rising" b/w "Lodi" and "Green River" b/w "Commotion", in April and July. Both reached #2 on the Billboard charts.
Reception
Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called it "a great album" with the reviewer further stating "they are now creating the most vivid American rock since Music from Big Pink
Music from Big Pink
Music from Big Pink is the 1968 debut album by rock band The Band. It features the well-known song, "The Weight". The music was composed partly in 'Big Pink', a house shared by Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson in West Saugerties, in upstate New York...
".
Allmusic gave the album 5 stars (out of 5) with Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
stating: "If anything, CCR's third album Green River represents the full flower of their classic sound initially essayed on its predecessor, Bayou Country."
Lodi
The song "Lodi" describes the plight of a down-and-out musician whose career has landed him playing a gig in a small town named LodiLodi, California
Lodi is a city located in , in the northern portion of California's Central Valley. The population was 62,134 at the 2010 census. The California Department of Finance's population estimate as of January 1, 2011 is 62,473....
, which happens to be a small agricultural city in the Central Valley about 70 miles from John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
's hometown of Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. After playing in local bars, he finds himself stranded and unable to raise bus or train fare to leave. Fogerty later said he had never actually visited Lodi before writing this song, and simply picked it for the song because it had "the coolest sounding name." However, the song unquestionably references the town's reputation as an uninteresting farm settlement, although the narrator does not mention any specific complaints about Lodi. The song's chorus, "Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again," has been the theme of several city events in Lodi.
Side one
- "Green RiverGreen River (song)"Green River" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song was written by John Fogerty and was released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name was released .- Background :...
" – 2:36 - "Commotion" – 2:44
- "Tombstone Shadow" – 3:39
- "Wrote a Song for Everyone" – 4:57
Side two
- "Bad Moon RisingBad Moon Rising (song)"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the UK Singles...
" – 2:21 † - "Lodi" – 3:13 †
- "Cross-Tie Walker" – 3:20
- "Sinister Purpose" – 3:23
- "The Night Time Is the Right Time" (Napoleon "Nappy" BrownNappy BrownNapoleon Brown Goodson Culp better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American R&B singer. His hits include the 1955 Billboard chart #2, "Don't Be Angry" and "Night Time Is the Right Time"...
, Ozzie CadenaOzzie CadenaOscar "Ozzie" Cadena was an American record producer with Savoy Records and Prestige Records who recorded gospel and jazz music in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and helped popularize jazz music in Los Angeles.-Background:...
, Lew Herman) – 3:09
Note: All tracks recorded mid-1969, except for † recorded March 1969
40th Anniversary Edition CD bonus tracks
- "Broken Spoke Shuffle" – 2:39
- "Glory Be" – 2:48
- "Bad Moon RisingBad Moon Rising (song)"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the UK Singles...
" (Live in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 9/16/71) – 2:07 - "Green RiverGreen River (song)"Green River" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song was written by John Fogerty and was released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name was released .- Background :...
/Suzie QSusie Q (song)"Susie Q" is a song by Louisiana-born singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins . He wrote the song himself, but when it was released, Stan Lewis, the owner of Jewel/Paula Records, and Eleanor Broadwater, the wife of Nashville DJ Gene Nobles, were also credited as co-writers to give them shares of the...
" (Live in StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, 9/21/71) – 4:28 - "Lodi" (Live in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany, 9/17/71) – 3:19
Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Doug CliffordDoug CliffordDoug "Cosmo" Clifford played drums in the American rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Stu CookStu CookStuart Alden Cook is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work in the rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - John FogertyJohn FogertyJohn Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, lead vocals, arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents... - Tom FogertyTom FogertyThomas Richard "Tom" Fogerty was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and the elder brother of John Fogerty, lead singer and lead guitarist in that band....
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, except on tracks 12-14
Production
- John Fogerty, Saul ZaentzSaul ZaentzSaul Zaentz is an American film producer and former record company executive. He has won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and in 1996 was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award....
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s - Chris Clough – compilation producer
- Basul Parik – cover artCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
, photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film... - Russ Gary – engineer
- Larissa Collins – art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
- Geoff Gans – reissue designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
- Dave MarshDave MarshDave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
, Joel Selvin – reissue liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
#26 |
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
#1 | |
| RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Top Albums |
#2 | |
| 1970 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
#20 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
RPM Top Singles | ||
| April 1969 | "Bad Moon Rising" | #2 | #1 | #5 |
| "Lodi" | #52 | – | – | |
| July 1969 | "Green River" | #2 | #19 | #5 |
| "Commotion" | #30 | – | – | |