CCR - Were they a great, tight band or what!
Ohhhh maaaannnn! My love for CCR predates even The Grateful Dead. This was the first sheet music I bought 20 years ago when I started learning guitar. Beautiful, three-chord American classics. Thanks for inspiring me to revisit them a bit.
Am I just growing old and crochetty if I ask why 'we're' not music like this any more?
yep, I'm on the Gold Coast, Qld. Heatwave. (And currently 7pm, Saturday evening)
My 18 year old loves CCR. Discovered them via a video game and downloaded a few songs. Video games are a nice way to intro kids to "new" music.
our band has always included a couple of CCR covers in our set. John Fogerty himself said one of the things he's proudest of is that his songs sound great when played by bar bands.
Those guys were tight because they treated the band like a 9-5 job. Every day they went to their studio nicknamed "The Factory" and put in an eight hour day of rehearsal. By the time they recorded the songs they new them perfectly. And when they toured they were the tightest band around.
Too bad Fogerty is such an unyielding, cranky guy. It's a shame these guys can't even be in the same room together.
John Fogerty was rockin' flannels (and leather pants) a good 20 years before grunge hit!
Love, love, love CCR ... And I really like a lot of John Fogerty's solo stuff ... But as ml1 said, his cranky old man schtick has just worn me out. I wouldn't go see him live in a million years. But a timeless band, with great rock 'n' roll songs.
Fogerty played a free show at South Street Seaport a few years back - he was great! Sounded great, was in a good mood etc, no crankiness apparent... And he's got so many good songs, there wasn't a stinker in the set...
Soul_29 said:
Love, love, love CCR ... And I really like a lot of John Fogerty's solo stuff ... But as ml1 said, his cranky old man schtick has just worn me out. I wouldn't go see him live in a million years. But a timeless band, with great rock 'n' roll songs.
Fogerty played a free show at South Street Seaport a few years back - he was great! Sounded great, was in a good mood etc, no crankiness apparent... And he's got so many good songs, there wasn't a stinker in the set...
Soul_29 said:
Love, love, love CCR ... And I really like a lot of John Fogerty's solo stuff ... But as ml1 said, his cranky old man schtick has just worn me out. I wouldn't go see him live in a million years. But a timeless band, with great rock 'n' roll songs.
I've seen Fogerty in concert a few times, and he isn't a cranky guy on stage. The shows were terrific, and for a guy his age, he has tremendous energy. I'm referring to his inability to let go of grudges from the past and make amends with his old bandmates. It's sad that they can't even speak to one another.
It took me 30 years to figure out the words to Down on the Corner...hard to believe he's from northern CA.
cuethesun said:
It took me 30 years to figure out the words to Down on the Corner...
We didn't have Google then ... can do it in about 30 seconds now. 
"Who'll Stop the Rain"
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
"It Ain't Me"--oops. Correct title is "Fortunate Son"
How did they do that? All of that?
Mostly they worked really, really hard. John Fogerty was a talented guy for sure, but no one outworked him. And no band outworked the band. He wrote constantly, and he re-wrote everything until it was to his satisfaction. And the songs are timeless because that was his intention. He wanted a sound and lyrical content that would fit within the tradition of American music. With the exception of the long coda on "Suzy Q," they never gave in to the temptation to get all groovy and psychedelic (not an easy thing to resist for a SF area band). Even when he wrote about events happening around him, he did so metaphorically ("Who'll Stop The Rain," "Run Through The Jungle," "Fortunate Son"), so they still sound fresh. "Run Through The Jungle" is a great example. Even in its time people thought it was about Vietnam, but Fogerty says it was about violence in the U.S. ("a hundred million guns are loaded"). But lyrically it was evocative without being too specific, so it meant whatever the listener interpreted it to.
They didn't get a lot of respect in their day because they were a "singles" band that wrote three minute hits for AM radio. But a hundred years from now people will still be singing "Proud Mary" and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" and no one will likely remember who most of the psychedelic jam bands were.
Their 11 minute version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is probably the only other song in their catalog that I would call 'groovy and psychedelic'.
ml1 said:
With the exception of the long coda on "Suzy Q," they never gave in to the temptation to get all groovy and psychedelic (not an easy thing to resist for a SF area band).
I don't really consider Grapevine to be psychedelic. It's a long guitar solo for sure. But it's pretty straightforward compared to Suzy Q, which included such embellishments as:
On January 19th, 1968, the band headed for Coast Recorders in San Francisco and recorded the Dale Hawkins original in one take. On another day, John went back and sang the vocal. After the sessions, Fogerty added dissonant chording, electronic effects, and a separate choral section
https://sites.google.com/site/theelectricbayou/songs/suzie-q
In my pop music pantheon, there are many examples of leaders terrorizing the sidemen. I do feel bad for the sidemen. But songs trump everything. It's the way of the (music) world. Everything.
bettyd