Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Willy and the Poor Boys
Release Date: November 2, 1969
I’ve long held a soft spot for CCR. People give me dozens of reasons why they’re overrated, most of them boiling down to the fact that they were corporate rock before the term was coined, but I don’t buy it. Creedence are just too damn fun to hate on. C’mon, “Down on the Corner” is easily one of the earliest party songs ever written, and every Vietnam war montage in any movie worth its salt includes “Fortunate Son”. True, the filler tracks don’t quite stack up to the better known singles on the album, but songs like “Poorboy Shuffle” are terrific for just setting the stage for the classic old bayou rock that CCR are so famous for. I’ve never been further south in the United States than Virginia, but listening to Willy and the Poor Boys evokes images of the deep south of New Orleans and Alabama like few bands can. So if it’s OK with everyone else, I’m going to go ahead and keep stroking that soft spot for Creedence, corporate cracks or no corporate cracks.
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son [iTunes] (YSI)
==TJ==
Filed under: Album A Day | Tagged: 1960s, Album A Day, Creedence Clearwater Revival
If one were to eliminate everything that might be termed “corporate rock” from the catalog, most of the 1950s and ’60s, including–arguably–Elvis and Motown, would be eliminated.