No. 392: Willy and the Poor Boys

Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Willy and the Poor Boys
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: John Fogerty's greatest achievement contains his best song and two great Leadbelly covers. The opening song remains famous, though I'm not totally sure why.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: A pop hook is good, but "Down in the Corner" is dumb and no amount of using the word "Poorboy" is going to make John Fogety a Louisianan.
Best song: "Fortunate Son" is great.
Worst song: "Feelin' Blue" stinks.
Is it awesome?: Nope.

Once again, we have an album Robert Christgau likes and I hate:

Somehow I have never bothered to state my almost unqualified admiration for John Fogerty. Creedence's ecumenical achievement is almost unbelievable: this is the only group since the Beatles and the Stones to turn out hit after hit without losing any but the most perverse hip music snobs.

(Emphasis is mine)

I won't disavow my own snobbery, but this is clearly CCR's best album. Yes, that's damning with faint praise, as CCR is a nonsense band. Nevertheless, the band's two Leadbelly covers are great and Fogerty's relatively clever protest song, "Fortunate Son," is the best thing Fogerty has ever put his name on.

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Musical complexity doesn't automatically mean something is great. Just because Steve Vai, Buckethead and Yngwie Malmsteen all can play really quickly and within complexity doesn't mean any of them make good or great music. For the most part, the Beatles weren't nearly as complex as many other bands and they happen to be the greatest rock and roll band, uh, ever.

With all that said, I want to relay a story. Over last weekend, I was walking with some friends and we passed a Potbelly sandwich place twice. Potbelly, for those uninitiated, often has people perform in the store, playing an acoustic guitar and singing.

We were walking towards Target and passed the Potbelly. The singing fellow was doing "Down on the Corner" on the way there. On the way back, he was playing "Bad Moon Rising."

CCR, for those who don't play guitar, is one of the first bands a beginning guitar player learns to play. Most of the band's songs are incredibly simple, relying on three or four of the most basic chords. The vocals are all within a limited range ("Fortunate Son") and many of the songs are about hanging out in the bayou ("Down on the Corner").

(I am not obligated to mention that John Fogery is from El Cerrito, California. No bayous. Just strip malls.)

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Is this an album I enjoy? Nope. There are highlights, but it remains a crappy 1960s piece of junk. Yes, there are some good songs, but comparatively, this isn't very good.

No. 265: Cosmo's Factory

Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Cosmo's Factory
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Um. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is a classic Marvin Gaye song...
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: ... But CCR slaughter it. The famous songs from the record -- "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Run Through the Jungle" and "Up Around The Bend" -- are awful, derivative small-town wannabe garbage or muddied protest music.
Best song: Please.
Worst song: Easily the biggest crime against an original version of a song is the cover of "Before You Accuse Me."
Is it awesome?: Nope.

In one episode of my delusions of grandeur mind, I'm on a book tour-type thing (whatever the equivalent of a book tour is for an ongoing Web project) and I'm doing an interview with Wendy Rieger on the local DC affiliate (let's just forget that she's an actual news anchor and would do a stupid story like this [after all, this is a ridiculous fantastical idea in the first place. A book tour for an ongoing Web site? Come on.]) after I've finished this whole project. Midway through the interview, she would ask me, of course, the zenith and nadir of this whole project.

Of course, I would give an eloquent, nuanced answer. I would explain that I am familiar with a lot of the albums and it's been a joy to re-experience the love of, say, "Dark Side of The Moon" or "Automatic For The People." But, for albums with which I was unfamiliar going in, I especially enjoyed "Stardust" and "Gris-Gris."

The nadir wouldn't be so nuanced. It's very simple: It's CCR's version of "Before You Accuse Me." That's easily the worst song I've heard.

"Cosmo's Factory?" Sewage.

No. 95: Green River

Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Album: Green River
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Using minimalist production techniques (a Steve Albini for the '60s [just kidding (sort of)]), John Forgerty made thinly veiled political songs sound peppy (the title track, "Bad Moon Rising" and "Wrote A Song For Everyone").
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I am not the biggest CCR fan. I have some troubles with their Springsteen-esque co-opting of working class bayou culture, being that they're from El Cerrito, California.
Best song: It's hard to deny the wonderful poppiness of the title track and "Bad Moon Rising."
Worst song: "The Night Time Is The Right Time" is an awful cover of a good Ray Charles song.
Is it awesome?: Nope.

El Cerrito is 15 miles from San Francisco. It's not 15 miles from New Orleans. It's not 15 miles from Houston (home of Buffalo Bayou). It's fifteen miles from San Francisco.

So, this bayou nonsense is just that: Nonsense.

CCR, for the most part is a whole lot of radio-friendly nonsense, but it's hard to argue with a lot of their songs. They're damned catchy and the singles from "Green River" show that. The title track has a nice little guitar riff and "Bad Moon Rising" is catchy as hell.

I have to say, the cover of "The Night Time Is the Right Time" is absolutely terrible. It's got the backing bands shouting while Fogerty acts like he's a real singer. He's not Ray Charles and that song sounds nothing like the original version.

CCR is bubblegum nonsense, in a lot of ways. They're almost the picture of "band that boomers plug even though they're not really any good." That there are three (!) CCR albums on this list is ridiculous. A greatest hits collection would suffice, thank you very much.