If you actively dislike Creedence Clearwater Revival, then I can never respect anything you have to say about anything.

If biggest translates as commercial clout, I'm not sure if that's true: Led Zeppelin's out there, and--not sure of the timeline--Grand Funk are filling, or are about to fill--80,000-seat stadiums.

Grand Funk didn't fill Shea Stadium until 1971, and while Zep were touring arenas and large halls in 1970, Creedence had already done that circuit in 1969. Cosmo's was Creedence's second #1 album in the US and their fourth top 10; by that time, Zep had two top 10 albums in the US, one of which hit #1. So yeah, I'd say Creedence was definitely bigger than Grand Funk in 1970, and while Zep were getting there, they still weren't quite as big as Creedence. I'd argue that Creedence's ubiquity on AM radio (which Zep avoided) is what put them over the top in terms of popularity.

That's the video, yes...If anyone hasn't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aae_RHRptRg

I think it's in colour in the doc, no? Largely because of that clip, I'd put it in my Top 10 now. I had it 11th (on a list of 11) when we did the poll a few years back. Which reminds me--how could they leave off "Ramble Tamble" (my #1 for the poll) on that epics compilation?

well you could play side 2 first....

xxxxxxp

(xposts) I guess they did have their moment at the top of the heap then.

unfortunately, thus sang, freud, playing side 2 first would just take a glaring problem and make it even less comprehensible. you'd just be starting with a somewhat epic Suzie Q, at 8:34, and then, just as you're preparing to ramp up toward the neverending song which is life, you go back down to a mere 6 minute Pagan Baby, followed by the 5 minutes of Born on the Bayou which flies by, at that point. then you flip and finally remember what life is, which is 11 minutes of I Heard it Through the Grapevine. but before you can even find your socks, Keep on Chooglin' is over before it hits 8 minutes. it's just fucking over.

no. make a playlist and start it with the shortest songs, then build up toward life

when you have heard the longest song of your entire life and finally understood it, then you can go outside

If you’re doing a CCR epics comp and not closing with “Keep on Chooglin” you’re doing it wrong.

make it a live 12+ minute one though imo

this has probably been done before but what are the best CCR covers?

you'd think there'd be a ton of covers because most CCR songs are relatively easy to play. but it's the intensity of the band's playing and fogerty's singing that really makes the songs, so maybe not? i'm scanning for 30+ minute epic versions of keep on chooglin' by other bands and no one has even topped 10 minutes. it's like they're not even listening to the message of the song

hold up, CD bonus tracks? can somebody run those down for me?

The best Creedence covers are by the Minutemen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07x3W3F9e44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwtC3jouxjk

this has probably been done before but what are the best CCR covers?

Ike & Tina showed that the best (only?) way to successfully cover a Creedence song is to completely rearrange it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQnPz6TpGc

I was actually wondering this morning, has any movie or TV show or whatever done a slow moody cover of a CCR song? is it even possible?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJxchDzwuOE

Like some kind of Al Green cover of something maybe? Oh, forgot about that one! ^

Don't know if it actually means anything but I was struck by a comment in the doc about how driven Fogerty was after getting discharged for Creedence to make it big fast; and how fast and intensely they tore through their hits when performing live. It's also unheard of these days for a band to have such a burst of brilliance in basically a 3-year period. They were emblematic of how fast music itself was evolving at that time. And all in the relatively brief window where you could be a guy from California singing about the bayou and the south and not have too many people raise an eyebrow.

*discharged from the army; not sure what happened to that sentence.

Someone (probably not me) needs to make a Keep On Chooglin' megamix a la John Oswald's "Grayfolded", where he patchworked together multiple versions of "Dark Star" into a 2-hour Dead album even the Wire would review.

an 8-hour mega-choogle could be fun to play at a workplace, every single day. "it's one of those things that only makes sense on the third or fourth listen"

unrelated: when my sister was in Grade 1 her teacher was a well-known local guitarist who later quit teaching to run a music shop.

For the school concert he got his class of 6-year olds to sing “Lookin Out My Back Door” while he backed them on guitar & it was the cutest, funniest, greatest (and weirdest) thing i’ve ever seen. It wasnt until many years later that my sister & i realizrd they’d performed a song about dropping acid (allegedly) <3

this has probably been done before but what are the best CCR covers?

Not exactly groundbreaking, but I've always liked this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQRuTJzEMsI

I like Pavemwnt's "Lodi."

Ah the Welsh tribute group (in before correction)

Lyrics heavily changed and there are several live versions of this by different line ups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heo6DcbG3wY

What I like about their "middle" albums is that even when playing roots-based music, there was usually a psychedelic vibe underneath the surface that gave everything a very effective tension. Sometimes it would erupt when the song called for it (like the beginning of "Run Through the Jungle") but elsewhere it could give their music a menace or foreboding that was pretty unique to them. The instrumental "Side O' the Road" and "Effigy" (both of which close out Willy and the Poor Boys) come to mind.

Dunno if Hanoi Rocks' CCR cover is truly that great, but they certainly get The Man rockin' in the promo. Also they wear more eyeliner than Creedence ever did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZQjRfQ5BPw

Sleater-Kinney's "Fortunate Son" is nice n punky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgIhnVJeKck

Crowded House, of all bands, sometimes did a great "Born on the Bayou" (with the guitarist at the time singing).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUCpCOx3zBk

Where can I listen to Pavement’s cover ?

Bob Seger is full-on stadium rock in this righteous live cover of "Fortunate Son" that was a b-side in 1983.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mog7Kts3kVQ

I heart Dave Alvin's version of "Don't Look Now"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G1ETLNRXEs

xxp I don’t know about “Lodi,” but the final track of the expanded Terror Twilight reissue is a live cover of “Sinister Purpose” (looks like YouTube has some live takes, as well).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvbyGSFX3c8

Dig how at the climax all of her guitar players go up to the lip of the stage, BÖC-style.

I downloaded that Pavement cover of "Lodi" off of Napster, and haven't ever seen it anywhere else.

From an Indian battle of the bands competition Simla Beat in 1970 (which Shadoks reissued in the 2000s), this garagey version of “Sinister Purpose” by Dinosaurs is a fave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts3E2Y4VSdk

“Sinister Purpose” is such a great title in itself

I think my favorite performance in the concert is “night time is the right time” just so joyous and fun

So few ccr songs are about “Romance” so that one stands out a bit as well

“Sinister Purpose” is such a great title in itself

True, better than the original title: "Deadly Dolphin".

Let us now praise Thea Gilmore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J4mPbSBtHQ

Note, that is specifically for Josh in Chicago.

I was actually wondering this morning, has any movie or TV show or whatever done a slow moody cover of a CCR song? is it even possible?

Thea Gilmore's cover was used in I think a zombie heist movie not so long ago?

There is a Rasputina version out there but personally I think it inferior to Gilmore's.

i'm imagining the ukulele cover of lodi set to a volkswagen commercial

♪♪just about a year ago, i set out on the road ♪♪

"dad, i have to tell you something"
"what is it, honey? you can tell me anything"
"i flunked all my college classes. and you're paying for it all"
"it's ok -- i love you no matter what, and i love this vehicle"

♪♪Things got bad and things got worse I guess you will know the tune♪♪

(Army of Thieves was the movie I was thinking of, btw. Anyways it is an exquisitely sparse and tender cover; I urge you to listen to it thoughtfully. If you do not find it moving, you are made of an inert substance and I pity you.)

that crowded house cover is excruciating -- wow

kinda… inverse-meta(?) for pavement to cover “Lodi” (it’s adjacent to the city of Stockton)

If one is to chastise Creedence for not aCkchuAlLy having been born on (or anywhere near) a Louisiana bayou, what should one say about New Zealanders and Australians doing that song?

Though my punning heart really enjoys the coinage "CCRowded House."

I wonder if CCR ever covered Bo Diddley live. I don't think they did on record. That's a perfect match. "Tombstone hand and a graveyard mind/Just 22 and I don't mind dyin'"--I can hear that in Fogerty's voice. "Tombstone Shadow" could have been inspired by Dylan's "Tombstone Blues," or both could have been inspired by Diddley.

Diddley and the Poor Boys

seriously can someone give me an overview of what bonus tracks are out there, on which reissues? I need them.