CAT: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
With a sound from straight out of the Bayou, it’s California’s very own Creedence Clearwater Revival. Now 1969 was a pretty hot year for Creedence. Five top ten singles, three successful albums and not to mention a string of sucessful tours. This Southern Rock quartet was on a roll and out of all this I’d probably say my favorite Creedence album from that year (Probably my favorite Creedence album of all time) is Willy and the Poor Boys
A countrified mix of Fogerty penned rock classics and some popular blues standards (Such as Cotton Fields and The Midnight Special, both by Lead Belly) Creedence gives us what’s probably their closest effort to making a country album and it’s loads of old fashioned Blues/Rock fun. Coming in at a sharp 34 minutes, Willy and the Poor Boys is an album you can really bring in the summer with (especially round Independence Day) I mean how can you not bob your head to the jaunty tune that is Down on the Corner, or smile at the silliness that is It Came Out of the Sky. Though Creedence has always been good at dishing out upbeat sing-a-long rock songs you can’t forget the more serious, politically charged side of Creedence. I’m talking about songs like the heavy 6 minute number Effigy and of course one of the most famous anti-war songs to ever come out, the classic American rocker Fortunate Son
Though basically I consider Willy and the Poor Boys to be just good ol’ fun! It’s music you sing-a-long to, or drive down the highway to (like in Twilight Zone: The Movie) or dance to, or whatever. It holds up pretty well after all these years as Creedence’s sound is still quite contemporary (perhaps due to their genre of rock) and it never fails putting me in a good mood. Plus you got to respect the fact that they actually play the instruments they’re playing on the cover on one song, now that’s dedication.
Favorite Tracks: The Midnight Special, Down on the Corner, Cotton Fields