CCD Videos

Taco versus Grilled Cheese

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

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Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Cosmo's Factory" (Fantasy, 1970) [key tracks: Lookin' Out My Backdoor, Long as I Can See the Light]
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"You can ponder perpetual motion, fix your mind on a crystal day. Always time for a good conversation, there's an ear for what you say. Come on the risin' wind, were goin' up around the bend."
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It's mid-term exam week for me, so thus the lack of posts. Sorry about that. On with the show (now with 70% less metal)!
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There has never been or never will be another band like CCR. In an industry not known for true innovation or uniqueness, CCR stands out like a sore thumb. Four years before I was even born, CCR recorded what should have been the defining record for any band. But what really happened was they merely released another CCR LP (I think they dropped like a half-dozen records in 2 years! and they were all good!), full of swampy bluesy rock and roll. 37 years later (can you dig THAT?!) it still sounds as toe tapping and fresh as ever. Just about every CCR album reads like a greatest hits for classic rock, but just look at the songs on this LP. Ramble Tamble, Travelin' Band, Up Around the Bend, Who'll Stop the Rain, I Heard it Through the Grapevine, and Long as I Can See the Light (among others). Simply amazing. As a side note, the drummer (Doug "Cosmo" Clifford) resented John Fogerty's insistence that the band practice without ceasing to be as tight as possible before recording. He was known to say that Fogerty was turning the studio into a "factory." Thus the title. And, due to the vision and drive, the album stands today as a timeless icon of rock and roll.
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CCR, along with Hank Williams and The Doors, will always mean one thing to me... my dad. My dad would make sure that these bands were played loud and often in the Smith household. Contrary to popular belief, true country folk have a lot of soul (which is proved by the fact that "Cosmo's Factory" ranked #1 on pop charts, and an impressive #11 on soul charts at the same time). Through CCR, my dad (probably inadvertently) taught me what music was about... expression of the soul. CCR taught me how to groove. So when Fogerty talks about "hoodoo" and "chooglin'" I just nod my head and feel it. Every dirty road I rode down with my dad, every hunting trip, every night on a farm, every evening spent around the fam' out at Uncle Dallas' place... all of that is the soul behind what makes CCR so great. The music is about something, about a way of life, and about a feeling. It is something lasting that will always stick with me, because it is such a deep part of who I am as Carl Smith. Thanks, pa! I wonder which bands my kid will thank me for playing loud... (scary to think about, isn't it Sandy?)
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Keep on chooglin'!
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2 comments:

Carl said...

Matt, next week is spring break. We can do some chooglin' of our own. I'll try to remember to stop by FCC or call you soon. Good luck with the new house!

troy oz. said...

cmon, you got to leave the trash on here. I can't believe anyone saying anything bad about ccr.