143. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River (August 1969)

1. Green River

2. Commotion

3. Tombstone Shadow

4. Wrote a Song for Everyone*

5. Bad Moon Rising*

6. Lodi*

7. Cross-Tie Walker

8. Sinister Purpose

9. The Night Time Is the Right Time

***1/2

A lot of great bands sell an attitude as much as the music. I think CCR fit that mould. They have a lean, stripped-back sound, there songs are short and direct, and things are as much about the vibe as anything. A good example is "Green River", which is sort of a spiritual successor to "Born on the Bayou" - another song about the good old days in the Louisiana backwoods that sells an idea of earthiness and the "real" America. Never mind that apparently it was actually about growing up in California. 

This is a better album overall than Bayou Country, although it lacks the stripped-down, fast-paced rockers that I really enjoyed from that album. The song writing is more complex both lyrically and musically. "Wrote a Song for Everyone" may be a straight rip-off of the Band's "The Weight", but its lyrics about a crumbling relationship are quite poignant. "Wrote a song for everyone, and I couldn't even talk to you" is just a great line. "Bad Moon Rising" contrasts apocalyptic lyrics with upbeat music that just makes things even creepier - should the end of the world really sound jaunty? And "Lodi" is a great song about being ground down by life on the road.

The extent to which you like the rest of this album depends on how much you like bluesy rockers. I can go either way, really. There isn't a bad song on this album, but there isn't really anything about, say, "Tombstone Shadow" to get especially excited about. Partly this is the fault of history. When Green River came out, no-one else was really doing this. But unfortunately I can't subject myself to some kind of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-style memory erasure that allows me to experience this music with fresh eyes. Plus I guess I've just never been a huge fan of blues rock, and also half the time I can't understand a word John Fogerty says. Which all makes me sound like I don't like this album, but I'm actually quite fond of it. The good songs are really damned good. It's just kind of patchy at times. There's even a quote included in the book about CCR being one of the all time great singles bands, and I think that may be true. They released a great number of amazing songs during their brief existence. So far their albums have been good, but I think you'd be better served with a greatest hits collection. Which I'll admit is kind of a backhanded compliment. Green River is a very good album, it's just not really my cup of tea. 

142. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin (June 1969)

1. Wanted Man

2. Wreck of the Ol' 97

3. I Walk the Line*

4. Darling Companion

5. Starkville City Jail

6. San Quentin*

7. San Quentin (performed a second time at the audience's request)

8. A Boy Named Sue*

9. (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley

10. Folsom Prison Blues

***1/2

I should point out that the Book notes that At San Quentin is only available these days in an expanded format. I would have preferred to listen to that, but Spotify has the original album these days and I thought I should listen to that version because, after all, that's the way everyone heard this album until the 2000 expanded edition came out.

So anyway, there's a lot to like about this album, but it can't really compare to At Folsom. Cash sounds tired for the first half of the set, and doesn't really find his voice until "Starkville City Jail". The material is all well chose, and includes career bests like "I Walk the Line" and the hilarious and timeless "A Boy Named Sue". I didn't really need to hear "San Quentin" twice, though. It's a great song, and the audience reaction is stirring, but I kind of wish they'd included "Big River" or something instead. I guess the inclusion of the second version helps to replicate the feel of the live show, and how the audience responded to it, though.

The album is very well-recorded, and has a muscular and punchy sound that really carries these songs along. Cash may be a bit weary here, but his band are in top form. The interactions with the audience are also pretty great. Cash has an understated wit and a great way with banter. It's interesting listening to the original version of the album, because the recording is punctuated with lengthy beeps as Cash cusses his way through the proceedings.

This is a very good album, and the cachet or mystique or whatever you want to call it of being recorded live at a prison certainly enlivens things. At Folsom is definitely the one to listen to, but I can see why this was a hit. And really, this album is worth it for the performances of "San Quentin" and "A Boy Named Sue" alone. I think if I listen to it again, though, it will definitely be the uncensored, expanded version.

141. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin (February 1969)

1. Christine's Tune*

2. Sin City*

3. Do Right Woman

4. Dark End of the Street

5. My Uncle

6. Wheels

7. Juanita

8. Hot Burrito #1*

9. Hot Burrito #2

10. Do You Know How It Feels?

11. Hippie Boy

****1/2

I don't know who was in charge of country selections for the Book, but they've done a damned good job. Of course I knew very little about country before beginning this project, but I've enjoyed every country selection so far, and this is arguably the best one we've had yet. No, that's probably At Folsom. This is a close second, though.

The core of the Flying Burrito Brothers was Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, both of whom had split with the Byrds for a variety of reasons (Parsons' ego and Hillman's dissatisfaction with the group's direction, as best as I can tell). The Gilded Palace of Sin sees them shedding the nigh-claustrophobic arrangements that typified the Byrds and exploring a looser, more laid-back country rock sound. I've encountered criticisms of the production and recording, but I think the slightly scruffy quality of the music is a part of what makes it work so well. From a modern perspective, this album just seems natural and obvious. Its innovations have been pretty thoroughly absorbed into popular music, and you hear echoes of it everywhere from the Eagles and Townes Van  Zandt to Gillian Welch and Yo La Tengo. Parsons' desire to create an amalgam of American music means that there are flashes of country, soul, psychedelia and R&B, but all folded into something new and organic that works perfectly, and manages to sound fresh and exciting without losing the connection to its deep roots. It's impressive to produce an album where the twangy draft-dodger song  "My Uncle" fits in perfectly with a cover of the soul classic "Do Right Woman".

All of which wouldn't matter much if the lyrics didn't match the music. But freed from the Byrds' reliance on covers, the team here show themselves to be genuinely great and versatile songwriters. Opener "Christine's Tune" is a classic "she done him wrong" song. "Sin City" is a nigh-apocalyptic song about the perils and pitfalls of LA. "My Uncle" is a funny and clever character study of a draft-dodger who musing that "Vancouver might be my kind of town". The two "Hot Burrito" tracks show both ends of a relationship, both the yearning of wanting to be with someone and the cold reality of trying to live together once the honeymoon period is over. "Hippie Boy" is a slightly tongue-in-cheek call for togetherness across the cultural divide. A lot of ground is covered, and it's all done very well.

Still, this is at its core a country rock album, and as such some people will love it, some will dismiss it as long-hair bullshit, and others will consider it redneck crap. You only have to look at the album's dismal commercial performance, not just on release but in subsequent years. This is a cult album, really. I can definitely see why it's exerted such an influence over the years, though. Other musicians would tweak this formula with greater commercial success, but this album is really something special. I've listened to it like three times today. Maybe because before that I had to suffer through two albums of over-produced, self-important crap. There have been times doing this project when I've found myself thinking "God damn it! When will punk finally happen?". I guess, in lieu of that, The Gilded Palace of Sin will do nicely.

140. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears (December 1969)

1. Variations on a Theme by Eric Satie (1st and 2nd Movements)

2. Smiling Phases

3. Sometimes in Winter*

4. More and More

5. And When I Die

6. God Bless the Child

7. Spinning Wheel*

8. You've Made Me So Very Happy*

9. Blues - Part II

10. Variations on a Theme by Eric Satie (1st Movement)

**1/2

I kept confusing Blood, Sweat & Tears with Earth, Wind & Fire. It's annoying, as I'd much rather have listened to the latter band.

The big problems with this album are ones that will plague a lot of the albums I'm going to have to listen to until at least the mid-70s. 1) This album is pretentious, and 2) BSAT seem to think that "more is more". The result? A patchwork of "high art" influences that mean that every song goes from a simple R&B number, to high-energy soul, before wandering into big band jazz, and then finally collapsing inelegantly back into R&B. None of these elements are well-integrated. I can't but quote from a Rolling Stone review at the time of release, which observed something to the effect of "the combination of all these elements is meant to trick you into thinking you're hearing something new, when really you're just hearing mediocre rock, then mediocre R&B, then OK jazz". 

The annoying thing is that BSAT are obviously highly talented musicians, and if they'd thought a bit more about how to integrate their influences this album might have been something special. Instead they wound-up with some sort of Frankenstein with pretensions to jazz-fusion. 

There is one song here I genuinely like, although even it has been jacked-up with pointless jazz nonsense. "Spinning Wheel", written by the singer, actually has a solid hook and a good rhythm, at least when David Clayton-Thomas is singing. I was surprised to find that I recognised the song. I think someone must have recorded a stripped down version at some point. I guess I also like the understated (for this album, anyway) "You Make Me So Very Happy". 

Unfortunately, those songs are islands of sanity in a sea of madness. I mean, the album is bookended with flashy rearrangements of Satie's Gymnopedies. The second to last track, "Blues - Part II", is twelve minutes long, and really I thought that the opportunity to work-out their musical ideas in a looser, non-pop format might have shown BSAT in their best light. Instead, it just sort of meanders for a while, then quotes "Sunshine of Your Love" and Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" for some reason. It's not very good.

If you're one of those people who's really into technical, flashy music, you might enjoy this. If you're looking for well-crafted songs and instrumentation that serves the lyric, you'll probably be disappointed. As the write-up in the Book observes, this album is just too big for its boots.

139. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash (May 1969)

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes

2. Marrakesh Express

3. Guinnevere

4. You Don't Have to Cry*

5. Pre-Road Downs

6. Wooden Ship

7. Lady of the Island*

8. Helplessly Hoping*

9. Long Time Gone

10. 49 Bye-Byes

***1/2

One of the things about undertaking this project is that it means I frequently have to listen to and engage with music I normally wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I am no great fan of West Coast rock, and this is the sort of album that makes Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles seem wild and dangerous by comparison. There's an almost eerie perfection to the music, and I can't fault it on a technical level, but I also can't bring myself to give a shit about it.

There's a lot to admire, if you're that way inclined. The close harmonies are faultless, even if I tend to agree with Robert Christgau that they sound like they're being performed by a trio of castrati. The playing is impeccable, even if the bass is largely buried and the group only make occasional efforts to attempt anything approaching a decent groove. The lyrics are the sort of impressionistic confessional bullshit that people seem to eat up, but which I have little patience with (and quite a few of the songs are of that mansplaining, "girl you just don't get what it takes to really live" type that set my teeth on edge). The end result is basically just pleasant make-out music for annoying bohemians, a great soundtrack to smoking a joint and sitting around talking about what really matters, man! that never once threatens to harsh your buzz.

And look, there's a place for that sort of music in the world. I'm not condemning this album, and if you look at it purely as a work of craftsmanship it can't be faulted. I just don't like this sort of music. It is, quite frankly, anaemic. But it was also quite popular, and influential, and a lot of people like this kind of stuff. The odd thing is I actually quite like mellow, expertly crafted music. I think the problem might be that this stuff just exists in a region so far outside of my worldview that I can't really understand it as it was meant to be understood.

So, anyway. A very pretty, very well-made album of post-hippie nonsense. 

138. Credence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country (January 1969)

1. Born on the Bayou*

2. Bootleg*

3. Graveyard Train

4. Good Golly Miss Molly

5. Penthouse Pauper

6. Proud Mary*

7. Keep On Chooglin'

***

As someone who grew up listening to classic rock radio, back in the good old days when stations like Gold FM still played music from before 1983, I of course have a fondness for CCR. Not enough to bother engaging with their albums much, but I enjoy their singles and have a mild respect for John Fogerty as a singer and songwriter. So it's good that this project is going to force me to listen to a bunch of their stuff. What isn't especially good is this album.

Don't get me wrong - there are some good songs here, and the approach and sound of CCR is a breath of fresh air after being pounded with self-indulgent acid rock for several albums now. The band have a simple, effective formula. Come up with a rock solid groove, and then have Fogerty growl and moan over the top of it. Mix in some nonsense about the Deep South to make it all sound mysterious and cool and swampy and "authentic" (even though the guys were from California). Throw in a Little Richard cover for good measure. It's a fun album. 

The problem is that a couple of songs on this album take the "groove and growl" formula to an extreme it can't support. "Graveyard Train" is literally just a single bass line and a plodding drum beat. It lasts eight minutes. The lyrics, about ghosts or something, are kind of cool, but the song is monotonous. And "Keep On Chooglin'" is just terrible. Even the title is annoying. It would probably go over well live, but on the album it left me cold. Throw in the Albert King-esque "Penthouse Pauper" and that's three mediocre songs on a seven song album. 

The other stuff, though, is really pretty cool. Of course everyone knows "Proud Mary". It kicks arse. The cover of "Good Golly Miss Molly" is solid, even if it doesn't really add anything to the original. The songs that really got my attention, though, are "Born on the Bayou" and "Bootleg". They're built around driving, minimalist grooves, feature a propulsive rhythm section, and are generally awesome. I guess part of why this album didn't wow me that much is just because those first two songs sound so cool and vital, and killing the momentum with the ponderous "Graveyard Train" is a mistake the album can't really come back from. 

This is a good, if minor, album, and I know that CCR would go on to bigger and better things. At this point in their career, though, they were basically just the world's best bar band. Except for "Proud Mary". That song still sounds like nothing else. 

137. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (June 1969)

1. Frownland

2. The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Banck

3. Dachau Blues*

4. Ella Guru

5. Hair Pie: Bake 1

6. Moonlight on Vermont*

7. Pachuco Cadaver*

8. Bills Corpse

9. Sweet Sweet Bulbs

10. Neon Meate Dream of a Octofish

11. China Pig

12. My Human Gets Me Blues

13. Dali's Car

14. Hair Pie: Bake 2

15. Pena

16. Well

17. When Big Joan Sets Up

18. Fallin' Ditch

19. Sugar 'n Spikes

20. Ant Man Bee

21. Orange Claw Hammer

22. Wild Life

23. She's Too Much for My Mirrror

24. Hobo Chang Ba

25. The Blimp (Mousetrareplica)

26. Steal Softly thru Snow

27. Old Fart at Play

28. Veteran's Day Poppy

****

There's a quote from John Cage - something to the effect of "Finnegan's Wake is a book I greatly admire but have never read". In a lot of ways, I feel like Trout Mask Replica is the Finnegan's Wake of albums. It's immensely important, people have been debating its merits and impact for ages, and the average person has never actually gotten through the whole thing. And truth be told, you don't really need to listen to this whole album. Pretty much every trick and innovation it has to show you is present in the first side, which also contains the two best songs. Hell, really all you need to know is that this album exists, and that it basically throws every idea about what makes for listenable guitar music out the window. The music here has been incredibly influential, and loads of bands have expanded upon Trout Mask Replica's jagged, atonal skronk to produce music of their own which is far easier to digest. But the sheer abnormality of this album is its raison d'étre, and while you could die happy never hearing "Hobo Chang Ba", this album is, I think, worth experiencing and engaging with. As opposed to Finnegan's Wake, which is really only worth reading if you're like me and want to justify possessing a degree in Literature when you've wound up working as a cleaner. 

I think this album probably worked better on vinyl. It's not really meant to be listened to all in one go, I think. It would be better to pick and choose between sides, listen to twenty minutes here and there, and just sort of dip into this music. That said, playing Trout Mask Replica through from start to finish can be an enjoyable experience. I remember when I first bought this album, over twenty years ago, I was drawn in by the allure that surrounds it. Of course I found it baffling, and after listening to the CD once put it away somewhere and promptly forgot about it. But I've come back to it now and then over the years, and listening to it through a few times for this project something really clicked. At times it sounds like senseless noodling, but after a while the various guitar lines and odd time signatures click, and Beefheart's fractured poetry takes on a kind of surreal resonance. I wouldn't sit and listen to it through on headphones, but it's great to have on around the house.

You could be forgiven, listening to this for the first time, for thinking it was all made up on the spot. But this music was tightly composed and obsessively rehearsed. In fact the conditions under which this music was created were infamously cult-like. Beefheart locked his musicians in a house, psychologically dominated them, and at one point allegedly threw a guy down a flight of stairs. The musicians rehearsed for twelve hours a day. If you play the guitar, you'll appreciate how difficult it would be to replicate this music, but apparently the Magic Band could do just that. It's a bit sad, really - I encountered a quote once from a member of the band where he observed something along the lines of "Never have people suffered so much for so little reward". And really, if I spent months living on soy beans and playing till my fingers bled and the end result was "China Pig" I'd be a bit miffed, too. But then again there are minor classics like the anti-war song "Dachau Blues", the sprawling "Moonlight on Vermont", the groovy "Pachuco Cadaver", and the surreal song-story "Old Fart at Play". These are all pretty great songs. Personally, I think this is another double album that should have been paired down to a single disk of the best material, but the sheer excess of the enterprise is sort of the point. The Magic Band mine every possible variation from the formula they're working with here, and while the results aren't always all that memorable you can't ever say you're not getting your money's worth.

Well I've gone and written a post as long, rambling and weird as the album it deals with, and I haven't even said everything I wanted to. You should definitely listen to Trout Mask Replica, though. It's bizarre, rambling, surreal and more often that not very annoying, but it's not quite like anything else you'll ever hear.