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Creedence Clearwater Revival : Reissues :: Green River & Willy And The Poor Boys

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The Creedence Clearwater Revival reissue campaign kicked off today celebrating 40 years of music.  I picked up ‘Green River’ and ‘Willy And The Poor Boys,’ two outstanding albums in the CCR discography.  The albums have been remastered and sound great.  Of special interest were the bonus tracks that were going to be included on both of these albums.

On ‘Green River’ the bonus tracks are:

1.    Broken Spoke Shuffle (2:39)
2.    Glory Be (2:47)
3.    Bad Moon Rising (Live In Berlin, Germany 9/16/71) (2:07)
4.    Green River/Susie Q (Live In Stockholm, Sweden, 9/21/71) (4:27)
5.    Lodi (Live In Hamburg, Germany, 9/17/71) (3:19)

Out of these songs, the live tracks are the most essential.  “Broken Spoke Shuffle” and “Glory Be” are two songs that John Fogerty never finished.  “Broken Spoke Shuffle” is very reminiscent of  “Cotton Fields,” they both share a similar melody.  “Glory Be” sounds like a jam session in the studio.  “Bad Moon Rising” sounds urgent live, but the sound is muddied on “Green River/Suzie Q.”  “Lodi” sounds very muffled.

On ‘Willy And The Poor Boys’ the bonus tracks are:

1.    Fortunate Son (Live in Manchester, England 9/1/71) (2:13)
2.    It Came Out Of The Sky (Live In Berlin, Germany, 9/16/71) (3:26)
3.    Down On The Corner (Jam With Booker T. @ Fantasy Studios) (2:49)

The mix on live tracks sounds better on ‘Willy And The Poor Boys,’ as “Fortunate Son” sounds better.  ‘Fortunate Son’ is performed as a 3 piece at CCR’s last live show. ‘Fortunate Son’ and ‘It Came Out Of The Sky’ sound driving, and the band sounds tight during both performances.  The jam is a pretty cool version of ‘Down On The Corner’ with Booker T. playing his signature organ. John Fogerty also gets to trade licks with Steve Cropper, one of his guitar heroes, on this track.