The archetypical American bar band, in my own crazed imagination I've always seen Creedence Clearwater Revival as a Hanna Barbera version of The Band. John Fogerty's songs are no less a faithful, rootsy de/reconstruction of American mores past and present than Robbie Robertson's, but rather than the sepia toned, copper plate photography of the latter, Fogerty's are brittle splurges of full colour music to chug-a-lug your beer to rather than soundtracking drowning your sorrows in it.That's not to paint Fogerty as court jester to Robertson's wise elder - such simplicity is wide of the mark and 'Bad Moon Rising's forewarning of apocalyptic devastation being a case in point. "Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die" rasps Fogerty over an electric skiffle metal shuffle that's a short, sharp poke in the chest tailor made for the jukebox. Like most of Fogerty's songs, 'Bad Moon Rising' does nothing fancy, but it does it with great economy of expression. And if the world is going to end, then you may as well sing along as it all goes up in flames, preferably with a glass in your hand.
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