Creedence Clearwater Revival released one of their most celebrated records on August 3, 1969. Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, John Fogerty, and Tom Fogerty teamed up for Green River, which wound up being their first No. 1 album in the U.S.
Green River came amid CCR’s most successful period. Their third LP overall, Green River was the second of three albums that Creedence put out in 1969. After their self-titled 1968 debut, CCR began 1969 with the release of Bayou Country.
When Green River was released, two tracks on the LP made big waves. Both the eponymous song and “Bad Moon Rising” landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, John Fogerty explained the meaning behind the title track.
“Green River is really about this place where I used to go as a kid on Putah Creek, near Winters, California. I went there with my family every year until I was 10. Lot of happy memories there,” he said. “I learned how to swim there. There was a rope hanging from the tree. Certainly dragonflies, bullfrogs.”
“There was a little cabin we would stay in owned by a descendant of Buffalo Bill Cody. That’s the reference in the song to Cody Jr.,” Fogerty continued. “The actual specific reference, ‘Green River,’ I got from a soda pop-syrup label. You used to be able to go into a soda fountain, and they had these bottles of flavored syrup. My flavor was called Green River. It was green, lime flavored, and they would empty some out over some ice and pour some of that soda water on it, and you had yourself a Green River.”
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Green River
Overall, Green River topped the Billboard 200, the first time CCR accomplished that feat. Historically, the album has held up too. Green River was certified Platinum in 1990. Then, in 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it at 95 on their Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
Months after the Green River‘s release, Creedence Clearwater Revival dropped their third record of the year, Willy and the Poor Boys. While that only peaked at No. 3 on the chart, their 1970 album, Cosmo’s Factory, got the group back up to the No. 1 spot.
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