“Tombstone Shadow” is another spooky blues number in the vein of “Graveyard Train.” This time a gypsy man, “way down in san berdoo/… Said I got thirteen months of bad luck.” John’s guitar has a great tone that rings out. On the second bridge, there’s a fantastic, creepy-sounding guitar duet.
“Wrote A Song For Everyone” is a little bit country as John writes a song for those that need to be remembered: those in the welfare line, those goin’ down to war, those in jail fighting for what’s right. This is one of the many songs that show how the talented the rest of the band was as they are create music that matches whatever genre the song resembled.
“Bad Moon Rising” is about the end of the world as he knows it and the band sounds fine. Never has impending Armageddon sounded so good with John’s almost joyful delivery backed by a foot-tapping, hand-clapping beat. They might have the right idea. Shouldn’t we all be “quite prepared to die” since death is part of the price of admission in this crazy thing we call life? If you have to deal with earthquakes and lighting, hurricanes and floods, better to do it with a smile on your face and a spring in your step.
“Lodi” tells the tale of so many who “set out on the road,/ Seeking my fame and fortune,/ Looking for a pot of gold.” It’s especially poignant for the musician who, in contrast to what they hear from their friends or “the man from the magazine,” comes up short on talent or luck, seeing their one-night stand last seven months and their dreams turn to home.
“Cross-Tie Walker” has a riff similar to “Bad Moon Rising” and continues John’s fascination with trains. “Sinister Purpose” finds the Devil offering a deal to “Make you rich and wise” and the music is wonderfully evocative and menacing.
The album proper closes with the only cover “The Night Is The Right Time.” First recorded in 1937 by Roosevelt “The Honeydripper” Sykes then a year later by Big Bill Broonzy. The definitive version for me is Ray Charles’ version from 1958 where Margie Hendricks joined him. CCR do a fine job, but it doesn’t fit the mood or themes of the album.
Article comments
1 - Guy Michaud
Bad Moon Rising was about Richard Nixon's rise to power - last I heard anyway.
2 - El Bicho
Guy, there are some people who saw no difference in Nixon's rise to power and the end of the world. That's the beauty of art and metaphors.