Green River (song)
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{short description|1969 single by Creedence Clearwater Revival}}
{{About|the song by Creedence Clearwater Revival|other songs with the same title|Green River (disambiguation)#Music{{!}}Green River (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Green River
| cover = Green River label.jpeg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Creedence Clearwater Revival
| album = Green River
| B-side = Commotion
| released = {{Start date|1969|07}}{{cite AV media notes |title=Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits |title-link=Chronicle, Vol. 1 |others=Creedence Clearwater Revival |year=1991 |type=CD liner |publisher=Fantasy Records |id=FCD-CCR2-2 }}
| recorded = Between March and June 1969{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=r4759|pure_url=yes}} |title=Overview: Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=December 29, 2010}}
| studio = Wally Heider, San Francisco{{cite AV media notes |title=Green River (Expanded Reissue) |others=Creedence Clearwater Revival |year=2008 |url=http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/assets/documents01/Artists/Creedence-Clearwater-Revival/FAN-30878-02/Green-River-40th-Anniversary-Liner-Notes.pdf |type=CD liner |publisher=Concord Music Group |id=FAN-30877-02 |location=United States |access-date=December 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314071611/http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/assets/documents01/Artists/Creedence-Clearwater-Revival/FAN-30878-02/Green-River-40th-Anniversary-Liner-Notes.pdf |archive-date=March 14, 2012 |url-status=dead }}
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Swamp rock{{cite book |last1=Valdez |first1=Steve |editor1-last=Henderson |editor1-first=Lol |editor2-last=Stacey |editor2-first=Lee |title=Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-135-92946-6 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8W2AgAAQBAJ |chapter=Folk rock}}{{Cite podcast|url=https://slate.com/culture/2019/02/how-ccr-set-a-dubious-chart-record-with-five-no-2-songs-all-rock-classics.html|title= The Bad Moon on the Rise Edition|website=Hit Parade {{!}} Music History and Music Trivia|publisher=Slate|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|date=February 28, 2019|access-date=August 20, 2023}}|Southern rock{{cite web|url=https://holler.country/lists/the-best-southern-rock-songs/|title=The Best Southern Rock Songs|author=Patton, Alli|publisher=Holler|date=November 9, 2023|accessdate=March 29, 2024}}|roots rock{{cite web|url=https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-creedence-clearwater-revival-songs/|title=Top 10 Creedence Clearwater Revival Songs|author=Dean, Ollie|date=August 5, 2022|publisher=Classic Rock History|accessdate=October 19, 2024}}}}
| length = 2:36
| label = Fantasy
| writer = John Fogerty
| producer = John Fogerty
| prev_title = Bad Moon Rising
| prev_year = 1969
| next_title = Down on the Corner
| next_year = 1969
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|L5V9nK7-OkM|"Green River" (lyric video)}}}}
}}
"Green River" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was written by John Fogerty and released as a single in July 1969, one month before the album of the same name was released. "Green River" peaked at number two for one week, behind "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies, and was ranked by Billboard as the No. 31 song of 1969.
Background
The song was based on a childhood vacation spot of John Fogerty's.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Art |url=http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/john-fogerty-summons/feb-08/33391 |title=John Fogerty Summons His Creedence-Era Spirit on Revival |work=Guitar Player}} In an interview Fogerty gave to Rolling Stone in 2012, Fogerty stated:
{{quote|What really happened is that I used a setting like New Orleans, but I would actually be talking about a thing from my own life. Certainly a song like "Green River" – which you may think would fit seamlessly into the Bayou vibe, but it's actually about the Green River, as I named it – it was actually called Putah Creek by Winters, California. It wasn't called Green River, but in my mind I always sort of called it Green River. All those little anecdotes are part of my childhood, those are things that happened to me actually, I just wrote about them and the audience shifted at the time and place.Greene, Andy. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-john-fogerty-on-all-star-duets-lp-unlikely-creedence-reunion-20120504 Q&A: John Fogerty on All-Star Duets LP, Unlikely Creedence Reunion], Rolling Stone, May 4, 2012}}
Fogerty added that the "actual specific reference, 'Green River,' I got from a soda pop-syrup label... My flavor was called Green River."{{cite magazine
| first = Michael
| last = Goldberg
| year = 1993
| title = Fortunate Son: John Fogerty – The 1993 Rolling Stone Interview
| magazine = Rolling Stone
| access-date = December 29, 2010
| url = http://riverising.tripod.com/john-interviews/rollingstone2.html
}}
Although the song seems to be mostly about idyllic memories, in the last verse a character named Old Cody Junior warns the singer that he's going to find the world smoldering but can always come back to Green River.{{cite web|title=Top 10 Creedence Clearwater Revival Songs |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/creedence-clearwater-revival-songs/|access-date=June 11, 2022|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=September 9, 2012|author=Junior, Cliff M.}} The name Old Cody Junior was a reference to the fact that Buffalo Bill Cody had owned the cabin by the creek that inspired the song.
As to the music, Fogerty said that:
{{quote|"Green River" is obviously a tip of the hat to the Sun Records sound, but I can't think of any real specific song. Actually, with the loping beat of the acoustic guitar and then the bass kind of doing that rocking beat on the one and the four, I tend to think of something like "Dream Baby" by Roy Orbison. Yet "Green River" was much more rocking than that song, but the rhythm treatment fit."{{cite book|title=Up Around the Bend|author=Werner, Craig|pages=145–146|publisher=Avon Books|isbn=0-380-80153-1|year=1998}}}}
Reception
Billboard described the single as "a driving rocker in the same vein as" Creedence Clearwater Revival's previous single "Bad Moon Rising."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=February 20, 2021|date=July 26, 1969|page=64|title=Spotlight Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1969/BB-1969-07-26-I.pdf}} Cash Box described it as developing "the bayou-rock style of the CCR in a slower than 'Bad Moon Rising' track that could steal the spotlight."{{cite news|title=CashBox Record Reviews|date=July 26, 1969|page=30|access-date=December 8, 2021|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1969/CB-1969-07-26.pdf|newspaper=Cash Box}} Cash Box ranked it as the No. 19 single of 1969.{{cite news|title=Top 100 Chart Hits of 1969|newspaper=Cash Box|date=December 27, 1969|access-date=December 8, 2021|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1969/CB-1969-12-27.pdf|page=22}} Record World said it was "great."{{cite magazine|title=Single Picks of the Week|magazine=Record World|date=July 26, 1969|page=1|access-date=2023-05-05|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/69/RW-1969-07-26.pdf}} Ultimate Classic Rock critic Cliff M. Junior rated "Green River" as Creedence Clearwater Revival's 7th greatest song.
Sales and airplay
"Green River" was certified gold (500,000 units sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 13, 1990.{{Cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/|title=Gold & Platinum|website=RIAA|access-date=June 19, 2023}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Green River"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Creedence Clearwater Revival|title=Green River|award=Platinum|relyear=1969|certyear=2024|source=radioscope|access-date=April 11, 2025}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
See also
{{Portal|Rock music}}