By the time I was five, I’d made one of my first important decisions. I’d weighed my options and figured out that Creedence Clearwater Revival was the best band on earth. (Such choices are fickle things at five, of course—in only a couple of years, I’d forsake CCR for the Beatles, kicking off a persistent case of Anglophilia.)
But while John Fogerty and crew ruled my aesthetic universe, things were rolling. A teenage drummer friend even came over sometimes to regale the family with his CCR play-along skills, and the eight-track player delivered, with its satisfying mechanical clunk, the goods: the sliding, stomping pleasures of “Down On the Corner” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” the smooth chill of “Lodi” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” I’m not ashamed to say that one of those eight-tracks resided in my car stereo until the early ’90s.
Even now, it’s clear that CCR was onto something. Its sound was unique because of John Fogerty’s not particularly pretty growl, and instrumentally, it offered something if not unique, at least exceptional. The band’s hypnotic rhythm tropes, often hailing from the bluesier ends of the flowchart, combined with a style of guitar accompaniment quite different from that of most blues-fueled rock bands. In place of single-note guitar parts or power chord punctuation, CCR employed smooth, wide-open strumming more commonly heard in the folk-inspired pop of performers like The Mamas and The Papas or Simon and Garfunkel.
That combo proved plenty effective, lending CCR’s tunes an expansive feel, allowing for extended solos that don’t feel overly long, or igniting grooves that leave you wanting more after a mere three minutes.
That kind of expansive feel ought to also allow local bands to craft particularly interesting versions of Creedence tunes, which ought to hold up to many an interpretive style. In what’s become an annual tradition, the Iron Horse hosts a long list of locals this week, all of whom will pay tribute to CCR.
Iron Horse senior talent buyer John Sanders chose CCR for this year’s event, from which 100 percent of proceeds will go the the Valley’s Red Cross chapter. He says he’s particularly excited about some newcomers to the lineup. “This year’s newcomers include a Boston-based alt-country band called Girls Guns & Glory, who have played Northampton a bunch over the last few years, and local super group the Salvation Alley String Band are also making their first appearance on an Iron Horse tribute show,” he says. “Treefort are also doing the show for the first time this year, and I’m very excited to hear Paul [Hansbury]’s take on ‘I Put A Spell On You.'”
Sanders adds that, unlike with most tribute shows, the bands will play a CCR tune, then one of their own compositions. “It seems to follow,” he says, “that if a local band is doing a great cover of a superstar you really love, maybe you’d really like the band’s original material as well.”
He says the charity angle was a major factor in making the event annual: “After last year’s arson fires, which happened about 10 days prior to the show, a few of the artists playing the gig thought it would be a good idea to donate their share of the ticket sales to help those who had been affected. Once this was proposed to everyone, all the artists and the club decided to donate 100 percent of the ticket sales to the Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. We ended up raising over $2,500.”
Rollin’ On The River: A Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival with The Lonesome Brothers, Rocky Roberts and Friends, Rusty Belle, Fancy Trash, Girls, Guns & Glory, National Carpet, the Grownup Noise, Salvation Alley String Band, Erik Alan (of Amity Front), School For The Dead, The Fawns, Goldwater, Philip Price of Winterpills with members of the Claudia Malibu, and Treefort. Jan. 9, 7 p.m., $10/advance, $13/door, Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686, www.iheg.com.
