Rarely in rock and roll history has there been so close a relationship between creative achievement and the audience response as with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969 and 1970, the years when they were without question the most successful and exhilirationg band in America. Making music against the grain of the post-San Francisco pop music of the Sixties, Creedence struck a true chords with records that were clean, demanding, vivid, and fast-with what might be called straightfoward lyricism. Single by single, they said their piece and got out. Because of the total absence of gimmicks, posing, and prettyfying, their records stand up today for better than almost anything else at the time. The tracks are deceptive: beautifully, lovingly made, they sound about as contrived as the weather.
- GREIL MARCUS