THE GREATEST OF ALL TUNES: Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)

Sandwiched between “Proud Mary” and “Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising” was the lead single from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s third album, and one of a long string of classic, swamp rock songs.  What makes this one better than the rest?  Well, it’s got a wicked cool riff and sinister lyrics, so it’s 100% rock and roll. That’s one thing.

And it was featured in An American Werewolf in London, the greatest werewolf movie of all time, as well as The Walking Dead, the third-greatest portrayal of zombies of all time (I still like Romero’s Night/Dawn of the Living Dead films better).  In addition to the movie Blade—one of the best pre-Marvel Studios comic book films—and The Big Chill, which is Jeff Goldblum’s best movie.  What I’m saying is, lots of talented creators also think it’s awesome.
And there’s tons of cool covers.

Further listening: Buy CCR’s greatest hits.  You won’t be disappointed.

Covers: Starting with Thea Gilmore, because her voice is amazing, and then including what I thought were a really good variety of takes on this classic tune.







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