Shit Shorts: CCR's "Fortunate Son"

Here's the premise (boy, I sure am full of premises today, must need more fiber or something)...I roll a video and drop my thoughts about the artist, the song, the video.  If you're not careful, you might learn something.

First thing I notice (other than those snazzy striped pants worn by drummer Stu Cook) is that holy smoking bass line.  One note, baby, just riding that G chord straight into the first verse.  That the note doesn't change from the intro to the verse like most standard rock songs is a bit unusual, but when you think about it, everything about this band was unusual.

On the surface, they appear to be just another earthy-looking hippie band. In fact, I'm gonna tell you a little secret.  I know that these cats are from Cali, but I've gotta say that from childhood on, whenever I see a photo or video of these guys, all I can think of is Oregon.  These guys look like they're from Oregon.  Funny thing is, I thought this decades before my first trip to Oregon.  I have no idea what that means.  

Back to the bass line...ever notice that whenever there's some celebrity jam-type thing (see above) and this song is performed, whoever the bass player is, whether they're some cat with chops coming out the yin-yang or some blues dude, when they start hammering that single solitary note. they always have as shit-eating grin on their face.  It's because the power of that one note is the very thing that made them pick up the bass in the first place.

I adore how the note doesn't change as they go into the first verse. Then, when it does change, it's right in the middle of the first line.  Weird, but it works.

By the way, is that a crazy set or what?  Nothing screams "rock & roll" like a barn loft, yo.  Is this "Hee-Haw"?  The positioning of the band members on different levels, facing different directions is really interesting.  Especially when the camera pans from the drummer's stripey pants to Clifford, Fogerty and Fogerty.  It's actually fucking genius the more I think about it.  These guys look like their just shooting the shit on the front porch.

Also, if John Fogerty isn't the best damn sreamer in all of rock & roll, I will eat my fedora. Plus, dammit all, the guy still looks much the same as he does in this video, minus the bowl cut.

I think I actually saw this on TV when it first aired.  My dad was a big CCR fan so he cranked it up and the sound vibrations made a decorative vase on top of the TV vibrate right over the side.  My dad, standing a couple feet back from the TV and watching the bands performance, caught the vase without ever taking his eyes off the screen.

No other band I'd seen on TV had ever made the vase move like that.