Continuous Hit Music – a weekly exploration of vinyl finds in 2012. Read ‘em all here
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Title: Cosmo’s Factory
Original Release: 1970
Label: Liberty
Store: Pigeon Ground, 102 Salisbury Road, Camperdown, Sydney
Price: $8
(Original AU pressing)
Pigeon Ground is a hidden treasure. It’s been there as long as I can remember. On this little road with no other shops around. This little shop that was rarely opened, that sold oldwares, second hand clothes and some records. They have a pretty big selection of secondhand stuff – focussing on soundtracks, fuck and soul. But plenty of pop rock too. They also have a new section, all imports, focussing on the beat records – be it Ramones or Gil Scott Heron. In short it’s a very cool store. I feel like a loser just walking in. I feel like I should own more film soundtracks or something.
A visit to Pigeon Ground is always an event. You’re never just ‘in the area’. It’s on the way to Newtown, so a quick stop isn’t hard. But there is no other reason to stop. You park on some odd suburban street and you make your way into the shop.
There’s always something to find at Pigeon Ground. I could walk away with half the shop. This week I decided I needed to stock up on my Creedence vinyl, having recently seen John Fogerty in concert. For $8, and in good condition, I was pretty happy to find Cosmo’s Factory.
Fogerty‘s recent Australian tour had a neat gimmick. Depending on your town, you got either Green River or Cosmo’s Factory in full. The Sydney show was Green River, which was great, because I love Green River. I hung off every note, and in order. Cosmo’s Factory though – that was a suprise for me. I’ve never really spent time with it as an album.
It’s one of the longest CCR albums. And it has lots of hits – 6 that charted here – including ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain‘, ‘Looking Out My Back Door‘, ‘Up Around the Bend‘ and more. Having spent more time with it, it’s pretty great. It’s rounded out by a number of solid rockers, a couple of cool covers and all the good things about a CCR album.
Hidden at the end of the record is one of Fogerty‘s best, and my second favourite Creedence song – ‘Long As I Can See the Light‘ (the first being ‘Wrote A Song For Everyone‘). A slow, soulful ballad that’s pitched at the very top of Fogerty‘s range, it’s a sombre end to a pretty good-time album.
This is an Australian pressing on Liberty Records. It has an excellent old ASSN Gold Record Award sticker on the bottom left. The artwork print is awful, but the record sounds pretty damn good.