Music Library: Crazy Elephant, CCR, Crooked Fingers, CSN&Y, CSS, Cul de Sac, Cult, Culture

Crazy Elephant - "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'." Another bubblegum acquisition, this one rocks way more than most in the genre.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo's Factory, and Pendulum. Hey, is that freedom rock? Here's a cool factoid: the first CCR record, which is the weakest of these, came out in July 1968. Then you have Bayou Country in January 69, Green River in August 69, Willy and the Poor Boys in November 69, Cosmo's Factory in July 70, and Pendulum in December 70. That's five five-star albums in 24 months. Is there anyone else in rock music who's ever come close to that record? It's almost absurd. I became a CCR fan because of the Minutemen. I mean, I'd heard them before (and who hasn't?), but I started taking them seriously when I was a teenager because the Minutemen did. I'm glad I did, because there's something so beautiful in their simplicity and direct approach, and John Fogerty's songs are always at least five times smarter than they sound.

Crooked Fingers - "When U Were Mine." Lovely cover of the Prince song by a former Archer of Loaf.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - So Far. I'm not crazy about the C, S, or N, but the Y is one of my favorites, and this collection has a couple of the best songs he donated to his pals. I guess they do sing really purty.

CSS - Cansei de Ser Sexy. This Brazilian electropop band is unexpectedly quite a lot of fun. Made my day better.

Cul de Sac - Ecim and Abhayamudra (with Damo Suzuki). Experimental music band somewhere between the John Fahey/Robbie Basho acoustic guitar freakout stuff and Can-style krautrock. They're awesome. The Abhayamudra album with Damo Suzuki sounds quite natural, as if they had been playing together for years instead of meeting moments before their first gig together.

The Cult - Love and Electric. From the "music I used to love when I was 16" file. It's not terrible now, but it doesn't do much for me, either.

Culture - Two Sevens Clash. One of the best roots reggae albums, second only to the Congos.