“Lodi” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

"Lodi" first showed up on the flip of "Bad Moon Rising", the single that led the way for Creedence Clearwater Revival's Green River in 1969. John Fogerty wrote, arranged, sang and produced it, cutting it that March with Tom Fogerty on guitar beside him, Stu Cook on bass and Doug Clifford on drums.

It's a country-rock lament for a down-and-out musician playing the bars of Lodi, California, and too broke to scrape up the bus or train fare to get out of town. Fogerty spun it from memories of trips with his dad through the small towns of central California and dreamed up an older, country-leaning traveling man with his best years behind him, a strange character to invent at twenty-three, with "Proud Mary" a million-seller all over the radio.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.