Creedence Clearwater Revival — singer and lead guitarist John Fogerty, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford — were the antithesis of most late Sixties rock, mostly eschewing long jams in favor of tight, catchy songs indebted to rockabilly and New Orleans R&B, but led by the Fogerty brothers’ stinging guitar. Creedence released three studio albums in 1969; this was the second, recorded in spring and early summer and in stores in August. It contains the band’s best-known song, “Bad Moon Rising,” but the morose “Lodi,” an existential horror story about a broken-down musician stuck in a nothing town, is the album’s dark heart.

– Phil Freeman