ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and La Santa Cecilia’s La Marisoul take a psychedelic trip to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Green River” on a new bilingual cover version of the late ’60s classic.
“The words behind the classic song ‘Green River’ still tell the tale which stands tall and runs deep from down around San Antone up all the way to San Jose,” Gibbons told Billboard via email.
Nevermind that Gibbons starts the song with a gringo grammar error (agua frío instead of agua fría); it’s a go-go, good-time track with percussion lending a Latino rock vibe. La Marisoul, the big-voiced immigrant-rights advocate from the Grammy-winning L.A.-based band, here channels Janis Joplin. She and Gibbons are a fiery pair.
“Green River” will be included on Quiero Creedence, a Latin tribute to the Bay Area hitmakers, set for release July 29 through Concord Picante.
The new single follows Juan Gabriel’s version of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and Los Lonely Boys’ cover of “Born on the Bayou.”
The release of this version of “Green River” is smartly timed. The original “Green River” is included in the upcoming Mafia III video game, and the recent release of the track list for the late-Sixties-era soundtrack has already resulted in attention for the vintage song from gamers on YouTube. CCR’s catalogue, recorded on Fantasy Records, was acquired by Concord in 2004.
