A midnight amen with work boots on—Creedence Clearwater Revival turn “The Night Time Is the Right Time” into a closing benediction: less nightclub sizzle, more front-porch vow, steady as a heartbeat and warm as a kitchen light left on.
Let’s plant the anchors first. “The Night Time Is the Right Time” is the album closer on Green River (released August 1969), sitting side two, track five (3:09). Creedence cut it at Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, during the spring–summer sessions for the record; one session date tied to this track is June 26, 1969. The song is credited to Nappy Brown, Ozzie Cadena, and Lew Herman, produced (like the rest of the LP) by John Fogerty. The album, not this deep-cut cover, carried the chart story—Billboard 200 No. 1, later certified RIAA 3× Platinum—and CCR used it to dim the lights at the end of one of their most perfectly sequenced sides.
Of course, the tune’s roots run deeper than 1969. The title rolls out of a long blues lineage: Roosevelt Sykes recorded “Night Time Is the Right Time” in 1937; Nappy Brown revived and reshaped it as “The Right Time” in 1957; and Ray Charles stamped the definitive 1958 hit—complete with Margie Hendrix’s searing call-and-response—taking it to No. 5 on the R&B chart (and onto classic Charles LPs thereafter). Creedence aren’t trying to top that sermon; they’re reclaiming the groove for a different room.
Spin CCR’s take and you hear their house code in every bar. Doug Clifford’s snare has that dry, certain snap; Stu Cook walks the bass forward without crowding; Tom Fogerty saws the rhythm steady; John sings it straight and answers himself with short, flinty guitar phrases. No grandstanding, no horn section, no sanctuary-shaking modulations—just air around a backbeat that reassures more than it insists. Fan notes from the period even point out that the whole band stacked the backing vocals, which fits how the track feels: a four-man choir, not a studio pageant.
Placed where it is—after “Sinister Purpose,” following a side that already gave you “Bad Moon Rising” and “Lodi”—the song works like a nightcap. It’s not there to dazzle; it’s there to settle you. The cut eases the album down from action to afterglow, a sequencing choice that helps Green River play like a journey rather than a string of singles. And when the runout groove finally catches, you’ve been walked gently to the door. That’s shrewd album-craft—and part of why this LP sits so comfortably among CCR’s finest.
What changes when Creedence carry a tune so closely associated with Ray Charles? Emphasis. Charles’s classic leans into ecstatic release—gospel heat, romantic voltage; CCR’s reading trades spectacle for companionship. The lyric’s promise—night time is the right time to be with the one you love—stops being a shout and becomes a pledge. It’s adult music: less fireworks, more follow-through. For listeners who’ve logged some miles since 1969, that restraint lands sweetly. It sounds like a couple closing the day with the windows cracked and the lights low, not a crowd chasing midnight.
There’s also the small matter of tone. Creedence often baked their records with a little dusk in the batter—“Lodi,” “Wrote a Song for Everyone,” even the party of “Down on the Corner” has dust on its shoes. Their “Night Time” keeps that mood: minor shadings, no glitz, a voice that’s weary enough to feel real but clear enough to stand tall. It’s the same ethic that made the band timeless on the radio: play what the song needs, leave the rest alone.
For the archive-minded, the paper trail is tidy. Green River was cut at Wally Heider (SF) across March–June 1969; the track list locks “The Night Time Is the Right Time” into the closer slot at 3:09; the album reached No. 1 in October 1969 and later went triple-Platinum in the U.S. When people remember why that record feels so complete, they often point to how side two flows—hits, a rail-rider’s saunter (“Cross-Tie Walker”), the dark itch of “Sinister Purpose,” and this slow-bloom benediction to fade. That’s the sound of a band who knew where to set the furniture.
Listen again tonight and notice the little mercies. The drums sit a breath behind the beat; the bass nudges rather than leans; the guitars flicker and retreat; the voices arrive as company instead of chorus-line flash. The song doesn’t try to re-invent a classic; it re-grounds it in ordinary life, where promises are kept quietly and the best kind of romance is repeatable. That’s why Creedence’s version endures. It doesn’t argue with the past—it lives with it.
Key facts, neatly filed
- Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Song: “The Night Time Is the Right Time” — writers Nappy Brown / Ozzie Cadena / Lew Herman; 3:09; side two, track 5 on Green River (1969); recorded at Wally Heider Studios (SF), incl. a session on June 26, 1969.
- Album context: Green River hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200; later RIAA 3× Platinum.
- Song lineage: early blues roots (Roosevelt Sykes, 1937), reshaped by Nappy Brown, 1957, and popularized by Ray Charles (1958) featuring Margie Hendrix (R&B No. 5).
Play CCR’s cut when the day needs closing, not conquering. It won’t raise your pulse; it’ll steady it—three minutes of human warmth that remembers the difference between spectacle and soul, and chooses soul every time.