It feels like a long and
disconnected week and it is only Wednesday. On the plus side I’ve had a
creative surge, getting work done on my book, working on my second original rap
song (because, why not) and even playing a little guitar on the side.
What I haven’t done is write a
music review, and that is because this next three-CD set was a mammoth
undertaking and I just finished listening to it tonight.
Disc 862 is….Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival
Artist: Creedence
Clearwater Revival
Year of Release: 2012 but featuring
music from 1968 - 1972
What’s up with the Cover? Four guys from the Land that
Fashion Forgot. From left to right the members of CCR (based on this cover
are): Farmhand, Heartthrob, Undercover Cop and Proto-Hipster.
How I Came To Know It: I’ve known CCR all my life, but I
could never figure out which album to buy. I went on an album listening binge recently
and didn’t like any of them quite enough. Enter Sheila, who bought me this
compilation for Christmas. Exactly what I needed!
How It Stacks Up: Best Of albums and compilations don’t stack up!
Ratings: Compilations also don’t receive a
rating.
It is hard to believe the amount of creative energy
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) crammed into the five years they were
together in the late sixties and early seventies, but a compilation like this
one underscores the point well. Two discs, forty songs and very little filler
(there is a third disc, but I’ll malign that later).
In the course of those five years, CCR made seven
albums (including three in 1969 alone). Today that would be unheard of or (as
is the case with Green Day’s “Uno”, “Dos” and “Tre”) ill-advised. While no
single CCR album has ever stolen my heart, there is easily enough quality content
to justify a multi-disc set.
The band is a skillful blend of gritty riffs from
the blues, bombastic rock guitar licks and the easy laid back feeling of country.
The music is both relaxed and raw. The guitar is perfectly in the pocket of the
tune, yet grimy and organic at the same time. It is the musical equivalent of Cal
Naughton Jr’s Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt: wanting to be formal, but also here to
party.
CCR is keenly aware of its mixed musical heritage,
and this compilation includes a host of their various blues and classic rock
covers. Whether playing old blues tracks like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” classic fifties
rock like Little Richard’s “Good Golly,
Miss Molly” or old-time classics like “The
Midnight Special” they skillfully navigate the space between paying homage
to the original and recreating the song in their own image. For the most part,
I preferred the CCR cover versions, with the exception of “Suzie-Q” which starts off OK, but descends into an aimless nine
minute wander.
For all that, my favourite tracks remain CCR originals.
I remember hearing these songs on a.m. radio growing up, and hearing them again
was like having an old friend stop by for a visit (where I grew up people used
to stop in unannounced. It was a thing).
These songs take all the elements of their
influences and mix them into a gumbo of southern boogie woogie that is very
hard to resist. My advice is not to bother.
The compilation starts with “Proud Mary” which is relaxed and easy. No, I didn’t find myself
wishing for the Ike and Tina Turner version. The CCR version is more homespun
and relaxed, but no less beautiful. Like the Dude from the Big Lebowski (also a
fan), CCR knows how to not get ahead of themselves. Let the song unfold, free
and easy.
The next track is the raspy, gritty “Born on the Bayou” which shows that the
same basic structure of “Proud Mary”
can be reimagined into a song that is thick with urgency and rebellion. Even “Bad Moon Risin’” was enjoyable, despite being
seriously overplayed for the past 40+ years.
On this particular listen, the songs that stuck out
for me most were “Lodi” and “Someday Never Comes.” Both songs have a
folksy quality to them, and a feel of lost opportunity, regret and
disillusionment.
John Fogerty’s pronunciation is bizarre at times,
and I’d like to think it is his strong Louisiana accent, but apparently he’s
from California. For most of my life I have thought “Wrote A Song For Everyone” was “Rush
On For Everyone.” On “Bad Moon Risin’”
he growls “don’t gawr out tonight”
which is good advice if there are werewolves about, but underscores why college
boys don’t heed the advice of the local hillbillies. It is hard to respect
being told not to ‘gawr out’. Or
maybe they just thought John was telling them “There’s a bathroom on the right.”
The third CD in this particular compilation is a
bunch of live tracks which the accompanying booklet breathlessly tells us were
mostly recorded…in Europe! How exotic! Unfortunately, the live tracks just
sound like the studio tracks, only drunk and a little sloppy. The already overlong
“Suzie Q” is extended another whole
two minutes. The final selection is a song called “Keep on Chooglin’” which is apparently how CCR describes their
rhythm but I think a better usage would be “This song almost made me choogle
all over myself.”
Even this gratuitous display of disc-shittery could
not take away from the positive experience I got listening to the previous two
discs, and the many amazing songs CCR’s legacy has left us. I wonder what they would
have accomplished if they’d stayed together another five years, but maybe we
should just be happy that they went out on top.
Best
tracks: Proud Mary, Born on the Bayou, Fortunate Son,
The Midnight Special, Run Through the Jungle, Bootleg, Pagan Baby, Down on the
Corner, Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Long As I Can See the Light, Lodi, Someday
Never Comes (yes, that’s 12 songs, but I had 40 to choose from).
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