Highly Recommended: “Creedence Clearwater Revival: The Singles Collection”
No respectable music lover’s collection is ever complete without a CCR album or compilation. If you still haven’t found the perfect gift for the friend, co-worker or family member who loves music, then consider getting (and giving) this essential boxed-set, released just last November 3 by Fantasy Records. This collection comes in two formats: a bargain two-disc CD package which includes four Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) video clips (”I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “Bootleg,” “I Put A Spell On You,” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door.”), and a limited-edition version which comes in a series of 45 rpm vinyl singles.
Although CCR was only together for less than five years, lead singer John Fogerty, his brother rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford’s time together produced a dozen Top 40 songs, starting from the 1969 release “Proud Mary” to the 1972 “Someday Never Comes, ” making CCR one of the best bands in rock and roll history, and best-selling rock bans with 26 millions sold in the US alone.
The boxed set carries all of CCR’s US singles, totaling 30 in all, including its widely popular hits “Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Down On The Corner,” “Who’ll Stop The Rain,” “Run Through The Jungle,” “Travelin’ Band,” “Up Around The Bend,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” and “Long As I Can See The Light. Avid CCR fans will also enjoy looking through a poster featuring various international single sleeves, as well as a 16-page booklet containing notes by Ben Fong-Torres, a Rolling Stone editor active during CCR’s stellar run.
The members of Creedence Clearwater Revival, interestingly, are not Southern-born and bred. They came from the little town of El Cerrito in California, but they grew up loving Southern blues and country music. John Fogerty, the band’s lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and lead guitarist even named of his first songs “Born on the Bayou.” The quartet’s original name was Tommy Fogerty & the Blue Velvets, later changing it to The Golliwogs. In 1968, the band got its first big break when it covered Dale Hawkins’ “Suzie Q,” reaching #11 on Billboard’s pop singles chart. Up to this day, Suzie Q is more popularly recognized as a CCR song rather than anybody else’s. Fong-Torres writes in the set, “radio needed acts like CCR – reliable producers of solid tunes laden with hooks.”
Constant touring and packed recording schedules eventually took their toll on the band, and in October 1972 CCR officially disbanded, never ever reuniting. In early 2003, the night before CCR was to be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, John Fogerty said, “I used to say in 1968 that I wanted to make records they would still play on the radio in ten years.” Now, more than forty years later, and even with all the covers and versions made by newer artists, CCR’s vitality as a band and Fogerty’s distinctive vocal style continues to be as relevant and fresh as it was in that golden era.
