Creedence Clearwater Revival
This was the debut album by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It established their highly original sound, which was a lot different than any of the other bands that came out of the San Francisco scene (like CCR did). While they did have their sound down, John Fogerty's songwriting wasn't quite as good as it would later be. It's notable that the two chart singles from the album, "Suzie Q" and "I Put a Spell On You" are covers of songs from the '50s (by two guys named Hawkins who were of no relation to each other). The other cover song on the album was the more recent "Ninety-Nine and a Half" by Wilson Pickett. John Fogerty's original songs are good, but he got ever better as he went along. The best original song on the album, in my opinion, is "Walk on the Water", which Tom Fogerty co-wrote with John. This song actually dates from the pre-Creedence days, when the band was known as the Golliwogs. This is a very good album by CCR, but the best was yet to come.
An interesting aspect of this album is that it shows the development of the band. Three tracks (Spell, Susie Q and 99 ½) are covers, exciting live act staples and honed to the max. Two are self penned blues, Working Man ("don't take me on a Friday Lord, that's when I get paid..." ) bearing resemblance to the slower Penthouse Pauper from Bayou Country, and Get Down Woman, a straight slow blues sung and played well. The final three album tracks which include the first single Porterville, are a hangover from their days as The Golliwogs pop rock unit, similar in parts to The Yardbirds, Electric Prunes and Nuggets' series garage bands. The songs are replete with background vocals, harmonies and psychedelic guitar breaks, but the lyrics portend some dark destiny, later realised more fully in Bad Moon Rising, Run Through the Jungle and Fogerty's solo Old Man down The Road.
An interesting aspect of this album is that it shows the development of the band. Three tracks (Spell, Susie Q and 99 ½) are covers, exciting live act staples and honed to the max. Two are self penned blues, Working Man ("don't take me on a Friday Lord, that's when I get paid..." ) bearing resemblance to the slower Penthouse Pauper from Bayou Country, and Get Down Woman, a straight slow blues sung and played well. The final three album tracks which include the first single Porterville, are a hangover from their days as The Golliwogs pop rock unit, similar in parts to The Yardbirds, Electric Prunes and Nuggets' series garage bands. The songs are replete with background vocals, harmonies and psychedelic guitar breaks, but the lyrics portend some dark destiny, later realised more fully in Bad Moon Rising, Run Through the Jungle and Fogerty's solo Old Man down The Road.
No comments:
Post a Comment