Released in the summer of 1968 – a year after the summer of love, but still in the thick of the Age of Aquarius - Creedence Clearwater Revival's self-titled debut album was gloriously out-of-step with the times, teeming with John Fogerty's Americana fascinations. While many of Fogerty's obsessions and CCR's signatures are in place – weird blues ("I Put a Spell on You"), Stax R&B (Wilson Pickett's "Ninety-Nine and a Half"), rockabilly ("Susie Q"), winding instrumental interplay, the swamp sound, and songs for "The Working Man" – the band was still finding their way. Out of all their records (discounting Mardi Gras), this is the one that sounds the most like its era, thanks to the wordless vocal harmonies toward the end of "Susie Q," the backward guitars on "Gloomy," and the directionless, awkward jamming that concludes "Walking on the Water."
Released in the summer of 1968 – a year after the summer of love, but still in the thick of the Age of Aquarius - Creedence Clearwater Revival's self-titled debut album was gloriously out-of-step with the times, teeming with John Fogerty's Americana fascinations. While many of Fogerty's obsessions and CCR's signatures are in place – weird blues ("I Put a Spell on You"), Stax R&B (Wilson Pickett's "Ninety-Nine and a Half"), rockabilly ("Susie Q"), winding instrumental interplay, the swamp sound, and songs for "The Working Man" – the band was still finding their way.
John Fogerty will release 50 Year Trip: Live at Red Rocks as an album on Nov. 8, followed by an exclusive screening of this concert in movie theaters on Nov. 11. Fogerty describes the evening as a family affair. "I've played Red Rocks a number of times over the years and it's always magical," he said in a news release. "But this time, to play with both of my sons on this amazing stage, will certainly go down as one of the major highlights of my life." Recorded June 20, 2019, in Morrison, Colo., 50 Year Trip: Live at Red Rocks includes 17 solo and Creedence Clearwater Revival classics – along with a pair of key covers: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Susie Q," the latter of which became the only CCR Top 40 hit not written by Fogerty.