Cdfe

After knocking out an astonishing amount of work in just three years, CCR released their final album MARDI GRAS in 1971. In retrospect, it was probably time for them to disband. Interpersonal tensions had heightened, and all three members were pulling in different directions. These problems had taken their artistic toll on John Fogerty, whose songs no longer bore quite the same carefree, easy-as-falling-off-a-log feel as they had before…

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…

The Fantasy label's 1973 follow-up to Creedence Gold – the glibly titled More Creedence Gold – is by far the superior compilation, boasting 14 tracks including bona fide rock & roll classics like "Run Through the Jungle," "Fortunate Son," "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Lodi," and "Up Around the Bend"…

Creedence Gold is a collection of Creedence Clearwater Revival's hit singles. Unfortunately, the album is a little too small to meet anybody's needs. A mere eight tracks are featured on Creedence Gold…

Opening slowly with the dark, swampy "Born on the Bayou," Bayou Country reveals an assured Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band that has found its voice between their first and second album. It's not just that "Born on the Bayou" announces that CCR has discovered its sound – it reveals the extent of John Fogerty's myth-making. With this song, he sketches out his persona; it makes him sound as if he crawled out of the backwoods of Louisiana instead of being a native San Franciscan…