Cosmo's Factory, the band's fifth album, is their greatest and one of the finest rock 'n' roll albums ever. Chock full of hits: "Travelin' Band," "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Up Around the Bend," "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Long As I Can See the Light"; their astonishing 11-minute version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," the great "Ramble Tamble" and no holes, this is fundamental American art.
Their blazing run was cut short in '71 when Tom Fogerty, tired of taking a back seat to his younger brother, left the band for a notably unsuccessful solo career. For their final album together in '72, Mardi Gras, Fogerty agreed to share singing and songwriting duties with Cook and Clifford, a move that painfully revealed why Fogerty had been leading the band in the first place.
Then came a satisfying but uneven solo career that continues to this day.
Fantasy will celebrate the return of Fogerty with the November 1 release of The Long Road Home – The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection, a remarkable musical journey from Creedence through a solo career that seems more promising now than ever (including the title track of his latest, the vibrant Déjà Vu All Over Again, as well as solo favorites "Centerfield," "Almost Saturday Night," "The Old Man Down the Road" and "Rockin' All Over the World").
Also on the disc are four new tracks recorded live by Fogerty during his 2005 tour of the United States: "Hey Tonight," "Bootleg," "Keep on Chooglin'," and a blistering rendition of "Fortunate Son."
The Concord Music Group, Fantasy and Fogerty are working on several new releases, including a live DVD to be taped September 15 at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, for an early 2006 release. Other projects are in the early stages of development.
“I’m very happy to be back in touch with a part of myself," says Fogerty of the return home to Fantasy. “It’s surreal. For 35 years, I never thought I’d be reunited with the music I wrote during the Creedence Clearwater Revival years. I’m happy to say that the new Fantasy is very enthusiastic about my body of work. They are honoring my songs ... and, they are honoring me.”
Concord Music Group co-owner, legendary television and movie producer Norman Lear, is equally enthusiastic about the signing: “It’s a happy coincidence that when we bought the Fantasy catalog we were also able to sign one of the most relevant and talented singer/songwriters of our generation. We’re all enormous fans of his music.."
Article comments
1 - DJRadiohead
If Roger Waters can re-team with Pink Floyd... why not?
I am going to have to check out that retrospective. That looks strong.
2 - Eric Olsen
yes, thanks Josh - I would think there would be quite a bit of interest in this
3 - DJRadiohead
That live version of "Rockin' AllOver the World" from Premonition is really great. Fogerty is one of a very small handful of guys to have a band and solo career worth combining for a retrospective.
4 - Eric Olsen
I agree: he's unique or near-unique on several levels
5 - godoggo
"water over the bridge"!!!
Actually, you're going to have to do much better than that to dethrone me as the Typo King.
Anyways, I've mentioned before that my favorite Creedence album is K-tel "20 Super Hits" 'cause it includes stuff like "Heard it Over the Grapvine" (snicker, snicker) with the long guitar solos expunged,
6 - godoggo
Or did that have some meaning to deep for me to fathom?
7 - The Duke
Thanks for the heads up Eric.
There's lot's of stuff NOT on there too. Which I would probably opt for as well. Commotion, Molina... hey what can I say? I gotta be me.
I just updated my wish list on Amazon.
Have a good weekend!
8 - The Duke
Hello again. I just did a bit of a study and comparative analysis (based on my own bias). For my money, Chronicles I and II, do it, however you don't get the Fogerty solo componants.
A couple of websites went over the history. Mardi Gras was done under quite a bit of stress. The "other" Forgerty leaves for a unsuccessful solo career and Cliff and Stu want a more democratic CCR. The album Mardi Gras is a result and depicts the waning CCR.
Why can't folks just git along? But they were together for quite a while.
The Fantasy stranglehold on the material kept the masses without for many years. It is good to see Fogerty reinstituting the relationship, if for nothing else the easement of rights and release of material under the CCR banner.
If anything can be learned from the entire Fantasy/CCR/Fogerty episode I guess it's GET A BULLETPROOF contract when dealing with the industry.
It was ugly and who suffers? The consumer. Exactly who business wouldn't want to see suffer; right? Obviously not, in this case. I was surprised to see that Fantasy was a Concorde sub. It wasn't always the case, which would have been shocking.
Thank you Concord for stepping up to the plate and resolving past differences. Your organization is to be commended and I will always regard your product and catalog with the highest esteem. I mean it.
adios
9 - Eric Olsen
godog, perhaps convoluted but not unintentional - what has dominated the news of late?
Duke, good thoughts, and I don't think this is definitive - I think Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poorboys, Cosmo's Factory, and Pendulum are all pretty essential and worth owning, and then a solo collection would be nice to add to that.
But this is a nice overview also, heavy on the hits, but a great place to start for a newbie.
Click on the link in he second paragraph for the Concord/Fantasy story - it's a pretty big deal.
They just sent out a sampler of the new combined operation and their catalog is pretty damn astonishing
10 - Tube
How fitting since tonight's relief concert featured Foo Fighters covering "Born on the Bayou" and Garth Brooks covering "Who'll Stop the Rain?"
11 - Eric Olsen
cool Tube, thanks for the info! Too bad they didn't have John himself