CD Review: John Fogerty Takes The Long Road Home

Josh Hathaway November 9, 2005 8 Comments 172 Views

Hell froze over.

The Eagles got back together (if you can call it that). Roger Waters performed with Pink Floyd. John Fogerty is recording for Fantasy Records again. Now I have seen everything.

The story of Creedence Clearwater Revival should be familiar to just about any fan of music. CCR had a string of hit singles in the late 60s and early 70s. The band disintegrated because of the egos of the band members and troubles between the band and the label. Not much need be said about the quality of the CCR canon. That legacy has been assured. Fogerty’s solo work has not had the commercial success of CCR but The Long Road Home proves that Fogerty’s best solo material can compare quite favorably with his more famous earlier work.

The Long Road Home brings together 25 songs from John Fogerty’s career. 15 of the 25 tracks are Creedence songs (“Fortunate Son” is here in its original form as well as a live version from Fogerty’s recent solo performances). The remaining 10 songs come from Fogerty’s solo albums.

The track selection is nearly flawless. A single-disc CCR retrospective would probably be no more than 14 songs. Hardcore fans might decry the absence of one track or another. Casual fans of CCR/Fogerty will not probably not notice. Fogerty’s solo career has had its share of interesting moments but his legacy will always be most tied to Creedence. CCR fans who have not followed Fogerty’s solo career will be delighted and maybe a bit surprised to hear that he still has the touch as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

What makes less sense is the track sequencing. CCR songs are interspersed with Fogerty’s solo cuts. The non-chronological listening experience is far from bad as Fogerty’s voice (both vocally and lyrically) provides a common thread from one track to the next. However, this is nearly 40 years worth of music. Allowing for a beginning, middle and end point would have made this a more satisfying listen. Fortunately, those of us with iPods can have it both ways.

Full Track Listing
1. Born On The Bayou
2. Bad Moon Rising
3. Centerfield
4. Who’ll Stop The Rain
5. Rambunctious Boy
6. Fortunate Son
7. Lookin’ Out My Back Door
8. Up Around The Bend
9. Almost Saturday Night (live)
10. Down On The Corner
11. Bootleg (live)
12. Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
13. Sweet Hitch-Hiker
14. Hey Tonight (live)
15. The Old Man Down The Road
16. Rockin’ All Over The World (live)
17. Lodi
18. Keep On Chooglin’ (live)
19. Green River
20. Déjà Vu (All Over Again)