Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Singles Collection
by Dan MacIntosh
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It's easy to take a band like Creedence Clearwater Revival for granted. The group's songs are everywhere, and they have seemingly always been around. This two CD/one DVD collection contains every song you fondly remember from the band's career, and a few you may have forgotten.
Some of this music is just plain fun and fueled by vocalist John Fogerty's boyish enthusiasm. It's hard not to feel good while listening to "Travelin' Band" and "Tonight". And it's a little like backwards time travel once again inhabiting "Down on the Corner" and "Proud Mary". But Fogerty is at his best when making social commentary, and there are plenty of lyrics that paint the perfect picture of '60s/'70s social upheaval filling out this singles package's tracks.
Fogerty gets straight to the point with "Fortunate Son", a song that speaks for all the regular folks who didn't have a handy excuse to get out of serving in the Vietnam War. Yet "Who'll stop the Rain" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" are as relevant today as the day they were written because their words could apply to a multitude of social evils � even now.
CCR has never been labeled a jam band, but that doesn't mean it didn't know how to jam. Just listen to "Suzie Q. (Pt. 1)", "Suzie Q. (pt. 2)" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine", if you want to catch the act at their extended-play best. And while "I Heard It through the Grapevine" was a Motown, Marvin Gaye smash, the lesser known "Call It Pretending" finds the group laying down a picture-perfect Motown groove. Perhaps, just to prove they could do it.
As good as all these originals are there are also other fine covers besides "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The group gets positively spooky with "I Put a Spell on You", and gives Little Richard a run for his money on "Good Golly, Miss Molly". To CCR, these were not oldies, just darn goodies.
It's tough to say anything about CCR that hasn't already been said before. But these 30 tracks, all in one set, reveal what an amazingly creative and productive outfit this band truly was at their apex. Although there are rhythm and blues influences, country inspirations, and old time rock & roll touches, the group never sounds like just one thing. Instead, they melt all these flavors into a dish that can only be called CCR soup. And at two discs (and a DVD) long, oh what a fine meal it is!
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