Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968): Album Review

Photograph: Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968). L-R: Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and John Fogerty. Used for the purpose of review and criticism.

Well, Dude. Just listening to the self-titled album by one of Americas greatest band makes you sad that the Coens' Dude lost those tapes. I would say that this record is what established the swamp rock genre. It's just been October and an American election with horrifying consequences loom. The outfits on the cover in a slightly antebellum style? Scary. Let’s dive into CCR’s CCR – their first album from 1968.

Drumroll please Doug. ‘I Put a Spell on You’ – fitting, very fitting epigraph. This phrasing will establish the tone of vocal inspirations Fogerty draws upon and pays tribute to for years to come. The original Screamin Jay Hawkins’ track from 58 is a certified classic. CCR were careful to acknowledge the music that inspired them throughout the years - 'The Working Man' is a blues, rock classic that clearly picks up on Chuck Berryism. In between licks that would make B. B. king roll over, Fogerty elects his signature drawl. It could have been a CCR single, in its own right. In fact, you could say that about much of their output. From 1968’s album, only ‘IPASOY’, ‘Suzie Q’, and ‘Porterville’ became selected as singles.

Embedded Album: 'Creedence Clearwater Revival' by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Written by John Fogerty. Produced by Saul Zaentz. (Fantasy Records, 1968). Available here on Spotify. Used for the purpose of review and criticism.

Onto the 'Suzie Q'. Beginning with Doug's drums at the track’s inception, and slowly the rhythm guitar is brought in along with haunting vocals from Fogerty. His brother Tom, who was originally lead on vocals once stated that he thought his brother would go on to be considered alongside contemporary great male vocalists – Ray Charles and Van Morrison. A long track in its full-length album form – the cover of Dale Hawkins’ ‘Suzie Q’ established something that the band would continue to trailblaze throughout their discography. Long stints of coursing haunting instrumentation fill the moments without Fogerty’s voice. With a consistent backing beat from Doug combined with an eclectic range of percussion (maracas?) it makes you want to get up and dance along. Between this descending mist of a medley of instruments and the 'fog' (if you'll pardon the pun), we are left with a swamp.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s First Album. Image Credit: Fantasy Records and ‘Piano Piano!’ via Flickr (1968 & 2009). Original album artwork: Laurie Clifford. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ No modifications made to the original.

Like the rug, I hope this review somewhat ties things together. CCR's legacy is great and if I lost my tapes in a daylight robbery, I would be pissed too.

Listeners might recognise ‘Ninety-Nine and a Half’. Madlib sampled the Fever Tree 1968 cover of what was actually originally Wilson Pickett’s song, for his production of the Madvillainy track ‘America’s Most Blunted’.

‘Get Down Woman’ like CCR’s album cover, is washed in blue. Harkening to the past rockabilly styles of swing with that ever-so-quiet piano riff, the song written in 1968 could have been released 30 years earlier. Unlike ‘Get Down Woman’, ‘Porterville’ with combined with beautiful harmonies, "I don't care" lyrical refrain, and folky guitar inflections, could have been a contemporary Buffalo Springfield track. Without signature Fog-iness it could have made a good commercial pop single.

‘Gloomy’ is what people expect ‘I Put A Spell on You’ to be. Its production rattles along to Fogerty’s skeletons deep from within his own closet. Are they bones click-a-clacking, or the grating sound of hooves from one of the horses of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Regardless, ‘Gloomy’’s selection of reversed guitar like contemporary The Beatles’ ‘Only Sleeping’ and eery distortion is amazingly spooky. It should be featured on a Halloween comp, instead of ‘IPASOY’. The closure sounds like a freight train screeching to a halt.

This brings me to ‘Walk on the Water’. As the album closes, the swamp march continues to beat its drum; the glints of shimmering muddy heat are lifting into a humid sky. With more psychedelic rewound effects present, CCR look ahead to the future. The unbelievable feat no one thought possible has been achieved. As Fogerty had already started to pen their Bayou Country follow-up, he knew it was only just beginning.

Featured Image: Piano Piano! & Fantasy Records. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ No modifications made to the original.