John Fogerty – The Long Road Home

Artist: John Fogerty

Title: The Long Road Home

Label: Fantasy

Rating: 8/10

FILE UNDER: The classics from Fogerty and CCR.

CORPORATE LINE: This comprehensive retrospective features, for the first time ever, all of the songwriter’s most poignant and enduring hits. Included are seminal tracks from the Creedence catalog, along with the crème de la crème of his solo work, including “Centerfield,” “Déjà Vu (All Over Again),” and “Hot Rod Heart” from the GRAMMY(R) Award-winning CD Blue Moon Swamp. 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 MUSIC: The holidays are great for many reasons. Music fans rejoice because of the plethora of greatest hits and other cool releases. When The Long Road Home arrived at our office it was every man and woman for themselves. Each of us wanted to take Fogerty home. The main reason was the Creedence Clearwater Revival hits.

Tracks like “Born On The Bayou” and “Who’ll Stop The Rain” are great—but songs like “Bad Moon Rising” are absolute classics. CCR was important because they had fantastic hooks while introducing many kids to a different style of music. “Bad Moon Rising” introduced me to CCR. It was “Fortunate Son” that made me fall in love. No matter what genre you are a fan of once you listen to “Fortunate Son” it’s impossible not to be hooked.

Is there any tune as infectious as “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” or “Down on the Corner”? And the intro guitar work on “Keep On Chooglin’” is phenomenal. So many great songs mixed in with a few of Fogerty’s solo hits gives a great blend of music.

FRANKLY: “Centerfield” doesn’t do it for me because it sounds dated. Many of the newer Fogerty songs don’t hold up nearly as well as the CCR hits. The exception is “Déjà vu(All Over Again)”. The Fogerty singles eventually get skipped for the better CCR tracks. Fogerty certainly wants to bring those CCR diehards into the fold and then offer up the solo songs; so either you are in or out. I’m out. Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicles Collection is a much better purchase if CCR alone tickles your fancy.

+ Rae Gun