Creedence Clearwater Revival

[Analogman]

Creedence Clearwater Revival To Be Remastered and Reissued

 

by Paul Cashmere - July 30 2008

photo by Ros O'Gorman

 

The end of the feud between John Fogerty and the old Creedence label Fantasy Records is long over and the next item on the agenda is to reissue all of the old Creedence Clearwater Revival albums.

 

The first 6 albums by the band are about to be reissued with bonus material to mark the 40th anniversary of the band.

 

Creedence released the self-titled debut through to the 6th album Pendulum over a three-year period from 1968-1970.

 

Every album from the catalogue features songs now considered rock classics.

 

The albums will be released through the Concord Music Group, the current owner of Fantasy, in September.

 

Info from Concord about each release is as follows:

 

A quick look at the individual reissues:

 

 

[froggie]

didnt Fogerty say he tried to kill the band on purpose with Mardi Gras after stu and doug complained that they dont enough input on the albums? maybe thats why its not coming out

 

the bonus tracks look good, but isnt this the 3rd time that the CCR albums have been remastered?

[Analogman]

I've never bought them on cd - so I am glad I waited. That album is pretty much a stinker - but what that hell - it has one of my favorite album covers of all time.

[froggie]

I've never bought them on cd - so I am glad I waited. That album is pretty much a stinker - but what that hell - it has one of my favorite album covers of all time.

 

 

mary lou? thats a good one

[Analogman]

mary lou? thats a good one

 

 

Side one

 

1. "Lookin' for a Reason" (John Fogerty)

[LouisvilleGreg]

That run they were on those seminal six albums in three years is unparelled in rock hitory and it could never happen in a million years today. I would put them second to the Beatles during those years, even ahead of the Stones. I too rank them as the most important American band ever.

[Analogman]

Release dates:

 

July 5, 1968

January 5, 1969

August 3, 1969

November 2, 1969

July 25, 1970

December 7, 1970

 

The cds I have are from the overly expensive boxset release from a few years ago. Someone copied them for me. I hope to hell this new release will be from the master tapes - in HDCD.

[Analogman]

I think I am going to buy all of these this week.

[CortezTheKiller]

I think I am going to buy all of these this week.

The 40th anny releases?

[Analogman]

The 40th anny releases?

 

The new ones, yes. Amazon has them for a good price.

[Winston Legthigh]

Definitely my favorite American band.

 

Their 3-years of productivity can only be matched by the Beatles.

[Analogman]

I got these yesterday. I have not yet listened to them - so I don't know about the sound. The liner notes are mainly various rock critics/writers talking about how they did not fit in with the SF scene, the genius of John Forgerty, etc. There are bonus tracks on each disc, mainly live tracks from the European tour that was recorded for the Live in Europe album.

[CortezTheKiller]

I got these yesterday. I have not yet listened to them - so I don't know about the sound. The liner notes are mainly various rock critics/writers talking about how they did not fit in with the SF scene, the genius of John Forgerty, etc. There are bonus tracks on each disc, mainly live tracks from the European tour that was recorded for the Live in Europe album.

Got them on eMusic as well if you're just looking to cherry pick the bonus material.

[Analogman]

I noticed the audio from the documentary is listed as "best source available" - someone must have lost the master tape, or it is 2 inch video, which is very hard to work with. I have that documentary - found it on a BT site a while back. I have also seen those KSAN tapes out there to be had.

 

It's CCR in an extremely rare US TV special aired January 31, 1970 entitled "In Concert." CCR on stage, in rehearsals, with Booker T & The Mg's, in the limos, on the radio and with the fans

.

 

Also - you get lots of nifty photographs. I would like to have the back of Cosmo's Factory as a poster. Actually, Mardi Gras, which did not get re-released like the others, is one of my favorite album covers.

 

Crazy Otto - Now I know what the name of the instrumental I have is called - instead of "Blues Jam".

 

Ok - these sound pretty good - maybe a little bright. I should have kept the cdr copies I had to compare.

Edited October 22, 2008 by Analogman

[jff]

Really? You think Kenny Arnoff is crap? I don't like him (something about him annoys the shit out of me), but I think he's a solid drummer.

 

He's definitely a solid drummer...perhaps so solid that he's dull. There aren't many similarities between Clifford and Aronoff's sound and style, so he's sort of an odd choice to be Fogerty's drummer. But I guess he's one of the main go-to guys in the session and concert business. It's too bad Fogerty didn't get Jim Keltner instead.

 

I used to have Aronoff's instructional video from the '80s. In one segment he played some cheesy but highly technical fusion with a guitarist and keyboardist. Despite his reputation for being very meat and potatoes and rarely playing fills or solos, he went OFF on that video. His technical playing skills are up there with just about anyone.

 

Here's his discography:

http://www.kennyaronoff.com/discography/

[froggie]

i love the blue ridge rangers album!

[mountain bed]

I used to have Aronoff's instructional video from the '80s. In one segment he played some cheesy but highly technical fusion with a guitarist and keyboardist. Despite his reputation for being very meat and potatoes and rarely playing fills or solos, he went OFF on that video. His technical playing skills are up there with just about anyone.

I'm glad you mentioned this. The man is the consummate professional. He even did a small stint with a reconstituted Jefferson Airplane (not "Starship" ) at one point in the late '80s/early '90s.

[jff]

I'm glad you mentioned this. The man is the consummate professional. He even did a small stint with a reconstituted Jefferson Airplane (not "Starship" ) at one point in the late '80s/early '90s.

 

Yeah, I remember they were supposed to come to Atlanta, but they cancelled. I probably would have gone to see that. Is the Airplane reunion album any good?

[Analogman]

I have not listened to it in quite a while - I suppose it will be interesting to see what the new one sounds like. I am curious to see the DVD - just to see him talking about Cosmos Factory.

 

John Fogerty

December 10, 2008 12:01 AM ET

Gary Graff, Detroit

 

A pair of returns will mark a creative outburst from John Fogerty in 2009.

 

The former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman is finishing work on "John Fogerty: The Return of the Blue Ridge Rangers," a sequel of sorts to his 1973 solo set of vintage country and roots covers, "Blue Ridge Rangers." He'll also be putting out "John Fogerty -- Comin' Down the Road," a DVD chronicling his first concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, which took place earlier this year, as well as a documentary about his life and career. Release dates for both are still pending.

 

Fogerty tells Billboard that he's long hoped to return to the Blue Ridge Rangers concept, but not as the one-man band he was on the original. "I've known for years that if I ever did a Blue Ridge Rangers album again I sure didn't want to play all the instruments," Fogerty explains. "I had long felt that was probably something that was wrong with the first album."

 

Fogerty recorded "The Return of the Blue Ridge Rangers" during a 10-day session at Village Recorders in Santa Monica, Calif., with T-Bone Burnett and Lenny Waronker co-producing. Among the players were Buddy Miller, Greg Leisz, Dennis Crouch, Jay Bellerose and Kenny Aronoff. Fifteen songs were recorded from a list of about 40 that Fogerty, Burnett and Waronker assembled, and while Fogerty is keeping mum on specific titles, he acknowledges that there would be at least one Merle Haggard tune on the album.

 

"My pre-requisite was that I didn't want to get into the realm of trying to be really hip and obscure," Fogerty says. "I've seen people get really out there, and it's stuff nobody's heard of or maybe it's stuff nobody wants to hear of. For me it just had to be a good song, a great song, 'cause great songs will carry you a long way."

 

Fogerty does some more looking back on the "Comin' Down the Road" DVD. In addition to the concert -- a 12-camera HD affair which traverses his CCR and solo career and features guest appearances by his teenage songs Shane and Tyler -- the documentary features extensive interviews with Fogerty as well as visits to El Cerrito, Calif., where he grew up, CCR's Cosmos Factory rehearsal hall/studio and Fantasy Records' headquarters in Berkeley.

 

Fogerty freely discusses painful past issues such as his legal drama after CCR's break-up and subsequent writer's block, but he says those topics are "kind of academic to me now. It's not a real red-hot emotional button anymore. I'm not still trying to work it out, you know?"

 

The two solo projects come on the heels of Fantasy's reissues of the CCR catalog, six titles with extensive bonus tracks from the vaults. Fogerty calls them "pretty cool" but acknowledges mixed feelings about the extra material.

 

"The bonus tracks were some stuff I really never wanted to have released," he explains. "But their job as a record company is to try and renew interest in things that have been around awhile, and that's tricky. As long as everybody understands it's more historic than it is artistic, that's OK. That's the way I have to think about it."

[Analogman]

Billboard.com Link

 

John Fogerty Revisits Blue Ridge Rangers

John Fogerty

May 21, 2009 08:47 AM ET

Gary Graff, Detroit

 

John Fogerty says that he can "take a deep breath and kind of go, 'OK, we're done' " now that he's finished his next album, "John Fogerty: The Return of the Blue Ridge Rangers," a sequel to his 1973 solo album. He just won't tell us what's on it yet -- or when it will be released.

 

"We don't know when it's coming out," Fogerty tells Billboard.com. "We're in talks. Stuff can change. I'm just glad that it's done. I stuck with it quite awhile there, to get it right. I wasn't going to let it go until it was what I wanted it to be."

 

A collection of vintage country and American roots music covers like its predecessors -- along with a new version of one of his own songs -- Fogerty recorded and produced "The Return..." with help from T-Bone Burnett and Lenny Waronker at Village Recorders in Santa Monica, Calif. Rather than the one-man-band affair of the original "Blue Ridge Rangers" album, the new set features players such as Buddy Miller, Greg Leisz, Dennis Crouch, Jay Bellerose and Kenny Aronoff.

 

"Those guys are just fantastic players," Fogerty reports. "They really captured or understood what the Blue Ridge Rangers vibe is. It's a really cool record."

 

Fogerty -- who's touring Canada, with a quick dip into the U.S. for a May 29 show in Rochester Hills, Mich. -- says he'd like to put the Blue Ridge Rangers on the road once the album is out. "Lord knows we played it great live in the studio -- it's probably more live than many rock 'n' roll records," he says. "I think it really needs to be presented that way to an audience. We'll have to wait and see how everything shapes up."

 

Fogerty and company, meanwhile, are still putting the finishing touches on a new DVD, "John Fogerty -- Comin' Down the Road," which was filmed last year at London's Royal Albert Hall and will also include a documentary about his life and career. It's release date is undetermined.

 

Fogerty's Creedence Clearwater Revival tenure will be represented this year, too, with first-time sanctioned contributions to an upgraded and expanded version of the "Woodstock" documentary that's due out June 9 as well as a six-CD Woodstock box set that's being released Aug. 18.

 

"I gave my blessings after all this time," Fogerty explains. "We weren't in the movie on purpose; nobody really understood what the movie would be; the track they wanted to use was 'Bad Moon Rising,' and I just didn't feel like it was our best work. But now it's OK. Historically it is what it is. It doesn't matter if it's well done or not well done. It's just history."

[froggie]

cool!!

[Analogman]

I wonder if he is still doing business with Fantasy Records. I recall reading a few years ago that he was working on a record of 50s songs, but it never came out. I think I am going to buy the Woodstock dvd when it comes out. There is also going to be a 6 cd boxset. I recall hearing the CCR Woodstock tracks somewhere before. As I recall, the sound was not so great.

[quarter23cd]

upgraded and expanded version of the "Woodstock" documentary that's due out June 9 as well as a six-CD Woodstock box set that's being released Aug. 18

This sounds cool. Interestingly, I have somehow managed to never see the Woodstock film. May have to finally get the DVD when the new one version is released. The 6-CD set sounds interesting, but I dunno that I'll shell out for that.

[Analogman]

There's a thread about it (search for Woodstock) if you want to read it. There are some funny bits going on, such as re-recording some guitar parts, but I am going to get it anyway.

[Analogman]

From Billboard.com:

 

John Fogerty Enlists Springsteen, Eagles For New Blue Ridge Rangers

John Fogerty

 

July 20, 2009 03:00 PM ET

David J. Prince, N.Y.

 

John Fogerty's "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again," a new collection of Fogerty recordings of some of his favorite classic songs, is set for release Sept. 1 on Fortune Son/Verve Forecast. The album, recorded under the guise of the mythical group of his 1972 solo debut, includes guest spots from Bruce Springsteen and members of the Eagles, and features covers of songs by John Prine, Buck Owens and John Denver, among others, as well as Fogerty's own "Change in the Weather."

 

As previously reported, Fogerty recorded and produced "...Rides Again" himself with help from Lenny Waronker at Village Recorders in Santa Monica, Calif. Rather than the one-man-band affair of the original "Blue Ridge Rangers" album, the new set features an all-star cast of players including Kenny Aronoff, Buddy Miller, Greg Leisz, Hunter Perrin, Jason Mowery, Chris Chaney, Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch, Jodie Kennedy, Herb Pedersen and Oren Waters.

 

"Those guys are just fantastic players," Fogerty told Billboard. "They really captured or understood what the Blue Ridge Rangers vibe is. It's a really cool record."

 

Other guests on the album include the Eagles' Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit, who help harmonize on Rick Nelson's "Garden Party," and Bruce Springsteen, who duets with Fogerty on the Everly Brothers' classic "When Will I Be Loved."

 

Fogerty hopes to put the Blue Ridge Rangers on the road once the album is out. "Lord knows we played it great live in the studio -- it's probably more live than many rock 'n' roll records," he said. "I think it really needs to be presented that way to an audience. We'll have to wait and see how everything shapes up."

 

The full track list for "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again" is:

 

"Paradise" (John Prine)

"Never Ending Song of Love" (Bonnie Bramett/Delaney Bramlett)

"Garden Party" (Rick Nelson)

"I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)" (Buck Owens)

"Back Home Again" (John Denver)

"I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" (Ray Price/Rusty Gabbard)

"Change in the Weather" (John Fogerty)

"Moody River" (Gary Bruce)

"Heaven's Just a Sin Away" (Jerry Gillespie)

"Fallin' Fallin' Fallin'" (D. Deckleman/J. Guillot/J.D. Miller)

"Haunted House" (Robert L.Geddins)

"When Will I Be Loved" (Phil Everly)