» John Fogerty
- Blue Ridge Rangers
Traditional country from ex-CCR leader
Country music's relationship with pop and rock music has been an uneasy one ever since the dawn of rock'n'roll, itself a mix of R+B and country music. During the sixties, several major pop singers had major hits with pop covers of country songs, Tom Jones and Ray Charles among them. Later, we saw the rise of another hybrid music - country-rock, of which the Eagles were the most successful (though
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Peter Durward Harris
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as their music evolved, the country element disappeared). The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, another country-rock group, surprised everybody by recording a bluegrass album (Will the circle be unbroken), that it now regarded as a classic and rightly so. Meanwhile, John Fogerty, former leader and songwriter of Creedence Clearwater Revival, chose to record an album of traditional country songs, mainly comprising sons that have been frequently covered by country singers. This is that album.You will probably recognize some of these songs via the original or other cover versions. Of course, I expect that everybody is familiar with Jambalaya, a song that has been recorded by countless singers in several genres of music. John's version made the top twenty in the American singles charts. In Britain, Jambalaya is generally associated with the Carpenters who had a big UK hit with it. Their recording was never released as a single in the USA, presumably because John Fogerty's hit was too recent.
Apart from Jambalaya, country music fans will recognize She thinks I still care (George Jones), California blues (Jimmie Rodgers), Please help me I'm falling (Hank Locklin), I ain't never (Webb Pierce) and Today I started loving you again (Merle Haggard), each given the John Fogerty treatment. There are also a couple of gospel classics (Working on a building, Have thine own way Lord) and some other traditional songs.
Some people may have been surprised by this album but, given that John sang about listening to Buck Owens in one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's big hits, perhaps it should not have done. This is a fascinating album.
Peter Durward Harris
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