The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty · Creedence Collection

Simplicity; it's harder than it looks. It may seem amazing, but at one brief point in the early 70s Creedence Clearwater Revival were the biggest selling act in the WORLD. And it was all down to hit after hit written by the man with the common touch, John Fogerty. This isn't in any way meant to denigrate his achievements. The ersatz blend of 'swamp rock' (Creedence were all San Francisco bay area residents!) was born of nearly ten years of hard gigging and a deep love of 50s blues and rock 'n' roll. Like I said; it takes hard work to be simple...

This compilation marks the first time that both Creedence's AND Fogerty's solowork have been combined on one disc. It also celebrates his return to the label that he so acrimoniously split with nearly 30 years ago. But while his sidelining of his brother and bandmates may have been a little heavy-handed, the songs make the best argument as to why Creedence WERE Fogerty. Each one of their tracks ("Up Around The Bend", "Proud Mary", "Down On The Corner", "Bad Moon Rising" etc. etc.) along with his excellent solo hits ("Old Man Down The Road", "Centrefield") is ALL killer. And all delivered with that howl that was made to cut through the AM static on your transistor radio.

What's more, the live tracks taken from last year's world tour show a man whose voice has lost none of its grit and fire. Just about everything recorded by this man is worth checking out. But this is a very fine place to start.