1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 191. Creedance Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (1970)

 

Given how distinctive singer John Fogerty’s voice is,he covers a wide array of musical genres on this album, from a cover of Heard It Through The Grapevine to a mix of blues, country, rock and roll, and rockabilly. Unlike many of the change-of-decade albums recently, the songs on this one are not so much a blend of genres but have both feet firmly in one style.

Ooby Dooby and My Baby Left me, for example, are straightforward rockabilly while Lookin’ Out My Back Door is straight up Bakersfield country. Like the late Steve Wright’s “Serious Jockin’” radio feature, CCR don’t use a terminal “g”, see also Travelin’ Band, which is a Little Richard style rock and roll track, harkening back around 15 years to when that style of music was last prevalent. I have a vague recollection about hearing some theory about 13-year cycles in music (or maybe that was cicadas), and I also remember from my childhood how many rock-and-roll revival artists there were in the mid-Seventies – Mud, Showaddywaddy, Shakin’ (no G) Stevens, probable even some that weren’t naff. Bowie’s Drive-In Saturday is another Fifties Throwback.

There are a few Creedance Clearwater Revival classic type tracks on here that still get airplay – Up Around The Bend and Who’ll Stop The Rain (not to be confused with Have You Ever Heard The Rain, which is not on this album), and overall a generally vague anti-war sentiment without being overt. Ramble Tamble is a mix of country rock and psychedelia, one of those obligatory long tracks that shifts gears partway through.

For me this wasn’t novel enough to be truly great, leaning too much on existing genres. As a radio rock band, however, Creedance Clearwater Revival, work very well.