John Fogerty: Reborn On The Bayou

Revival
John Fogerty
(Fantasy)

John Fogerty’s new disc, “Revival,” is being touted as a return to the swamp-rock sound that enveloped many of the hits he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival. The reasons for leaving that sound behind are well-documented: The band’s bitter breakup, financial ruin, protracted legal battles and even a lawsuit filed by Fantasy Records against Fogerty the solo artist for sounding too much like Fogerty the Creedence frontman.

For the most part, the swampy sound never really went away. Not completely, anyway. Fogerty was the voice of Creedence, literally as its singer and as its chief songwriter, so anything he did at the least made the listener think of CCR. There was undeniably a departure in attitude. Bitter over the battles with his ex-bandmates, Fogerty rarely played CCR songs in concert. He even stuck to his guns during the band’s 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rather than reuniting, for even one night, he jammed with a band that included Bruce Springsteen after picking up his plaque.

Though Fogerty had been repeatedly burned by the business side of the music industry, it was the bean counters that cleared the way for him to embrace his past. In 2004, Concord Music Group acquired CCR’s label, Fantasy Records. Not long afterward, they reached out to Fogerty. Satisfied that the new boss was more agreeable than the old boss, Fogerty agreed to give the label another try after more than 30 years.

Fogerty is celebrating his homecoming – and his career – in a big way. He released a compilation encompassing his CCR and solo work shortly after rejoining the Fantasy roster. Now he’s ready for a full-scale “Revival,” a new set of songs that echoes many aspects of his career. The silhouette on the cover is reminiscent of his 1973 album, “Blue Ridge Rangers.” The disc’s title is a literal reference to the name of his former famous band, and somewhat of a mission statement.

Though Fogerty never completely abandoned his classic sound, there is an undeniable quality that links “Revival” sonically to CCR. There’s more of the old tremolo-laden guitar, just a bit more of the low-end twang and a bunch of songs that remind us of his hits.

The opener, “Don’t You Wish It Was True,” at times evokes “Proud Mary.” “Creedence Song,” not surprisingly, contains echoes of “Born on the Bayou” and many other tunes from the Creedence catalog. “I Can’t Take It No More” captures the energy of “Travelin’ Band,” if not the exact sound.

That’s not to say that “Revival” is a collection of reheated oldies. The songs stand on their own merits. There’s a bittersweetness to “Gunslinger” and “Broken Down Cowboy” that proves that Fogerty still has a firm handle on the songwriting game. “It Ain’t Right” is a pleasant slice of Sun-era rockabilly. “I Can’t Take it No More,” “Somebody Help Me” and “Longshot” are pure rockers that reflect Fogerty’s enthusiasm for his music past and present.

Like much of Fogerty’s best work, many of the songs on “Revival” are topical. An outspoken critic of the current administration and the war in Iraq, Fogerty weaves his views into his songs in varying ways, some more effective than others. In “Gunslinger,” he uses a metaphor to make his point about the need to clean house. “I think we need a gunslinger,” he sings. “Somebody tough to tame this town / I think we need a gunslinger / There’ll be justice all around.”

“Gunslinger” is one of the highlights of “Revival,” and Fogerty might have been better served to use its approach a little more often on the album. Though his writing and singing are fiery, he’s less effective when speaking more directly. The all-out Bush bash “I Can’t Take it No More” and “Long Dark Night,” which calls out Bush, Vice President Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and even former FEMA director Mike Brown, are a little too shrill. Worse, they have a shelf life of about November 2008, when a new president is elected, and therefore they are unlikely to have the lasting impact of Creedence classics such as “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain.”

CCR’s legacy is certainly worth celebrating. But in the case of “Creedence Song,” it might have been better to let someone else do the talking, even if it is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. The lyric “Hey you can’t go wrong / If you play a little bit of that Creedence song” just comes off as a wee bit too self-congratulatory.

Bragging or not, the sentiment is right on target. With CCR and on his own, Fogerty long ago cemented his legacy as one of rock and roll’s great songwriters. A few clumsy swipes at easy targets on “Revival” aren’t going to change that a bit. He has reclaimed the bayou sound he created in attitude as much as in practice, and it proves to be as comfortable on him as his familiar flannel shirts.