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

by

John Fogerty

Edit

The Long Road Home is subtitled the ultimate John Fogerty Creedence Collection. While it is tough to make an appellation like that because someone's favorite tracks are always left out, this twenty-five song collection comes pretty darn close. Spanning Mr. Fogerty's almost forty year career the collection include his beloved CCR hits like "Proud Mary", "Born On The Bayou", "Green River", "Who'll Stop The Rain", "Down On The Corner" and two versions of "Fortunate Son" to his solo works like "Centerfield", "Old Man Down The Road", live versions of "Rockin' All Over The World" and "Almost Saturday Night" to the title track from last year's Deja Vu (All Over Again). The only complaint is that the collection relies heavily on his CCR work and that two of his solo albums, the overlooked Eye Of The Zombie and Blue Ridge Rangers are not represented at all and the two tracks from his self-titled 1975 album are recent live version not the original versions from the out of print album. Those are minor complaints about a truly first rate release that shows the greatness of one the best songwriters in rock history and a major influence on countless artists.

With so much music over such a long time span, why only a single disc? John Fogerty/CCR could have easily fleshed out two or even three CD's of material, so "The Long Road Home" feels more like a short path to nowhere.

First, the positives: For the first time, John has allowed his Creedence material to exist on a record next to his solo work. The remastered CCR songs sound terrific. There's a consistency here that rivals modern greats like Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Bob Seger and The Eagles for sound and the thematic nature of the songwriting. (It's no accident that Saul Zaentz wanted to claim "The Old Man Down The Road" plagiarized "Run Through The Jungle.") Finally, Fogerty's voice is a slice of America that has become instantly recognizable for good reason - his rock and roll baritone is like no-one else in modern rock times.

The minuses. This could have easily been split between a CCR disc and a solo Fogerty disc instead of just single CD. Why no songs from Eye of the Zombie or The Blue Ridge Rangers? The live CCR cuts really should have been the studio versions. (You want this live? Get Premonition.) Two versions of "Fortunate Son?" Not necessary. The sequencing leaves a lot to be desired (again, begging the single instead of double CD issue). And no oddities/rarities/B-Sides.

While this serves as an OK primer for Fogerty's career, he has been delivering the goods consistently ever since Centerfield re-ignited his career. Leaving out so much makes it far from "Ultimate," and does Fogerty something of a disservice.