John Fogerty's new CD

Subject: John Fogerty's new CD
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Oct 04 - 04:35 PM

Picked up John Fogarty's new CD today and am really enjoying it. It has a good balance of rockers and acoustic, humorous songs. First time through it's hard to pick favorites but Honey Do, Nobody's Here Anymore, I Will Walk With You, Rhubrab Pie, Wicked Old Witch and In The Garden all stand out. Fogerty was interviewed recently and the man is finally happy. Who says you can't produce art unless you're miserable?

Highly recommended... I think I'll like it even better than Centerfield, which I believe is his best solo effort.

Jerry

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Oct 04 - 07:07 PM

Thanks much for the review. I had been thinking I should go get this because last week (I think it was on Bravo channel) they broadcast a John Fogerty concert that was absolutely great. He hasn't lost any of the fire or the charm over the years, and a couple of the new songs were quite good. Since I haven't followed him really closely (too much of an "acoustic folkie"), I was surprised that he plays most everything in standard tuning. He gets such a nice "fat" sound that I had imagined most of his playing was in open tunings. Anyway, I'll hop right out and get that CD- thanks again.

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: red max
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 08:04 AM

If you can stomach drum machines then I guess Centerfield is fine, but I preferred his self-titled debut solo album. Of course the guy has nothing to prove, but I was seriously underwhelmed by Eye of the zombie and Blue moon swamp. Is the new one a marked improvement?

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 01:17 PM

All of this is completely subjective of course. I didn't like Eye of the Zombie at all, and while I thought Blue Moon Swamp was decent enough, I gave it away after a couple of listens. It sounded like Credence Clearwater out-takes. This album has a much wider range of material than I've heard from Fogerty, including some funky, finger-picked acoustic guitar (and one cut with some very tasty Mark Knopfler backing that stands with anything he's done. The thing I like best about the CD is that Fogerty sounds like Fogerty, not Credence Clearwater minus four.

Just my opinion..

Jerry

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 03:28 PM

...yeah, he impressed me with the acoustic guitar solo on ....I forget which track (5 maybe?) ....I never thought much of his playing from a virtuoso standpoint - he seemed to be more inclined to playing ...ummm...*emotively nasty* (Green River; Born On The Bayou, et al) ...nothing wrong with that - I just never knew he could put together such melodic, fluid runs...

Still think he plays too much stuff in E, though. Whenever he goes into "swampnasty" mode, E seems to always be the weapon of choice.

P.S. I didn't think Mark Knopfler contributed much with his playing on the track he appears on, but then again I'm not much of a Knopfler fan. Or maybe it was because the track winds up sounding like Fogerty singing on a Dire Straits track instead of Knopfler playing on a Fogerty track?

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 04:36 PM

Hey, Guest:

Looks like there aren't many Fogerty appreciators in here. It doesn't bother me that Fogerty does so many songs in E. It's one of my favorite keys, too... fits my vocal range well, and the notes that I want are easy to find. As for the Dire Straits track, you're right of course. Could be Down To The Waterline. But then, I love Down To The Waterline and most of the early Dire Straits. The track could just as easily be an out-take of a Dire Straits album, which suits me fine. An old jazz guitar hero of mine, Sal Salvador said to me once "A musician's style is the summation of his limitations." Maybe Knopfler can return the favor and do a swamp boogie number with Fogarty on second guitar. My complaint about Knopfler is that he doesn't do enough of that fluid, Dire Straits guitar stuff any more.

Finally, Fogerty isn't much of a virtuoso. To me, his great gift is a memorable bass line. There are several Credence Clearwater songs with such a distinctive opening line that I'll never forget them. Reminds me in that regard, or Keith Richard, who was another genius in coming up with killer bass lines that laid the whole foundation for the songs.

Jerry

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 10:36 PM

On the live CD I have, he banters a little with the audience and tells them that (for that concert, at least) he's using the same amp he used at Woodstock...this was post CCR, not all that long ago. Wonder if he's still using that amp on this new recording?

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST,chinmusic
Date: 07 Oct 04 - 11:10 PM

Count me in as a big John Fogarty fan, as well. In my humble opinion, he's not only written a number of rock 'n roll classics, but vocally speaking, very few artists can top him. He has that river bottom quality to his voice, which I love.

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 08:14 AM

"Premonition" was the live compilation I was referring to a couple of posts above......

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: Chris in Wheaton
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 05:34 PM

How about the Blue Ridge Rangers (now cd) from '73? I still do some of those, like "You're the Reason." Too funky for sure. I think some of the songs from the cd are in the WDVX playlist - another good reason to recommend those folks too.
Chris in Wheaton

Subject: RE: John Fogerty's new CD
From: GUEST,late 'n short 2
Date: 08 Oct 04 - 10:09 PM

I've got 3 or 4 of Fogerty's CDs along with a bunch of Creedence stuff and I could probably choose 2 or 3 cuts from each to put together a "favorites" cut. And what I choose for my favorites will most likely be different from someone else's. I was a bit disapppointed with the new album but, hey, that's just me. Also, I can't think of any artist in my collection where every number is a gem.

When the "Premonitions" tour was going on a few years back my then 16 year old son took both of us to see the concert as a birthday present for me. We both had a great time and it got me thinking about who I could have taken my dad to see when I was 16.

That "E key" stuff works great for me.