Released in the summer of 1968 -- a year after the summer of love, but
still in the thick of the Age of Aquarius - Creedence Clearwater Revival's
self-titled debut album was gloriously out-of-step with the times, teeming
with John Fogerty's Americana fascinations. While many of Fogerty's obsessions
and CCR's signatures are in place -- weird blues ("I Put a Spell
on You"), Stax R&B (Wilson Pickett's "Ninety-Nine and a
Half"), rockabilly ("Susie Q"), winding instrumental interplay,
the swamp sound, and songs for "The Working Man" -- the band
was still finding their way. Out of all their records (discounting Mardi
Gras), this is the one that sounds the most like its era, thanks to the
wordless vocal harmonies toward the end of "Susie Q," the backward
guitars on "Gloomy," and the directionless, awkward jamming
that concludes "Walking on the Water." Still, the band's sound
is vibrant, with gutsy arrangements that borrow equally from Sun, Stax,
and the swamp. Fogerty's songwriting is a little tentative. Not for nothing
were two of the three singles pulled from the album covers (Dale Hawkins'
"Susie Q," Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You")
-- he wasn't an accomplished tunesmith yet. Though "The Working Man"
isn't bad, the true exception is that third single, "Porterville,"
an exceptional song with great hooks, an underlying sense of menace, and
the first inkling of the working-class rage that fueled such landmarks
as "Fortunate Son." It's the song that points the way to the
breakthrough of Bayou Country, but the rest of the album shouldn't be
dismissed, because judged simply against the rock & roll of its time,
it rises above its peers.
(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All
Music Guide)
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