
Rate it!
Avg: 3.5 (33 ratings)
- Date Released: September 30, 2008
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Label: Fantasy Records / Concord
The birth of the world's greatest classic rock band
-
We Say...
Creedence Clearwater Revival arrived in 1967 with a fully realized sound that defined rock & roll. The band's very name was the perfect description of a music rooted firmly in the foundations of rural country and blues song forms and smart, aggressive guitar playing drawn from the rockabilly era. "Suzie Q," revived from swamp rock king Dale Hawkins and based on the Eddie Bo-produced arrangement of the New Orleans R&B classic "Pass the Hatchet," dominated the AM airwaves and helped lay the groundwork for the coming album-oriented FM format. The song opened on a slow fade-up that built deftly to two dynamic peaks and employed an echo effect on John Fogerty's second verse vocal, techniques that gave the performance a cinematic perspective. Fogerty used the theme to "Smokestack Lightning" for a terse lead guitar solo that stood out against the meticulously crafted feedback melodic fills and drones that the rest of the song was constructed around. The album also includes a blood-curdling cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" and the Steve Cropper-Wilson Pickett soul classic "Ninety Nine And A Half," as well as "The Working Man," a Fogerty original that anticipated his later work.
-
They Say...
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.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 12 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 12 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
12 Total Tracks, 54:48 Total Length
Loading...

![]()
Playlists If you like this artist, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Creedence Clearwater Revival fans
Credits
- John Fogerty - Guitar // John Fogerty - Arranger // John Fogerty - Vocals // John Fogerty - Producer // Doug Clifford - Drums // Doug Clifford - Vocals (Background) // Tom Fogerty - Guitar (Rhythm) // Tom Fogerty - Vocals (Background) // Bill Belmont - Project Assistant // Stu Cook - Bass // Stu Cook - Vocals (Background) // Joel Selvin - Liner Notes // Geoff Gans - Design // Rikka Arnold - Project Assistant // Chris Clough - Reissue Producer // Larissa Collins - Art Direction // Jennifer Peters - Project Assistant
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.


Post Album to Facebook
