The smoke has cleared for Fantasy Records to get creative with their most coveted property — the catalog of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The reissues from 2008 were just the beginning; now, The Single Collection, a two-CD, one-DVD compilation kicks it up a notch with all of the band’s singles (A and B sides), early obscurities and previously unreleased music videos. To underscore their authenticity, original mono mixes of a majority of the 30 songs are appearing on CD for the very first time.
Many CCR fans may be unfamiliar with the first two tracks — “Porterville” and “Call It Pretending” — that appeared as the A and B sides of the group’s final single for Fantasy’s Scorpio subsidiary. This was the first single “official” Creedence Clearwater Revival single (although some promos went out under the group’s previous moniker, the Golliwogs). While the record didn’t exactly burn up the charts, it pointed the group in the right direction, with John Fogerty clearly sitting in the driver’s
seat.
The peppy harmonies would soon fall by the wayside once “Susie Q” walked through the door. The Dale Hawkins cover catapulted to Number 11 in 1968, becoming the first of eleven Top 40 hits the group would score in their four-year run. Broken into two parts, the song’s blazing guitar solo demonstrates Creedence had a little more under their hood than pop propensity. “I Put A Spell On You” (backed with “I Put A Spell On You”) didn’t register quite as high (Number 58), but it didn’t matter. Creedence Clearwater Revival was on its way.
What came afterwards, of course, was a nonstop caravan of important A- and B-side singles — garnering equal shares of airplay and attention. “Proud Mary,” Creedence’s second and arguably most popular single, shot up to Number 2 in 1969, while its B-side, “Born On The Bayou,” inadvertently came to define the group’s “swamp rock” sound. The follow-up “Bad Moon Rising” (backed with “Lodi”) would also go to Number 2.
Over the next two years, the group practically owned the Top 10. “Green River” (backed with “Commotion”), “Down On The Corner” (backed with “Fortunate Son”), “Travelin’ Band” (backed with “Who’ll Stop The Rain”), “Up Around The Bend” (backed with “Run Through The Jungle”), “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (backed with “Long As I Can See The Light”) and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (backed with “Hey Tonight”) — all included here — would lift Creedence Clearwater Revival into the ranks of the Beatles.
“Sweet Hitch-Hiker,” which peaked at Number 6 on July 24, 1971, was the last CCR entry into the Top 10; “Someday Never Comes” was the band’s final Top 40 hit. Both are featured on Mardi Gras, the last Creedence studio album, and the only one without Tom Fogerty. But The Singles Collection doesn’t stop there.
Bassist Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, who continue to carry the CCR in an altered, distorted fashion, each get in a song. Cook’s “Door To Door,” the B-side of “Sweet Hitch-Hiker,” is an ample little rocker, while Clifford’s “Tearin’ Up The Country,” the B-side of “Someday Never Comes” is an ample little country romp. Neither live up to the level of what Fogerty was capable of writing — these were merely bones thrown to the rhythm section to keep peace.
Thankfully, an edited version of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (The 11-minute version on Cosmos Factory is worth the price of admission) and a scorching version of Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” bring us back to Creedence country.The lone stereo mixes of “45 Revolutions Per Minute,” in two parts, showed up on the 2008 reissue of Pendulum, and functions as mere filler on this set. If anything, you get the impression the members of Creedence had a little more in common with the Haight-Ashbury scene across the Bay from El Cerrito than they choose to admit.
The cherry on top of the entire package (without discounting the fine liner notes from former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres and the poster of single picture sleeves) may well be the DVD of four songs. The “music videos” of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “Bootleg,” the acid-inspired “I Put A Spell On You” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” are rough and unremarkable, but perhaps they are a sign of things to come. Decent concert footage is out there and ripe for the picking. If Fantasy and Fogerty are coming to terms with what the fans really want — The Single Collection is just the tip of the goldmine, and the best is yet to drop. Hold your breath and count to 10.
~ Shawn Perry
