Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits

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• CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL CHRONICLE: 20 GREATEST HITS

Music reviews of Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits

Music Review: "Doo Doo Doo Looking Out My Backdoor!"
Rating: 5 Stars

Enter Creedence Clearwater Revival, perhaps the band that proves my point more so than any on Earth. The group, lead by John Fogerty and his brother Tom, is perhaps the only band on Earth that almost utterly and completely bridges the gaps between the generations. They are the one group that, no matter how much the format changes on the local rock radio station, still gets airplay. They are the group that, even ten years from now, aunts and uncles will be blasting right in the middle of family cookouts. Folks walk around school halls blaring Suzie Q on their Discmen, and Jeff Bridges blasts Lookin' Out My Backdoor in his tape deck while smoking a J in the film The Big Lebowski. The group appeals to an almost ridiculously wide cross-section of human beings.

But what is it about Creedence Clearwater Revival that does this? I suppose that if we knew, then other bands would have the same timeless quality about them. But we don't, so it seems that only a handful of artists achieve the sort-of universal appeal of Creedence - the only obvious one being the Beatles.

But the peculiar thing about Creedence is that they have achieved this universal appeal on the strength of a single Greatest Hits package and a number of singles from their heyday in the 1960s and 㣪s. The group's original studio albums are all extremely difficult to find in CD format, yet they live on as legends. The Beatles, on the other hand, have a vast discography that easily includes over three hundred official and unofficial releases. Collectively, the group known as Creedence Clearwater Revival is a mystery.... Well, that is to say that their success is a mystery. How do they hold up so well when other, more popular acts of years past have crumbled and become the subject of another episode of VH1's Behind The Music?

The answer really lies in the group's sound. CCR, or "Cree-dance" as my friend likes to call them, are a unique entity. Although hailing from the Bay area, John Fogerty (lead guitar, vocals), Tom Fogerty (guitar), Stu Cook (bass), and Doug Clifford (drums), created a sound that was a far cry from what was being released at the time. While other groups in the San Francisco area were living in communal households and unleashing psychadelic grooves on the rest of the world, CCR was creating a sound all their own - a sound that would have you believe the group hailed from the South. It's an exciting blend of honky-tonk, blues, R & B, jazz, and just plain old rock & roll. They did, however, share one thing with the other, progressive groups that called the Bay area home: a political conscience that had an effect on the band's lyrics and musical approach.

"Chronicles Volume 1 - The 20 Greatest Hits" is a 1976 release by Fantasy Records collecting all of the group's singles (with the exception of Born On The Bayou) and putting them onto one disc that provides a nice retrospective look at the band's rise and fall. The record for all extents and purposes is essential. No - essential isn't a strong enough word here. This record is absolutely necessary for any person with an appreciation for rock and roll. Even if you aren't a fan of older music, God forbid, Creedence is an easily accessible band with a very enjoyable sound that appeals to every generation.

In my home for example, it's not unusual to hear Chronicles blaring from two rooms at once - both my mother and father are fond of the group as well. And last year, on the two-hour ride home from our family reunion my brother put Chronicles into the Windstar's six CD changer. The entire trip home everyone in the car - myself, my brother, my sister, mother and father - was tapping their feet, rapping their hands and singing along with the fantastic, bluesy voice of John Fogerty. It was one of those moments of Zen where everything seemed right in the world, even if only for a second. My best friend's father also has the record, as does my best friend himself and two other kids that I'm chummy with. And the just last week in the hallowed halls of my school, I laid witness to a young man walking by me while singing joyfully along to Susie-Q. I even burned a copy of the record for a friend's twelve-year-old brother! Just a few examples of the power Creedence Clearwater Revival has over every generation.

Of the singles that CCR released during their short but significant career, 15 charted in the top ten on the singles charts (all here except for the previously mentioned Born On The Bayou), but the group never really achieved the same popularity as other sixties groups; proving that the band was "popular, but not hip."

Description of Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits

Classic Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock