This record was originally released in July 1968, but surely sounds as
revolutionary today as it did then. The band consisted of John
Fogerty on lead guitar and vocals, Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, Stu
Cook on bass, and Doug Clifford on drums. This group of four
produced a huge sound that translates to a big, wide soundstage with
present, three-dimensional, palpable vocals. Some of the songs
have a bit of phasiness that I can only assume was intentional on the
original records. When centered, the voice is locked in place and
music comes from the sides, but on some of the songs sound can come
from all around without being completely wrapped around the listener
(as it would be if the speakers/recording were entirely out of
phase). I’m used to hearing distortion when portions of CCR’s
material gets loud–especially on vocals. But with this release,
on the first track when Fogerty yowls away his vocals just get plain
loud and don’t break up. My hat goes off to Steve Hoffman and
Kevin Gray—the fellows responsible for the remastering job. They
worked on the same tapes for other CCR releases (including the LPs), so
their familiarity with material surely helped. It’s truly magic
how much better the material sounds than on the normal CD I have.
Percussion is smooth, yet clean and shimmering like it should be and
you can easily hear the difference between the different tracks in
recording quality. Sure on songs like “Suzie Q” there are
hard-panned images like the stereo Beatles’ records everyone knows
where voices can come out of one speaker and instruments out of the
other, but there is usually center fill as well.
The liner notes in the disc are written by none other than Ben
Fong-Torres, the editor and writer of Rolling Stone during the band’s
early days (mentioned in the film Almost Famous). Before CCR
re-formed in ’67, the name they went under was the Golliwogs.
Fogerty developed his booming blues shout from the times when he had to
work without a microphone. The music they make is a mixture of
R&B, blues, country, folk, and even jazz. The band has a
Southern feel to them, but the interesting part is that none of them
are from the South. It’s true that the most recognizable (hit)
songs on the record are cover tunes, but the rest of the material is in
the same vein and is (dare I say) just as good. This is one great
rockin’ rock’n’roll record and with SACD treatment, sounds as good as
ever! Songs included are: I Put A Spell On You; The Working
Man; Suzie Q; Ninety-Nine And A Half; Get Down Woman; Porterville;
Gloomy; Walking On The Water.
-Brian Bloom
