Often dubbed "the ultimate blue collar band" or with some equivalent epithet, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL'S influence still rightly casts a long shadow across the development of American roots-rock. Operating for barely five full years (1968-1972), they nonetheless left behind one of the most enviable back catalogues in rock'n'roll and - lest we forget - even outsold The Beatles and Stones in the US.
It's not hard to work out why CCR'S songs still resonate so powerfully. Although they were at their peak in rock's heavily-glorified late 60s, their tight, economic songs delivered with pride and passion were the antithesis of the Kaftan-wearing, peace-and-love brigade and the extended soloing that was becoming de rigeur back then. Instead, Creedence's manifesto was to bring back the thunder of rock'n'roll and re-unite it with its' primal, pre-psychedelic roots. Their leader, John Fogerty, wrote gritty, hooky, two and three-minute songs that brought the ordinary man and the forces of nature into the spotlight and sang them in a soulful hurricane of a voice that - if you didn't know better - you'd swear marked him out as a son as proud of his southern heritage as the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers.
In reality, Fogerty, his brother Tom (rhythm guitar), bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford hailed from Oakland, the wrong side of the cultural tracks from the San Francisco epicentre. Their self-titled debut album from 1968 - featuring their breakthrough hits 'Suzie Q' and their energised cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You' - bore traces of the more experimental San Fran sound being pioneered by The Grateful Dead and their ilk, but while CCR could extend and vamp when the mood took them (check 'Keep On Chooglin'" and their definitive cover of Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' - an exercise in inspired and disciplined jamming if ever there was), their forte was primarily the instantly catchy, chorus-heavy pop song played with the economic brevity of a classic rockabilly combo.
If you're serious about Creedence (and you should be, they're as relevant and fresh now as ever), I'd urge you to get all their studio albums, because - with the possible exception of their Tom Fogerty-less swansong 'Mardi Gras' from 1972 -they're all utterly essential items. However, if you're looking for a handy, but largely comprehensive greatest hits as either an introduction or to simply have the hits under one roof, then making for this self-explanatory 'Best Of' is an excellent first port of call.
It's blissful stuff from end to end, of course, because Fogerty and his under-rated rhythm section had all bases covered. And for those five years it simply spilled out of them. They could do barnstorming, ballsy rock''roll ('Travelin' Band', 'Up Around The Bend', the great, UFO-related 'It Came Out Of The Sky'), commune with chiming, acoustic-flecked folk-rock ('Have You Ever Seen The Rain?', the post-Woodstock anthem 'Who'll Stop The Rain?'), plug directly into their blues heritage ('Suzie Q', their gorgeous, Gospel-fuelled take of Leadbelly's 'Midnight Special') and help shape the Americana blueprint that's still being pored over today thanks to a host of evergreen radio hits such as 'Proud Mary', 'Down On The Corner', the sad and blue tale of failure contained in 'Lodi' and of course the Biblical epic 'Bad Moon Rising', which - thanks to the foreboding in Fogerty's lyrics ("hope you've got your things together/ hope you are quite prepared to die") -sounds more ominously prophetic than ever in the wake of the recent natural disasters in the Far East.
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Indeed, such is the perennial creativity and harmony that springs out whenever you hear Creedence on form, it's always horribly sad to recall that theirs was anything but an amicable parting. It's too complex to go into here, but suffice it to say that John Fogerty ended up on the receiving end of both legal wrangles that froze royalty payments for years and - arguably even worse - ended up squabbling with his bandmates. Tom Fogerty left before their final album 'Mardi Gras' (opening wounds with his brother that never properly healed before Tom's death in 1990) and the resulting album - made as a trio with Fogerty insisting that Cook and Clifford write their share of the songs - is generally regarded as the runt of the Creedence litter. The crunching 'Sweet Hitch Hiker' apart, that's probably fair comment.
Even before then, though, Creedence Clearwater Revival had done more than enough to deserve their future status as Godfathers of roots-rock, and this 24-track collection provides us with most of the reasons why. It's not completely perfect, of course - 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' is the edited four minute version (bah!), 'Keep On Chooglin'" is absent and I'd personally swap the schlocky 'Goodbye Mary Lou' for a more deserving forgotten classic like 'Ramble Tamble' - but even taking these few faux pas into consideration, the scope and achievement contained with Creedence Clearwater's 'Best Of' truly is something to behold. For once, it really IS accurate to say we probably won't hear their like again.
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