Creedence Clearwater Revival: Creedence Clearwater Revival (half-speed remaster) [CRAFT]

Why you'll love it

This 50th anniversary edition was mastered at half speed at Abbey Road Studios and pressed on 180g vinyl in a tip-on jacket. It holds the band's first hit, "Suzie Q," which reached No. 11 in the US.

This edition

• Half-speed master
• Mastered at Abbey Road Studios
• 180g vinyl
• Tip-on jacket
• 50th anniversary edition
• Remastered

About the album

Before they were Creedence, they were the Golliwogs, a name all four of them disliked. When Saul Zaentz bought Fantasy Records in 1967 and offered them a full album on condition they change it, they agreed on the spot, and John Fogerty took charge as singer, lead guitarist, songwriter, arranger and producer in all but name.

The swamp-rock sound is already here. Their eight-minute stretch of Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q" is a slow, hypnotic guitar workout, Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" gets a fierce, brooding reading, and Wilson Pickett's "Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do)" turns into a stomper. "Porterville," first cut as a Golliwogs single, is where Fogerty found his storytelling voice, and "Walk On The Water" is a co-write with his brother Tom. "The Working Man" and "Get Down Woman" show Fogerty already writing in a lean, bluesy style that would carry them through the next few years.

Within two years they'd have more hits than most bands manage in a career. Fogerty later said everything changed after "Porterville"; considering what came next, that is a fair bit of understatement.

Also at Kops: more Creedence Clearwater Revival on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Fantasy / Craft (cat# CR00124), a reissue of the 1968 album.