Album of the Day #131: JOHN FOGERTY

Title: John Fogerty
Artist: John Fogerty
Label: Asylum
Year: 1975
Songs: Rockin' All Over The World/You Rascal You [Sam Theard]/The Wall/Travelin' High/Lonely Teardrops [Berry Gordy, Jr., Gwen Fuqua & Tyran Carlo]/Another Saturday Night/Where The River Flows/Sea Cruise [Huey "Piano" Smith]/Dream/Song/Flyin' Away
Written by: John Fogerty, except where noted
Produced by: John Fogerty
Thoughts: With two hit-singles and some of Fogerty's best material in his solo career, you'd think this would be available, especially considering his resurgence as a performer. However, John Fogerty is not on the market. In fact, it's never been issued in the United States on CD. The only way to get it is the LP or (like me) by downloading it somewhere. For some odd reason, Fantasy can't get the rights to this record, despite how awesome it truly is.
If you think Centerfield is a good record, you haven't heard anything unless you've heard this. "Rockin' All Over The World" and "Another Saturday Night" are ten times better than any of the hit singles on the album that came out ten years later. The album tracks are even stronger. Fogerty gives great performances of "Lonely Teardrops", "You Rascal You" and "Sea Cruise" and his own songs are amazing. The two other originals on side one, "The Wall" and "Travelin' High" are as amazing as anything he did in the early days of CCR. Side two's originals are a little weaker, like the chant "Where The River Flows", but are still enjoyable. "Dream/Song" is nifty and "Flyin' Away" is a great closer.
It's a real shame that you can't get this LP on the market today, so it is worth seeking out. After this, Fogerty's relationship with the music business soured. Asylum rejected Hoodoo (which Fogerty himself supposedly said was weak) and he failed to release another LP until 1985's Centerfield.