To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Craft Recordings is releasing a deluxe box set comprised of the band’s entire seven-album discography — Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo’s Factory, Pendulum and Mardi Gras.
Each album in this collection has been mastered at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios, bringing a new measure of clarity and quality to these classic recordings. Abbey Road Studios’ award-winning engineer Miles Showell said, “I’ve tried to be as authentic as I could, and just make it sound like music. Not over-hyped, not over-processed. Up until now a lot of processing has been done on these recordings, so my approach was to strip them right back and just expose them for what they are – because what they are is great music.”
In addition to the album collection is an 80-page book featuring new liner notes from music journalist Roy Trakin, archival photos and reproductions of various collectible band memorabilia. The 7-LP Deluxe Complete Studio Albums Box Set is available for pre-order HERE.
During the four years Creedence Clearwater Revival were active as group, they sold over 30 million records in the U.S. alone, releasing 14 Top 10 hits, six Platinum albums (two of which went to number one) and one Gold album. They also managed to play over 150 tour dates around the world, including a headlining spot at Woodstock. In 1993 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen.
More information about the 7-LP set can be found below.
About Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968):
Liner notes extract: “Released in the summer of 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival begins with the faint sound of gongs, then the rat-a-tat of Doug “Cosmo” Clifford’s snare drum before John’s snarling take on Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You,” announcing the arrival of an important new rock ‘n’ roll voice.”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. I Put a Spell on You
2. The Working Man
3. Suzie Q
Side B:
1. Ninety Nine (And a Half Won’t Do)
2. Get Down Woman
3. Porterville
4. Gloomy
5. Walk on the Water
About Bayou Country (1969):
Liner notes extract: “Instead of delving into the underground,” Fogerty told Uncut‘s Bud Scoppa, “…my Elvis-and-Beatles upbringing came directly into play. And I was able to write songs that would go on Top 40 radio, because that’s what I had wanted to do since I was four. I wanted to make hit singles.”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Born on the Bayou
2. Bootleg
3. Graveyard Train
Side B:
1. Good Golly Miss Molly
2. Penthouse Pauper
3. Proud Mary
4. Keep on Chooglin’
About Green River (1969):
Liner notes extract: “The album became the band’s first chart-topper, lodging at #1 on the Billboard 200 for the entire month of October, in between Blind Faith and Abbey Road, fulfilling their ambition to become the American Beatles.”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Green River
2. Commotion
3. Tombstone Shadow
4. Wrote a Song for Everyone
Side B:
1. Bad Moon Rising
2. Lodi
3. Cross-tie Walker
4. Sinister Purpose
5. The Night Time Is the Right Time
About Willy and the Poor Boys (1969):
Liner notes extract: “It’s a very powerful anti-war message, but even more so, it’s an anti-class-bias message,” Fogerty told Uncut‘s Bud Scoppa in 2006. “When I sing it now, it still has teeth.”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Down on the Corner
2. It Came Out of the Sky
3. Poorboy Shuffle
4. Feelin’ Blue
Side B:
1. Fortunate Son
2. Don’t Look Now (It Ain’t You or Me)
3. The Midnight Special
4. Side O’ the Road
5. Effigy
About Cosmo’s Factory (1970):
Liner notes extract: “Cosmo’s Factory represents the apogee of Creedence Clearwater Revival, playing like a greatest hits album despite the fact the songs (and covers) are all appearing on disc for the first time…”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Ramble Tamble
2. Before You Accuse Me
3. Travelin’ Band
4. Ooby Dooby
5. Lookin’ Out My Back Door
6. Run Through the Jungle
Side B:
1. Up Around the Bend
2. My Baby Left Me
3. Who’ll Stop the Rain
4. I Heard It Through the Grapevine
5. Long As I Can See the Light
About Pendulum (1970):
Liner notes extract: “With Pendulum, the band decided to experiment in the manner of Sgt. Pepper, without any preconceived ideas, which ran against Fogerty’s notions of organization and control…”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Pagan Baby
2. Sailor’s Lament
3. Chameleon
4. Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
5. (Wish I Could) Hideaway
Side B:
1. Born to Move
2. Hey Tonight
3. It’s Just a Thought
4. Molina
5. Rude Awakening #2
About Mardi Gras (1972):
Liner notes extract: “…the now-threesome went into the studio in the spring of 1971 to record a new single, “Sweet Hitch-Hiker,” with the B-side a song written and sung by Stu Cook, “Door to Door,” an amiable rockabilly number. “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” would be the band’s last Top 10 single, reaching #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. ”
Track Listing
Side A:
1. Lookin’ for a Reason
2. Take It Like a Friend
3. Need Someone to Hold
4. Tearin’ Up the Country
5. Someday Never Comes
Side B:
1. What Are You Going to Do
2. Sail Away
3. Hello Mary Lou
4. Door to Door
5. Sweet Hitch-Hiker
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