The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection [PA] (CD - 2005)

Personnel: John Fogerty (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, electric sitar, harmonica, saxophone, piano, organ, congas, cowbells, maracas, tambourine, tumba, background vocals); John Fogerty (bass guitar, drums, percussion); Tom Fogerty (guitar, background vocals); Johnny Lee Schell, Johnnie Lee Schnell (guitar); Stu Cook (piano, acoustic bass, bass guitar, background vocals); Benmont Tench (organ); Howie Epstein, Paul Bushnell, George Hawkins, Bob Glaub (bass guitar); Alex Acuña (percussion); Don Rigsby, George Hawkins, Kenny Smith , Ronnie Bowman (background vocals); Bob Britt (guitar, slide guitar, background vocals); Matt Nolen (guitar, keyboards); Billy Burnette (guitar, background vocals); Mike Canipe (guitar); Doug Clifford (drums, background vocals); John Molo, Kenny Aronoff (drums); Luis Conte (tambourine); Julia Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: John Fogerty; Dan Certa.

Liner Note Author: Jim Bessman.

Recording information: Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ.

Photographers: Bob Fogerty; Brian Lima; Norman Seeff.

Arrangers: John Fogerty; Stu Cook; Doug Clifford.

The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection is the first compilation to feature both Fogerty's classic Creedence Clearwater Revival hits and his solo recordings of the '80s and '90s. This was released on the occasion of his return to Fantasy Records, the label where he began his career, in 2005. He may have started his recording career there, but he had a bitter falling out with the label's owner, Saul Zaentz, in the '70s, which lead to lawsuits -- most notably, Zaentz sued Fogerty for plagiarizing himself -- and a self-imposed embargo on Fogerty performing CCR material, since that music evoked too many bad memories. In 2005, Zaentz was no longer with Fantasy and the label courted Fogerty with an offer, which he eventually accepted, with The Long Road Home being the first release in the new contract. Weighing in at 25 songs, this has most, but not all, of the big CCR/Fogerty songs and most, but not all, are in their original studio hit versions. A handful of songs are presented in live versions -- "Almost Saturday Night" and "Rockin' All Over the World" from his 1975 solo debut, "Bootleg," "Hey Tonight," "Keep on Chooglin'," and "Fortunate Son" -- and some of these are quite good (particularly the recent 2005 recordings). Also, there are a couple of songs that are hard not to miss -- not album tracks like "It Came out of the Sky," but charting singles like "Commotion," "Long as I Can See the Light," and "Rock & Roll Girls." That said, all these complaints amount to nitpicking, since this does have the great majority of Fogerty's best and biggest songs, and the collection is enormously entertaining. It's not just a good summary and introduction, but it's proof positive that Fogerty is one of the greatest songwriters of the rock & roll era. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In 2005, John Fogerty re-signed with Fantasy Records, the label of his legendary former band, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Given Fogerty's tumultuous history with the company, this reunion proved to be especially significant, and allowed for the first retrospective of the revered performer's entire career. With its non-linear order, THE LONG ROAD HOME chronicles the winding path of Fogerty's artistic output over its 25 tracks, ranging from Creedence's late-1960s/early-'70s material (the swampy "Born on a Bayou," the wistful "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?") to Fogerty's successful mid-'80s work (the baseball anthem "Centerfield") to his late-'90s comeback (the revved-up "Hot Rod Heart"). Since THE LONG ROAD HOME focuses on Fogerty's own songs, a few beloved Creedence cover tunes (including "Suzie Q" and "I Put a Spell on You") are absent, but fans will be rewarded by energetic live versions of "Fortunate Son" and "Hey Tonight" that were recorded in 2005. minimize