Revival (CD - 2007)

Personnel: John Fogerty (vocals, guitar); Hunter Perrin (guitar); Benmont Tench (Wurlitzer organ); Kenny Aronoff (drums, percussion); Julia Waters, Maxine Willard Waters, Oren Waters (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: John Fogerty; Jim Scott.

Recording information: G Studio Digital, Studio City, CA; NRG Recording, North Hollywood, CA; Soundstudio Lowengasse, Frankfurt, Germany.

Photographers: Nela König; Julie Fogerty.

Arranger: John Fogerty.

Like cowboy hats and political scandal, John Fogerty is a timeless American tradition. Ever since he led Creedence Clearwater Revival to their status as America's first great heartland rock band, John Fogerty has been the musical equivalent of Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, and JFK rolled into one. Through CCR's breakup and his subsequent solo career, Fogerty's music has adhered to its original template of swampy blues-rock with splashes of country/folk twang, and 2007's REVIVAL is no exception.

Even after four decades of recording, Fogerty's voice sounds remarkably fresh and unchanged. The sound that emanates from the opening cut, "Don't You Wish it Was True," is as pure and unsullied as the utopian wish conveyed by the lyrics. And for a man who spent years refusing to play his back catalog and enduring litigation over his old band's material, it's interesting to hear him acknowledge his past so wholeheartedly; on the sly "Creedence Son "his guitar teases old CCR licks, and "I Can't Take it No More" references "Fortunate Son." By playing to his strengths and reeling out bluesy, rootsy riffs and belting in his patented salty-but-sweet manner, Fogerty reiterates his continued status as an American musical icon. minimize