Album: John Fogerty <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

The Long Road Home, FANTASY

Few American rockers of the hippie era employed their native roots forms with quite the commercial aplomb of John Fogerty. Through 1969-70, as the whole world was turning DayGlo shades of paisley, Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded a string of colossal hits - from "Proud Mary" and "Bad Moon Rising" through "Up Around the Bend" and "Down On the Corner" - that eschewed windy psychedelic kerfuffle in favour of taut, short bursts of swamp-pop infused with a love of country, R&B and cajun music. They're assembled here alongside such highlights of Fogerty's later solo career as "The Old Man Down the Road" and "Rockin' All Over the World" (yes, the one made famous by Quo), with a few live cuts thrown in for good measure. It's a well-nigh faultless collection, light-hearted and friendly but still carrying a hefty political wallop, courtesy of the bitter "Fortunate Son", whose criticism of the inequities of race and privilege affecting the American military draft has particular pertinence in an era when the politicians are sending thousands of poor to their deaths. "I ain't no senator's son," indeed.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Fortunate Son', 'Green River', 'Down on the Corner'