But you won't catch me going back down there alone
Things they said when I was young are quite enough to get me hung
(I don't care! I don't care!)"
Creedence Clearwater Revival is the debut album of the rock band of the same name, released on May 28, 1968 through Fantasy Records. After having played through the Sixties as as The Blue Velvets, then the Golliwogs, they were given a chance by Fantasy chair Saul Zaentz to record a full-length album on the condition that they change the band name, and thus Creedence Clearwater Revival was born. The band started recording on October 1967, releasing the "Porterville"/"Call It Pretending" single the following month before recording the rest of the album in early 1968. The resulting album sold well, but critics at the time didn't look fondly on it, albeit drastically improving over time. The band's breakthrough single, their cover of Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q", had peaked at #11 in the Billboard charts, while their cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You" charted at #58.
Tracklist
Side one- "I Put a Spell On You" (4:33)
- "The Working Man" (3:04)
- "Suzie Q" (8:37)
Side two
- "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (3:39)
- "Get Down Woman" (3:09)
- "Porterville" (2:24)
- "Walk on the Water" (4:40)
Principal members
- Doug Clifford: drums, backing vocals
- Stu Cook: bass, backing vocals
- John Fogerty: lead guitar, lead vocals, tambourine, maracas, wind-up toys
- Tom Fogerty: rhythm guitar, backing vocals, co-lead vocal ("Suzie Q")
I don't mess around with tropes, child, what I got is mine:
- The Cover Changes the Meaning: The original "Suzie Q" was a straightforward Rockabilly song, where the cover has a bluesier edge which takes this to Yandere territory.
- Cover Version: "I Put a Spell On You" (originally by Screamin' Jay Hawkins), "Suzie Q" (originally by Dale Hawkins) and "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (originally by Wilson Pickett).
- Epic Rocking: "Suzie Q" was expanded into an eight-minute jam session in the album version.
- Everything Is an Instrument: John Fogerty used wind-up toys.
- Non-Appearing Title: "Porterville".
- The Not-Remix: "Porterville" was originally released as a single a few months before they did the album, and was recorded in mono. To give the impression of being in stereo for here, they simply took the mono mix, added handclaps and maracas, and panned them over to the left channel.
- Rearrange the Song: "Walk on the Water" was a reworking of a 1966 song ("Walking on the Water") they'd recorded when they were still The Golliwogs.
- Self-Titled Album: The first album by the band in any incarnation, with the name that the members settled on.
