The second link is http://starling.rinet.ru/music/index.htm
That is a Russian website (but written in English) of a guy that reviews many different albums, pretty much all of them older records. The section of the website devoted to the Rolling Stones is very well done and served me well in recommendations in downloading more obscure tunes from their huge body of work.
The former website I mentioned leads me to the main topic of this post, which is the greatness (to me, if you don't like the band, then you can't possibly be American) that is Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Wikipedia link explains that apparently they were not recognized as being so Goddamn great until after they broke up (the link also explains why they had a meteoric rise and just as fast of a downfall within a span of only a few years; yeah, I've known about how he had a nasty feud with Fantasy Records and its boss, including the suit where John Fogerty was sued for ripping off himself, but the most amazing thing is that he RETURNED to the label after all that mess; yeah, they were sold to another company, but it's still an amazing move on his part). IMO, their best-of record, Chronicle, is a must-have in your collection.
Today, I'll be featuring three versions of a song that you won't find on "Chronicle" but it's still a blues-y (and down home swamp) jam that I happen to enjoy quite a bit. It's called "Keep On Chooglin'". I don't know what it means to "choogle", but I presume that again, it has the same sort of meaning as the term "Pompadus", although judging by the lyrics, it's quite possible that they're talking about something rather ribald.
The first version is the album version, featured on "Bayou Country", their second album.
Creedence Clearwater Revival-"Keep On Chooglin'" (8.66 MB, 157Kbits/second)
http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ArUhX269497/Creedence%20Clearwater%20Revival%20-%2007%20-%20keep%20on%20chooglin.mp3.html
The second version is off of their "The Concert" album, which holds meaning to me as it's the first CD I ever bought, way back in 1996. Yes, it's 11 years old now, but it still plays with hardly any problem. To me, the funniest story of the album is that it was originally released as having been recorded at Royal Albert Hall in England, only to soon be revealed that it was actually recorded in Oakland, California, which has rarely if ever been confused with the Jolly Old UK. To me, I like the album as it has a few of the famous songs from their repertoire, but also has some of their non-hits, which doesn't mean that they weren't good; oh no that's not the case. One example of that is their take on Chooglin', which was played at a faster clip and featured some extra jamming.
Creedence Clearwater Revival-"Keep On Chooglin'" (live, 1-31-70; 12.62 MB 192Kbits/second)
http://www.bestsharing.com/files/GexzG0B269487/Keep%20On%20Chooglin%27%20(Live).MP3.html
The third and final version of the song is another live recording; this time at Woodstock. Yes, they were at Woodstock. It may be hard to believe, as they weren't in the movie nor the soundtrack. The movie link explains that not only were they pissed at the Grateful Dead for running way too long with their set (they were to play next after them) but they thought their performance was below standard (and also, there was said to be some sound problems during the set), so there went most of the proof that they played there. But, the Your Mother Should Know website has the first part of the project by the Woodstock Project (they have no website up currently, unfortunately) to post online all the music from the festival that wasn't in the movie nor the soundtrack. They have the original soundboard mix of their set, which to me I suppose is better than having it come from the tape of some random guy in the crowd, but at the same time it sounds a little "odd" compared to it being recorded and then remastered for record release... but still, this is so rare, you (nor me) should complain about it at all. To me this is done at a pace comparable to the album version, but it has some notably good guitar and harp jamming.
Creedence Clearwater Revival-"Keep On Chooglin'" (live at Woodstock-11.06 MB, 169Kbits/second)
http://www.bestsharing.com/files/ttzSS269493/Creedence%20Clearwater%20Revival-Keep%20on%20Chooglin%27%20(Live%20at%20Woodstock.mp3.html
To me it's a shame that they broke up only a few years after they started having so many hits; it seems hard to believe, as so many of their songs are still heard on the radio today and are well known to so many people. At least they became a band that is still loved by millions of people all across the world.
After an epic post like this (although in the future I may do some posts that dwarf even this entry), I won't be back with another post until the weekend. Hopefully you'll check out the links and you'll try out some of the reviews and/or some of the rarities.
No comments:
Post a Comment