John Fogerty
Blue Moon Swamp

THE REVIEW

Are you heading off on a vacation? Do you have to tackle a journey on some deserted road? Well, then do whatever you can to get this album, load it into your car's player when packing, lower the windows at departure (as long as it’s not raining) and… OFF YOU GO!

Good old Johnny, in 1997, reemerges from a long discographic absence, a solid 11 years since the not so stellar “Eye of the Zombie,” mainly due to the well-known disputes with his old record company, Fantasy. He was even forced not to sing his old Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in public to avoid enriching the sharks any further, and he lands the punch of the old lion.

“Blue Moon Swamp” is indeed a great album, perhaps not an absolute masterpiece, but a splendid little record that revisits in its own way the vast sea of American musical tradition. It starts with a country piece, “Southern Streamline,” and then continues with some tracks destined to become his future staples like “Hot Rod Heart” (pure rock'n'roll) and the great swamp-rock of “Blueboy.” There’s even room for a gospel-like track, with the addition of a black chorus (“A Hundred and Ten in the Shade”). The journey can then continue with some rock rides like “Rattlesnake Highway” and “Bring It Down to Jerry Roll,” which perhaps steals a bit from the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women” (but it’s a small “theft” that one can forgive from someone like him).

“Walking in a Hurricane”: if this track had been on an early '80s Springsteen album, it would be a world-acclaimed anthem, but that’s not the case, the album certainly didn’t get the radio promotion it could have easily deserved. “Swamp River Days” is also beautiful, the temptation I had the first time I heard it in the car was to stop the car in a clearing, get out, and dance… Standard procedure for “Rambunctious Boy” (it’s the track on the album that perhaps left the least impression on me), then there’s a ballad where John makes eyes at his wife (“Joy of My Life”) and then two rock’n’rolls, “Blue Moon Nights” and “Bad Bad Boy,” that close this excellent album in a fitting manner.

Excellent for many reasons, first and foremost the high-level music it contains, and also because in that year no one expected John Fogerty. He then resumed performing high-quality concerts, as evidenced by the fantastic live album from the following year, “Premonition,” which I plan to discuss soon. Evidently, during that period, he had regained the inner peace that he had been missing for a while due to his troubles (death of his brother Tom in 1990 due to a blood transfusion through which he contracted AIDS, the aforementioned legal issues, etc.).

Furthermore, I have also seen the recently released DVD, “The Long Road Home,” documenting a 2005 concert: exceptional, don’t miss it if you can.