The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty - Creedence Collection

First compilation to feature both Fogerty's classic Creedence hits and his solo recordings

John Cameron Fogerty achieved fame as the lead singer/songwriter and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and has since gone on to a chart-topping solo career. Born in Berkeley, CA, Fogerty and his brother Tom organized the group that would become Creedence as the Golliwogs in the late '50s. As Creedence, they released nine Top Ten singles, all written by Fogerty, between 1969 and 1971. They also scored eight gold albums between 1968 and 1972, all fueled by Fogerty's simple, driving rock songs and his burly baritone, intoning deceptively poetic and even political lyrics. Creedence split up in 1972. The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection is the first compilation to feature both Fogerty's classic Creedence hits and his solo recordings of the '80s and '90s. This was released on the occasion of his return to Fantasy Records, the label where he began his career, in 2005. He may have started his recording career there, but he had a bitter falling out with the label's owner, Saul Zaentz, in the '70s, which lead to lawsuits and a self-imposed embargo on Fogerty performing Creedence material, since that music evoked too many bad memories. In 2005, Zaentz was no longer with Fantasy and the label courted Fogerty with an offer, which he eventually accepted, with The Long Road Home being the first release in the new contract.

The Long Road Home features four new energetic live tracks

This comprehensive retrospective features, for the first time ever, all of the songwriter's most poignant and enduring hits. With its non-linear order, The Long Road Home chronicles the winding path of Fogerty's artistic output over its 25 tracks, ranging from Creedence's late-1960s/early-'70s material (the swampy Born on a Bayou, the wistful Have You Ever Seen the Rain?) to Fogerty's successful mid-'80s work (the baseball anthem Centerfield) to his late-'90s comeback (the revved-up Hot Rod Heart from the GRAMMY Award-winning CD Blue Moon Swamp). Since The Long Road Home focuses on Fogerty's own songs, a few beloved Creedence cover tunes are absent, but fans will be rewarded by four new energetic live versions of Hey Tonight, Bootleg, Keep on Chooglin', and blistering Fortunate Son that were recorded in 2005 during Fogerty's tour of the United States.

One of the greatest songwriters of the rock & roll era

John Fogerty was probably the last person who thought he'd ever be on Fantasy Records again. But now the war between Creedence Clearwater Revival mastermind and the band's old label – a struggle among the most bitter and prolonged in rock and roll history – has finally ended. And the first result of that historic reunion is as deeply satisfying as a Creedence collection should be. Given Fogerty's tumultuous history with the company, this reunion proved to be especially significant, and allowed for the first retrospective of the revered performer's entire career. It certainly has been The Long Road Home for this American icon. All Fogerty ever wanted was recognition, credit, and the respect of his work from the label, finally, he has it. He feels as if the label is honoring his artistry. And indeed, they are with this spectacular release. Everything is remastered for a second time around and the results are fantastic. The collection is enormously entertaining. It's not just a good summary and introduction, but it's proof positive that Fogerty is one of the greatest songwriters of the rock & roll era.