"Fogerty sticks with what works" (Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel)
Former CCR frontman finds energy in old, familiar tunes
By Jon M. Gilbertson
John Fogerty's performance at the Riverside Theater Thursday night was little more than an oldies-but-goodies show.
However, his oldies were particularly packed with goodness.
Fogerty is, without doubt, best known for his days (from 1967 to 1972) fronting Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the few bands of its era not overtly influenced by the British Invasion.
Perhaps for that reason, the CCR sound - a radio dial spun through transmissions from the Grand Ole Opry, tent revivals and Sun Records sessions - remains undeniably heady, even after decades of repetition on classic-rock radio.
Fogerty's voice, a raw and throaty thing seemingly spawned by Southern swamps (although the man himself is from California), was an inseparable part of that sound, and so it remained Thursday night.
Age had put lines in his face, but it has (apart from a touch of flatness) largely left his vocal cords untouched.
With jovial pride, he romped through plenty of CCR and solo material: the opening-day joy of "Centerfield," the defiant denial of "Fortunate Son," the busker's delight of "Down on the Corner" and the Bakersfield-style hoedown of "Lookin' Out My Back Door."
He also slipped in a few other oldies from his current covers album, "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again." (The title refers to his 1973 debut, also a covers album.)
The Everly Brothers' "When Will I Be Loved" got a two-step makeover; John Denver's "Back Home Again" made use of Fogerty's knack for music about travel; and John Prine's "Paradise" could've passed for one of Fogerty's own sadly nostalgic songs.
Throughout the show, Fogerty was supported by a seven-piece band that played with what might be called enthusiastic professionalism.
Drummer Kenny Aronoff, fiddle and mandolin player Jason Mowery and pedal-steel guitarist James Pennebaker were particularly good at mixing the business of doing their parts with the pleasure of giving them a little extra juice.
There was the added pleasure of Fogerty unearthing some dustier jewels, including the appropriately chugging "Keep on Chooglin'" and "Rambunctious Boy," a C&W song that modern-country radio has to discover sooner or later.
Neither the audience nor Fogerty had any problems discovering the goodies.
