"Revival"

While the brain batteries charge after a weekend of work followed by two days away from home at a conference, and while I organize my thoughts about Bruce Springsteen's remarkable Magic, I just want to quickly note another new album, one from one of the all-time greats: John Fogerty, the auteur behind the greatest American rock band of all time, has a new album, Revival, that I hope doesn't get lost in the shuffle and the hoopla over the new Bruce. Probably not the best marketing ploy to have it come out on the same day, but what's done is done.

This is just a quick hit, but to these ears, it easily sounds like the best thing Fogerty's done since Creedence. The voice sounds good and strong; Fogerty's lead guitar playing is as good as it's ever been; the band, led by the great drummer Kenny Aronoff, is tight and crisp; and best yet, John is rocking like he hasn't in years. A couple of songs, "It Ain't Right" and "I Can't Take It No More," sound like they could have been recorded for Green River or Willie and the Poor Boys, nearly forty years ago. And whether one agrees or not with the politics of the latter song, it sure sounds good to hear him getting political again.

But my favorite song so far is "Creedence Song," proof positive that after all these years, Fogerty is completely comfortable with all that went down after Creedence endured one of the most acrimonious band breakups in the history of rock 'n roll. On this one, he sounds positively giddy:

Well Daddy took a shine
To the lil' girl behind the counter
She was movin' her hips to the swamp beat
Right on time
Said could he play her somethin'
Over there on the jukebox
She said you can't go wrong
If you play a little bit of that
Creedence song

Indeed.