John Fogerty: The Long Road Home - In Concert

It’s typical for a performance DVD to be released either with or after the release of the CD version. In something of a departure from the normal pattern John Fogerty’s The Long Road Home – In Concert -- a two-CD "digipak" -- comes four months after the release of the DVD. I mention this because I found the listening experience to be subtly but noticeably different between the two.

Fogerty-CCR 101

The concert was recorded in September 2005 at Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, shortly after Fogerty’s triumphant return to Fantasy Records, ending a 30-year series of lawsuits over the Creedence Clearwater Revival song catalog, most of which was written by CCR founder Fogerty.

His obvious delight to be performing those songs again was enthusiastically obvious in that performance, and you can feel it on the CD, even if you haven’t seen it on the DVD.

Some artists, when separated from the band with which they became famous, lose a little of their original luster. Not so with John Fogerty. Like Neil Young without Crazy Horse, Bruce Sprinsteen without the E Street Band or Bob Seger without the Silver Bullet Band, John Fogerty without CCR is an example of an artist who transcends the group. In many ways, Fogerty was CCR, having made it immediately identifiable with his voice, and memorable by his songs.

Change Is Good

What I missed when watching the DVD were some subtle but effective vocal "hooks" -- a slight change of emphasis on a word here, a small shift of key there, a just perceptible change in the interpretation of an occasional phrase. With the DVD, I must have gotten more into watching the performance than to listening to it, and initially missed these entertaining little gems.

Fogerty's voice and music still have the same distinctive sound and feel that they had during CCR's life between 1959 (yes, 1959) and 1972. Although Fogerty is the only former member of CCR involved, the music is true to the original, with fresh interpretations in both vocals and instrumentation that make it better.

With Fogerty once again performing these songs, one wonders how Creedence Clearwater Revisited, which features the other original CCR members, Stu Cook and Doug "Cosmo" Clifford, will fare in the future.

See Also:

The Long Road Home DVD

Bottom Line

It would be great to have both the DVD and CD versions, but if you have to choose one or the other, get the CD. You can fill in the blanks with your imagination and your memories.

Listen to samples of all 27 tracks