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Various Artists A Blues Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival Review by Gary Hill I think I might argue with calling this a “blues tribute.” A lot of it doesn’t really feel like the blues to me. Still, apparently most (if not all) the artists are considered blues artists. The thing is, it doesn’t matter how you label it, this is great stuff. They took a good selection of some Creedence Clearwater Revival’s best music and created new versions of them. All are done with reverence, but many are pretty big departures. This is a great set, either way. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Fortunate Son - Mike Zito & Sonny Landreth Take the original CCR tune and bring in some crunchy hard rock. You’ll have a good idea of what this sounds like. I enjoy this one a lot. The instrumental sections, and particularly the guitar soloing, smokes.

Bad Moon Rising - The Mynabirds There is sort of a dream pop sound to this thing. I’m not sure I’d call it “blues.” I’d definitely call it “cool,” though. It rocks out with a lot of style and charm.

Proud Mary - Blitzen Trapper There is a bit of electronic music element to this thing. It’s again, not really blues as far as I’m concerned. It’s an interesting tune, though. It doesn’t hold up as well as some of the other stuff here.

Down on the Corner - Spirit Family Reunion This does have some blues in the mix. It’s more of a down-home, back porch blues, It’s mixed with folk and Dixieland music. It’s another fun cut. It’s one of the better pieces here, actually.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain - Dead Man Winter Folk and country merge on this acoustic treatment. It’s one of the highlights here.

Looking Out My Back Door – LeRoux This has a lot of country music, plus a lot of good old rock and roll. It’s another of the standouts. It’s just so much fun.

Who’ll Stop The Rain - Duke Robillard To me, this piece has some blues built into it. It’s made up of more country and Grateful Dead styled jam band sounds, though. It’s quite an effective number, either way.

Up Around the Bend - South Memphis String Band Although the slide guitar brings some blues to the table, this is more or less a roots based alternative rock cut. It’s high energy and quite classy.

Susie Q - Will Wilde Now, this is definitely bluesy. I love the harmonica on the piece. Somehow I’m also reminded of the Doors a bit here. This screamer has some early Zeppelin in the mix, as well. This one really rocks. It’s another highlight.

Run through the Jungle - Smokin Joe Kubek & Bnois King There is a real psychedelic rock vibe here. It’s got some blues in the mix, too. This is another killer rocker.

Green River - Kirk Fletcher This is more pure blues for sure. It’s a hard rocking blues. It’s also arguably the best number here. I love the whole arrangement, but I’m particularly crazy about the guitar solo.

Born on the Bayou - Trampled Under Foot The vocals on this make me think of Koko Taylor. The whole song does a great job of combining a real blues sound with a rock arrangement. This is another great one.

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