Twelve covers cherry-picked from Creedence’s albums

Early in their career as both a live band and a recording unit, Creedence was fond of covering material they loved. They rarely had hits this way, but they often managed to absorb even well known hits into the swampy Creedence universe. This new collection pulls together twelve covers that have been cherry-picked from Creedence’s studio albums. The only hits in the lot are single edits of Dale Hawkins’ “Suzie Q,” and the post-breakup release of Cosmos’ Factory’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” Both singles forgo the lengthy psychedelic jamming that made them such essential album tracks. The rest of the collection is a good look at the group’s influences, but only a few of the covers beyond the two singles, notably “The Midnight Special,” and “Cotton Fields” truly benefit from the Creedence treatment. When mixed in with Fogerty’s originals, the original album’s cover songs provided linkage to his songwriting and performing influences, but drawn onto a separate disc, they don’t always add up to anything as profound as the group’s originals. With only 12-tracks and a 40-minute running time this collection is no substitute for any of the group’s first five original albums. If you want hits, you’re better off with Creedence’s greatest original hits rather than Creedence’s covers of other people’s greatest hits. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]