Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country

Bayou Country was the second studio album by CCR, a follow up to the debut that included their hit cover of "Susie Q". On this one, they eclipsed their previous sales with not one, but two huge hits - "Born on the Bayou" and "Proud Mary". Although he had never (at the time) been to Louisiana, Fogerty perfectly captured the sounds and imagery of the area in this record and especially on the groovin' "Born on the Bayou".

From that initial cut, we move into the chooglin', bluesy "Bootleg" that ends up sounding like a Voodoo chant coming from John, followed by the slow, insistent, hypnotically menacing "Graveyard Train". A high energy, guitar-based "Good Golly Miss Molly" is quite successful, as is the slower, blues-based "Penthouse Pauper". Of course, "Proud Mary" was their massive, breakthrough hit and, like everyone else, I dug it a lot at the time, but now I think its mid-tempo folkiness makes it one of their less interesting numbers. But, they close out the record with another swampy groove in "Keep on Chooglin'" for a excellent ending.

Damn near everything that CCR did in their short career is worthwhile and this is certainly one of their best and most consistent albums.