Search - John Fogerty :: Blue Ridge Rangers

A Concept Album? Not Quite, but Close...

Christopher Xavier Cross | Bella Coola, BC, Canada | 03/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With or without his bandmates in Creedence Clearwater Revival, Mr.Fogerty has always been one of the most artless performers that I've ever known; he's certainly never tried to be anything other than the talented singer/songwriter that he is(unlike some acts who adopted grandiose images that they could never continue off-stage: the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues & David Bowie among them...John Lennon called them "Sons of Beatles").And on the face of it, this album is a simple collection of country & western "oldies"(even by 70's standards) whose repertoire is taken from the bluegrass & gospel heroes that inspired the artist in his younger days(similar to the rock & roll "farewell" album that John Lennon would do two years later in 1975).But this album, the Blue Ridge Rangers(his first solo album after disbanding CCR over legal and familial issues), rapidly shows itself to have an underlying thematic unity that reveals itself as one of the most low-key and honest of the "concept albums" that came to maturity in the late sixties.For instance, the name of this album suggests that this is a group-effort being released by someone calling themselves the "Blue Ridge Rangers", but that name is actually taken from one of the songs contained on the album itself, namely 'Blue Ridge Mountain Blues'; and local legend in my hometown claims that Mr.Fogerty handled all of the instrumental/vocal chores on this album all by his lonesome self...a thus-far unverified fact not disputed by the liner notes on the sparse CD booklet(which has no credits and only says: Arranged and Produced by John Fogerty) or by the album cover itself, which features John himself as no less than 5 different members of the Blue Ridge Rangers: Fiddler, Banjo-Picker, Head Singer, Double-bass player & Guitarist.Continuing with this, we have to ask: "Why did a man who was the primary creative focus behind one of music's top acts choose to release an album of Other People's Songs"? The answer is simple, as we see that, except for the cajun good-fun of 'Jambalaya', his selection of songs and the raw emotion that he pours into performing them show an incredible tinge of sadness and loss for something/someone extremely close to him. He pretended to be "Someone Else" and chose to sing "Other People's Songs" simply because "They" could say what he wanted to say easier and less painfully than if he had said it or sung it or written it himself...it was comfort to know that "Someone Else" had gone through what he had went through, that "Someone Else" had been as lonely as he felt right now, lonely enough that he literally had to "be" every single member of a fictional band.This period was so painful that 'Blue Ridge Rangers' is the only album from which he did NOT extract any material for his mid-90's live event extravaganza, 'Premonition'("What about Eye Of The Zombie?", you ask? Well, FYI and UjustME...'Going Back Home' was used as a warm-up and 'Headlines' was used as a sound-check with updated verses; both are among the great bootlegs from that era, if you want to go searching for them).Ultimately, I believe that 'Blue Ridge Rangers' was a cathartic episode for Mr.Fogerty, who was saying goodbye to his old bandmates, and the past in general, while trying hard to look ahead to a brighter future. The beautiful part is that he does so while still somehow managing to turn in an extremely respectable performance, unlike other singers' therapeutic sessions which happened to make it onto the market.I heartily recommend this album, not only to Country & Western or John Fogerty/CCR fans, but also to anyone "into" the revealing side of classic rock albums...I mean, you can easily find any and all of these songs on Other People's Albums, but they would not provide you with any of the insight into the heart and soul of one of Rock's legendary greats."