Audio CD (January 15, 1993)
Original Release Date: July 1970
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Gold CD
Label: Dcc Compact Classics
Track Listing:
1. Ramble Tamble
2. Before You Accuse Me
3. Travelin' Band
4. Ooby Dooby
5. Lookin' Out My Back Door
6. Run Through The Jungle
7. Up Around The Bend
8. My Baby Left Me
9. Who'll Stop The Rain
10. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
11. Long As I Can See The Light
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording[
If, as many contend, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the foremost
singles rock band of its time, Cosmo's Factory is the ultimate
end-of-the-'60s singles album. Indeed, seven of the album's 11
tracks turn up on Chronicle, CCR's best hits collection. That said,
Cosmo's is really a must-own in its entirety. No other album so
adeptly laces together the various strands of the CCR sound.
John Fogerty's ready-for-AM-radio knack surfaces in "Lookin' Out
My Back Door" and "Up Around the Bend." His sober side is in
evidence on "Who'll Stop the Rain" and "Long As I Can See the
Light." And no white group of its time could cover black music
with as much natural flair; check out the 11-minute cover of
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for proof. The band broke up
two albums after the release of this, their apex LP, but Cosmo's
Factory cemented CCR's standing as a great American band.
--Steven Stolder
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Throughout 1969 and into 1970, CCR toured incessantly and recorded
nearly as much. Appropriately, Cosmo's Factory's first single was
the working band's anthem "Travelin' Band," a funny, piledriving
rocker with a blaring horn section -- the first indication their
sonic palette was broadening. Two more singles appeared prior to
the album's release, backed by John Fogerty originals that rivaled
the A-side or paled just slightly. When it came time to assemble a
full album, Fogerty had only one original left, the claustrophobic,
paranoid rocker "Ramble Tamble." Unlike some extended instrumentals
this was dramatic and had a direction -- a distinction made clear
by the meandering jam that brings CCR's version of "I Heard It
Through the Grapevine" to 11 minutes. Even if it wanders, their
take on the Marvin Gaye classic isn't unpleasant, and their
faithful, exuberant takes on the Sun classics "Ooby Dooby" and "My
Baby Left Me" are joyous tributes. Still, the heart of the album
lays in those six fantastic songs released on singles. "Up Around
the Bend" is a searing rocker, one of their best, balanced by the
menacing murkiness of "Run Through the Jungle." "Who'll Stop the
Rain"'s poignant melody and melancholy undertow has a counterpart
in Fogerty's dope song, "Lookin' out My Back Door," a charming,
bright shuffle, filled with dancing animals and domestic bliss -
he had never been as sweet and silly as he is here. On "Long as I
Can See the Light," the record's final song, he again finds solace
in home, anchored by a soulful, laid-back groove. It hits a
comforting, elegiac note, the perfect way to draw Cosmo's Factory
-- an album made during stress and chaos, filled with raging
rockers, covers, and intense jams -- to a close.
AMG:
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