Customer Reviews

Live in Europe

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Released a year after the disbanding of CCR, this "album" is hardly worth anything other than a historical record of the band's only "live" recordings as a trio. (Tom Fogerty had bailed in early 1971 for a solo "career.")

A blatant attempt to cash in on their now-defunct cash cow, Fantasy kept on repacking the hits in various forms - including this live album from the 1971 European tour. Rumors say that this is actually a rehearsal tape with audience applause dubbed in - and if you listen closely with headphones, it does seem that way. You can almost see the hand on the fader turning up the volume of the "audience" at the end of Bad Moon Rising - and other songs have equally egregious mixing. Not since 1966's "Got Live If You Want It" by The Rolling Stones has there been such a phony live album.

Originally released as a 2-LP set (with Keep On Chooglin' as an entire side!!?!), the CD re-release had lopped off Sweet Hitchhiker (the band's last top-ten hit) and its flip, Door To Door (no great loss, as the in-concert version is no better or worse than its studio counterpart), these two tunes have been restored as part of the six-CD box CCR set.

The music? Without the competent rhythm guitar of departed brother Tom, the sound is obviously thinner than previous tours (listen to "The Concert" for proof) and the song selection had to be geared towards a trio (meaning no Down On The Corner or Lookin' Out My Back Door).

Bottom line - totally unnecessary, unless you're a CCR fanatic. Otherwise, stick with the first six studio albums.

This forgotten live collection has something its sister "The Concert" (at the Royal Albert Hall) doesn't; "Live In Europe" reveals the band's final era, that is, reduced to a trio of John Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford, after the exodus of guitarist Tom Fogerty. Today, CCR is notorious for the long-existing feud between John Fogerty and the Cook/Clifford end, and "Live In Europe" captures their short stand as a trio, without the tension and bitterness of their last studio album "Mardi Gras."
Culled from the best of their European shows, the three-man band is found playing their hearts out with such vigor and commitment that one often forgets that they were near their breaking point (even if the sound quality is a bit muttering in effects). The most exciting cuts are probably 'Hey Tonight' and the exhilirating 'It Came Out Of the Sky,' while the medley of 'Green River' and 'Suzie Q' is just as entertaining, and Fogerty's vocals on 'Born On the Bayou' are almost more soulful than his performance on the studio version. However, two great tracks that appeared on the original vinyl issue are missing--Stu Cook's 'Door To Door' boasted such an infectious rock harmony that it's a wonder "Rolling Stone" hated it, and Fogerty's 'Sweet Hitch-Hiker' was the band's last hit single.
Nonetheless, the absence of these tracks will only affect those who heard the vinyl release first, and this CD issue of "Live in Europe" is good enough to pass for recommending before "The Concert."

CCR as a trio had a spare sound that did breathe new life into some of their classic songs. While Tom Fogerty was greatly missed, John Fogerty does an admirable job on guitar holding the CCR sound together. I'd actually give this CD two stars for the sound quality. It's muddy, hissy and sounds like it was mastered from a 2nd or 3rd generation copy.

If you're a hardcore CCR fan, the boxed set has this CD remastered and with superior sound. Additionally, the CD features two tracks not on this CD. Live in Europe proves that they were professionals to the end but The Concert (recorded for at an Oakland, California show for a television special)is far superior (The Concert also benefits from the remastering as part of the boxed set).

Skip this one and go for one of their classic albums.

I'm a bit reluctant to give this album all of four stars, beacuse it's really not a very good live album, but I'm going to do it anyway because of the strenght of the material recorded here. "CCR Live in Europe" contains live renditions of 12 great Fogerty compositions such as "Proud Mary", "Lodi", "Travelin' Band" and "Up Around The Bend", but the sound is pretty bad, and the departure of rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty dosn't make things any better. Unless you're a true CCR afficionado (in which case this album is quite interesting), you'll be better of with the other CCR live album, "The Concert", which has a much better sound. Or you could get both of them!

this is a great testament of the energy that CCR had on stage until the very end. Unfortunately, the concert starts out with a rather routine performance of Born on the Bayou, which may dampen listener enthusiasm initially. After that the band starts to really roll, starting with Green River/Suzie Q, peaking with Traveling Band and Fortunate Son, and very enjoyable versions of Lodi, Bad Moon Rising and Proud Mary. I really appreciate that the three players seem to be enjoying the performance. The sound is slightly muddled, which gives the disk a "garage-band sound"...it sounds a little bit like you are listening from just off-stage at the show.

Others have commented that this may include crowd sounds edited in. I don't know about that, but the crowd certaining seems realistic and the performance is no doubt from the tour.

Definately worth 5-10 bucks for the great songs and energetic showmanship.

I read a couple of the reviews that accuse Fantasy of "faking" the live aspect of this album by dubbing in the audience. I've never noticed that, and I've had this album since 1973, when it was first released on vinyl.

Granted, the Cd version does short change the listener by leaving off a couple of songs, but that is easily remedied by purchasing the vinyl copy

if you can find one. The thing I want to say about the album and the tour from which it came is, why couldn't Creedence replace Tom and his rhythm guitar for at leat the duration of the tour? Creedence always had an uncomplicated sound to begin with, and the absence of a second guitar does reveal the simplicity of their sound so why not pull in a player for the tour.

But, I am speaking of 1971, and not 2006 where it is considered the norm for artists to drag along seven extras to replicate their sound on stage.

Witness the Eagles and their recent tours, to understand my meaning.

Perhaps J.F. wanted to keep Creedence simple, and, perhaps, keep more of the profits. Who knows? All I'm saying is CCR would have benefited from an extra guitar on stage after Tom's departure. It could also have afforded John the opportunity to perform some of CCR's more recent keyboard oriented songs. Oh well, it's a good album and probably done "really" live.

It's a good album and a fine documentary of CCR's final days as a working band.

If you are new to CCR, this CD is really not for you. You should look for Chronicles 1 and 2, and then for the regular albums. But, if you are a CCR fan, this CD is a good place to see how important Tom Fogerty was for CCR. In some trakcs (specially "Up Around the Bend") you'll probabilly miss Tom's guitar. Anyway, it is a good album, with great songs (most of my favs are here). The sound quality could be better (vocals are just too high and bass is really low). If you want to buy a live CCR album, look for The Concert. It is not an excellent album too, but it is better.

This is an interesting album in that it showcases how important Tom Fogerty was to the CCR sound. John does an admirable job of trying to hold down the guitar parts single-handedly on this recording, but the real feel isn't there. An interesting item for serious Creedence fans (I've got one), but not the best representation of the band.

There are rumors that this was a "fake" live recording. Even if it was, I don't care-I like the way it sounds. It has much more muscle than any other CCR album. Sounds like hard rock. Tom Fogerty is absent, but the trio sounds great. Keep On Chooglin' is about 13 minutes long with some of Pagan Baby in the middle.

The item listed here on Amazon states 14 tracks, but earlier CD releases only have 12. Sweet Hitchhiker and Door to Door are missing, so beware if buying used. It was common for double live albums to have songs chopped off to fit on a single CD, but this one is less than an hour. I still don't know why the songs were left off.

If you ever listen closly to this "live" recording, you can hear the same applause after each song. There are some dead giveaways here, such as a distant banging sound, followed by some feedback and each time you can hear it with the same yelling and applause. Just bad stuff Fantasy!

I've heard that the rehersal tapes (for that very tour of Europe) were used, then some crowd noise was added to the mix. As rehersals go, they aren't bad performances, but the mix is muddy.

I've long since sold my copy.

A better live album to buy from this time period is, MADE IN JAPAN by Deep Purple. No overdubs, no fake crowd, just good live music!