Customer Reviews

Mardi Gras

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Creedence Clearwater Revival released their final album, 'Mardi Gras', four years after thier amazing self-titled debut rocketed them to superstardom. This album, was to be however, their most unique, misunderstood, and unsuccessful effort, commercially. It was however, the group's most ambitious album ever. This record never worked for several reasons: First, founding member, rhythm guitarist (and brother of frontman John)Tom Fogerty had already departed prior to this project; Also, Lead guitarist (and up until this album, the only vocalist)John Fogerty had finally relinquished his "lead man" duties to satisfy the musical urges of the two remaining members. The now trio split the songwriting and vocal duties equally. And finally, the formula of this record was doomed because the overall musical feel on this recording was a little unique for CCR - 1972 country, at a time when country simply wasn't cool. Aside from all that, this album should not be taken too seriously, considering its overall fun attitude and lightheartedness. True, this is definitely CCR's worst album, but it is a fun listen if you have an open ear. Lead guitarist John Fogerty was the most obvious example of country delvings in his songs. "Looking For A Reason" will probably remain the oddest choice ever by a constantly successful group for an opening track, and probably the weakest. It was pretty clear Fogerty's heart wasn't put into this album, as he was thinking of future ventures. Despite this, two of his four songs were the only tunes on this album to become minimal hits, and it is fair to say that "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" is an EXCELLLENT rock song. It is probably the only sign anywhere on 'Mardi Gras' of past Creedence triumphs. Bassist Stu Cook brought a unique flavor to this album with his songs. His vocals were mediocre at best, but his songwriting was intriguing at worst. Also, his tune "Door To Door", despite its ridiculous lyrics, was a pretty rocking song. Last but not least, drummer Doug Clifford brought the most enthusiasm and effort on this album. His voice was ear friendly, and harmonizes very well on songs like "Need Someone To Hold". Finally, I gave this album for one reason, and one reason only: Despite being CCR's ugly duckling, I gave this album MANY listens trying to like it and eventually, I did. If you are new to Creedence Clearwater Revival's music, this is definitely the worst representation of their musical legacy as a whole is. 'Mardi Gras' probably won't make a new listener a CCR fan, but it is a fun and care-free final album; perhaps the way all swan songs should be.

This is CCR's last album. Tom Fogerty had already left the band. Tom left because of John's dominance, and Stu Cook and Doug Clifford were aching to get their songs and voices heard. So John let Stu Cook and Doug Clifford share songwriting and production chores for this final album. It was a disaster for Stu and Doug, but not for John. Stu Cook and Doug Clifford's songs are, at worst, horrible, and, at best, just average. Musically, they're not bad, but they aren't exceptional, like John's are. Lyrically, they're horrible. Vocally, the songs are miles below horrible. Stu Cook has one of the worst voices I've ever heard, and Doug Clifford's voice, while not as godawful as Cook's, isn't much to sing about either. Cook's lead vocal on Sail Away is hilariously bad. It makes me laugh more than most modern comedies. John Fogerty's contributions to the album, Lookin' for a Reason, Someday Never Comes, Sweet Hitchhiker, and the cover of Hello Mary Lou are great CCR songs. They are worth buying the CD for. But man, the rest of it sucks. Fogerty was doing Stu and Doug a favour by not letting them sing and/or write anything. It's a shame that they had to break up like this, but it had to be done...

On their 7th album, CCR lost Tom Fogerty-- and for the first time, Stu Cook & Doug Clifford got to write & sing. The results are mixed... Cook's "Take It Like A Friend" and "Sail Away" are more irritating than ANY "questionable" tunes on the previous 6 albums-- but his "Door To Door" is a pretty good rocker (and "B" side). Clifford's "Need Someone To Hold" and "Tearin' Up The Country" are TOP-NOTCH! Fogerty's "Lookin' For A Reason" is in the same ballpark, and almost a preview of his next project. "Someday Never Comes" is a sad, honest look at family abandonment-- a good song, even if not one of my faves. John also does "Hello Mary Lou", though in this case the cover sounds a bit "stiff". Rick Nelson, though, would repay the favor 9 years later by doing one of John's songs on his PLAYING TO WIN album. Oh yeah, and leftover from the previous summer is one of my FAVORITE CCR singles-- "Sweet Hitch-Hiker". Probably the first CCR song I actually heard on the radio, my brother and I spent some time trying to figure out the name of this song! Considering John "stepped aside" here-- and after went on his own, it seems a shame his brother Tom left before this. Could CCR have "made it" as a real group effort had they stuck with it? This seems like a pretty decent "start". Sadly, we'll never know.

Reviewer: Middle aged man "Stu" (United States) - See all my reviews

As many people obviously know by now, this album marked the low point for Creedence. It starts off ok with a slow country song, thankfully penned by J Fogerty. Adequate, but certainly not up to his usual standards.
Nothing could prepare me for the next track- "Take it like a friend" written by bassist Stu Cook. It has to be one of the worst songs to make it on an album by a band of this stature. When I first heard it on vinyl many years ago, I thought the record was jumping. It wasn't. The 'vocalist' sounds like a tone deaf drunken man vocalizing to a random backing track, which skips sporadically. After hearing it the first time, I felt bewildered, disoriented, and finally angry. I have almost gotten over this now, but I am just cautioning you so that you can mentally prepare yourself. I wish there had been someone there to warn me. If you can survive this track, you should be ok. Don't give up---there is a glimmer of hope on the distant horizon......
Cook's other 2 tracks -"Sail away" and "Door to door" are instantly forgettable, but a vast improvement over "Take it like a friend" (which I wish I could forget, but I just can't)
Drummer Doug Clifford tries his writing and singing skills on two tracks "Tearin' up the country" & ""What are you gonna do?"-both instantly forgettable.
Ditto for the Clifford-Cook song "Need someone to hold"
"Some day never comes" is another J Fogerty track. Better than the opening track, but still not one of my favorite Fogerty songs.
A cover version of "Hello Mary Lou" does not help matters.
Last track on the album- "Sweet Hitch-hiker is the final song by J Fogerty. I gave the 3-stars for this song alone. After you have suffered through the rest of the album, this track stands alone like a beacon of hope. There is hope! It was the only thing that prevented me from throwing my vinyl record version on the floor, stomping on it in a fit of bleary anger, many many moons ago.
Do yourself a favor, and just skip to the last track.
Remastering cannot help most of the songs on this album, but it is well worth the price of admission for "Sweet hitch-hiker". I just wish there was a warning sticker on the case..."Beware-some of these track can have serious side effects. Not advisable to drive or operate heavy machinery whilst listening to track two "......

If you are a casual fan of CCR, then there are certainly better discs to get (i.e., Green River, Willy and the Poorboys) or any compilation should suffice. However, the John Fogerty contributions to this album are worth the price of this disc. "Lookin For A Reason" and "Hello Mary Lou" foreshadow the direction Fogerty was to take with The Blue Ridge Rangers. "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" rocks with the best of any CCR tune. But the gem here is "Someday Never Comes". Fogerty has written a classic song that seems to be forgotten amongst an often maligned effort by the group. Yet the songs contributed by Stu Cook and Doug Clifford are listenable and tuneful. Sure, this was not their best effort, but no Creedence collection is truly complete without this record. If your looking for the "hits" look elsewhere. If you are a real fan of this once great American Band then you should complete the journey that began with "Suzie Q" to experience the full metamorphosis of CCR.

they don't call this album "fogertys' revenge" for nothing. Doug and Stew wanted to write and sing in the worst way, - they did.

This is the last studio album recorded by CCR and was recorded as a three
piece since the departure of Tom Fogerty. Although his presence is not missed by the band you can really tell that they were running on fumes by then. I only purchased this cd to complete my Creedence collection.

After Tom Fogerty left, John decided for some reason to make CCR seem like a "band effort" (come on, everyone knows John's the main force behind Creedence!), so he let remaining members Cosmo Clifford and Stu Cook take a few compositions. Oops. Stu Cook's "tragic trilogy" of Take It Like a Friend, Sail Away and Door to Door are despicable, and who needs another crappy song called Sail Away? I have yet to hear a song I LIKE called Sail Away. Now, Cosmo's tunes aren't that bad (other than Tearin' Up the Country, which I think may be worse than even Sail Away), but we gotta bust out the theory of relativity here. And when they put their heads together to write Need Someone To Hold, they come off like two-thirds of the Three Stooges. They also cover a Gene Pitney composition (originally done by Ricky Nelson or thereabouts), Hello Mary Lou. Draw your own conclusions.
So it's up to John to save the day, and he ALMOST does! Two of his three songs are quite hard to beat - the ballad Someday Never Comes is full of feeling and meaning, and Sweet Hitchiker is another roots-rock classic. I say two of his three because Lookin' for a Reason is bad as the rest.
Stay far away from this... Creedence has good albums, but this ain't one.

...this album just blows. Not enough John, too much of Doug & Stu. Neither one of them can sing. I thought the Grateful Dead's 'Pigpen' was bad...

3 and a half stars, actually. Here's the thing about "Mardi Gras": this is my least favorite CCR album, but it's far from deserving of a one or two star review. This is still John Fogerty and the boys (one less than the lineup on "Pendulum", of course) pounding out good-ol-boy rock with ease. The thing about "Mardi Gras" that makes it so disconcerting for most people is the inclusion of Stu and Doug on vocals for 6 of the 10 tracks. While Stu can't sing very well (and that takes away from the otherwise pretty good "Take It Like A Friend"), Doug can, in a pleasant, easy-going drawl that is a nice addition to the album (check out "What Are You Gonna Do?" for proof). The Fogerty tracks aren't his personal best, but they're still quite good. "Someday Never Comes" is a nice piece of songwriting, and the cover of "Hello Mary Lou" works surprisingly well. The bottom line on "Mardi Gras" is this: it's recommended for anyone who wants the full CCR experience, beginning to end, but it's not the best place to start for the casual fan. It's better than average, but the reason most people are disappointed with it is because it doesn't quite meet the incredibly high standards albums like "Cosmo's Factory", "Green River" and "Willy and the Poor Boys" set for Creedence Clearwater Revival.