The 1985 Project Part 10 - John Fogerty - Centerfield

If you add up multiple appearances of part of the song at every baseball game, "Centerfield" might be one of the most played songs in history

Thirteen years after the last Creedence Clearwater Revival hit singles, and ten years after the second solo album he had released, John Fogerty’s spectacular success with his third album Centerfield was tailor made to seem like a triumphant return of a major artist. That it is clearly a very good record, with eight out of nine songs at the very least capable of being album filler on the excellent CCR records of their brief heyday, made it almost impossible to dismiss. Hence, it garnered enough critical support to come in at no. 10 on the Village Voice Pazz and Jop Poll in 1985.

First thing I noticed listening to it again was the ridiculously great sound Fogerty achieved recording all the instruments and vocals himself. I mean, if you can find a better example of post eight-track recording of two guitars, bass, drums, an occasional organ or horn, and vocals, with a cleanness and sharpness and perfect amount of reverb, I’d love to know it. In 1986, Fogerty followed this record up with an abomination of 80s production tricks, Eye of the Zombie, one of the most inexplicable misconnections of artists with sonics I’ve ever heard.

Second thing about Centerfield is the craft involved in Fogerty’s songwriting. For about three years in the CCR days, he seemed capable of generating four to six stone cold classics every year, and after “Almost Saturday Night” and “Rockin’ All Over the World” on 1975’s self-titled classic of 70s cut-out bins, he never again approached that level. But he can always be counted on to write songs with clever imagery, strong catch phrases, a connection to rock’n’roll roots, and pure emotional feeling. The best songs here – “Old Man Down the Road” (which was the actual hit single from the album, though nowhere near the most familiar song of the last 40 years), “Rock and Roll Girls,” “Searchlight” and the ubiquitous title track – are all carefully distilled examples of musical expression.

“Centerfield” itself has been perhaps dulled by overexposure – I hope he gets a penny or three for every one of the millions of times it’s been played at baseball games by now. (It’s also completely random that this record shows up in my project the week major league baseball opens its season.) But in addition to putting into sound the same kind of joy a kid can get from playing the game or an adult can experience from watching it at the highest level, Fogerty expertly weaves all sorts of homages to great players, experiences, and even songs of the past. I can’t believe I never noticed the Chuck Berry quote about Jackie Robinson – ‘Roundin’ third and headin’ for home, it was a brown eyed handsome Man” – before. The second verse mixes allusions to Casey at the Bat” with mentions of Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, and Joe DiMaggio with an appearance by the kid let down by Shoeless Joe Jackson in the Black Sox scandal. And then it’s time to express the desire to play baseball himself in the last two verses. It’s really a terrific tribute to such a huge part of American culture.

Wrong turns? Well, “Mr. Greed” sounds good, but is a little on the nose for.a guy who wrote protest songs like “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “Bad Moon Rising.” And then there’s “Zanz Can’t Dance” changed to “Vanz Can’t Dance” as if the courts wouldn’t believe he was singing about Saul Zaentz, head of Fantasy Records who had control of all the Creedence songs and records. I’m not saying insulting Zaentz was a bad thing in and of itself, though he was probably no worse than most record moguls and he did release (and re-release) a significant chunk of jazz (and soul) history over the years. But, really, the song is not inspired, and it goes on twice as long as it deserves to, ending the album on a sour note.

Here's one of those oddities about myself. I don’t always notice obvious things. So, as owner of the album, and as record store employee, I’ve touched Centerfield hundreds of times these past forty years. I swear, I never noticed the old baseball glove on the front cover before today. Don’t ask me what I thought was there. I expect it blended in with the background behind the lettering of the album title.

I will give this one 8 out of 10 points.