The mighty Ripple Music
will unleash a mammoth double LP celebrating the music of Creedence Clearwater
Revival, better known as CCR, titled Burn
on the Bayou on December 8th. This massive project had been in
the works for years as I seem to remember first hearing echoes of it and even glimpsing
the cover art back on Ripple’s Twitter account as far back as early 2021. It’s
finally come to fruition, and man, was it ever worth the wait!
Featuring a stellar cast
of Ripple Music’s stable of bands, we have a little something for all tastes
here, from heavy rock, classic rock, stoner, heavy psych, doom, and almost
everything in between. Every important CCR song is covered and the renditions
are terrific for the most part. It’s pretty impressive when you put together a
compilation of 32 songs and only a handful of them end up being less than good—and
that’s always very subjective as mileage can vary depending on your musical
inclinations. Needless to say, Burn on
the Bayou has well exceeded my expectations. This album is just as strong
as Ripple Music’s Blue Oyster Cult tribute from last year, Dominance and Submission, which I deemed one of the very best
covers albums of all-time.
Some highlights for me are
“Suzie Q” by Cities of Mars with their haunting rendition of that classic track.
“Nighttime is the Right Time” from the Hazytones captures the vibe of CCR while
giving it their own spin. Tony Reed’s band Hot Spring Water delivers the goods
aplenty on the seminal “Born on the Bayou”. La Chinga bring us “Sweet
Hitchhiker”, a tune from CCR that I was unfamiliar with but really dig. War
Cloud’s treatment of “Working Man” is a blast and sounds full of energy. Bone Church
decided to expand on “Fortunate Son” and it’s a great song, but I must confess
that I enjoy Ozone Mama’s version of it a tad more. That brings me to a minor
gripe I have and which I have every time this happens on albums: repeat songs. There
are four songs repeated here, including two versions of “Cotton Fields” by
Great Electric Quest! With such a large repertoire of songs, you’d think every
band would agree to each cover a different song. That being said, I’m just
nitpicking here, but I don’t like repeats when I listen to an album, be it a
live version of a song tacked on as a bonus track or an alternate take or what
have you.
Burn on the Bayou is a phenomenal tribute album that fans of Creedence
Clearwater Revival are sure to love. And for those a little younger who aren’t too
familiar with those legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll, well, you’re in for a treat! It
showcases just how deep Ripple Music’s roster of bands is and it’s really a
star-studded affair. And to top it off, the digital album is priced at a
bargain $7, as per usual Ripple Music regular album releases, but you get a
double LP and over two and a half hours of music. That’s gotta be the best music
deal of the year.
Ripple Music’s Bandcamp Page for Burn on the Bayou: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/burn-on-the-bayou-a-heavy-underground-tribute-to-creedence-clearwater-revival
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