Mardi Gras

Customer Reviews:

• Not as fun as actually going to Mardi Gras! : Here it is. The "breakup" album for good ol' CCR. The end of the road in 1972. A band who had nearly four years of glorified chart successes for it all to come down to this. I finally got my chance to hear "Mardi Gras" as part of the CCR box set (which I have my own review of) and while the album is what most people make it out to be, it's certainly not "the worst album ever recorded by a popular band" as Rolling Stone blantanly put it. Here's a run down of the songs:
  
  LOOKIN' FOR A REASON - Fogerty opens up the album with this one. It's too hokey country for my taste, and I like some hokey country. John actually has an uncanny vocal resembelance to Clarence White of the later-day Byrds on this one.
  
  TAKE IT LIKE A FRIEND - Stu's vocal debut on the album. It's a funky, groovy rocker with Stu sounding not unlike Gene Parsons of the later-day Byrds, only more gruff and well, out of tune.
  
  NEED SOMEONE TO HOLD - Doug's vocal debut on the album. Not all that bad, a good musical and lyrical exercise in lonliness. It's emotional and confessing. A point for ol' Doug here.
  
  TEARIN' UP THE COUNTRY - Doug's second song on the album. S-U-C-K-S.
  
  SOMEDAY NEVER COMES - What can be said here? One of Fogerty's best songs ever! This one never fails to get me teared up. One of the most "four piece" Creedence sounding songs on a "three piece" Creedence album.
  
  WHAT ARE..... - Doug handling vocals once again and it's a better rocker that Stu's "Take It Like A Friend," that's for sure. The song comes complete with female backup vocals on the chorus.
  
  SAIL AWAY - Another one from Stu which probally would've made a better Jimmy Buffett song! Stu's vocals here are downright HORRIBLE. So bad you'll either sit through it and laugh or run to hit the skip button on your CD player.
  
  HELLO MARY LOU - It works great in Fogerty's hands but he probally could've done without the reverb effect on his vocal.
  
  DOOR TO DOOR - This is probally the best lead vocal Stu turns in on the entire album. He does well on sounding "rude and crude" here though the lyrics are pretty out of touch with the rest of the CCR catalog.
  
  SWEET HITCH HIKER - And what can be said here as well? Full tilt classic CCR to close out a hodge-podge album. A hit single in 1971 before fans knew what would be comming in April of 1972!
  
  So I give this album two stars for a rating of "FAIR." Cook and Clifford's songs suffer for a number of reasons, all of which have been previously stated in other reviews. Their lyrics are somewhat all right in places but some of their efforts to sing are another story. The musicianship between Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford is just fine, you don't really hear Tom missing. So only take a chance on this one if you really want to complete your CCR collection.
• CCR at their worst: While John Fogerty was at the helm CCR sold record after record. They were at the top. That wasn't good enough for brother Tom who quits the band. Other members Doug Clifford and Stu Cook were busy yelling I can sing I can write songs. John gave in and said do it and more or less walked away from what he knew would be a disaster. And it was. Others that follow a genius might find they are better off in doing so. I gave this a big thumbs down when it first came out and still do.
• CCR's last hurrah: 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.
• Better than I'd hoped: I just picked up the 6 cd Creedence boxed set, which includes all the music from Mardi Gras. From various reviews, I expected this album to be an atrocity aside from the the hits that got lots of air play. I was pleasantly surprised however. It's really not that bad. It's not the strongest CCR recording by any means. Doug Clifford's vocals are pleasant enough. Stu Cook's vocals may be ragged, but I've heard far worse on recordings by other big name bands. The album probably appears weaker than it really is because of comparisons to the rest of the CCR catalog.
• I'm sorry...: ...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...