Stu Cook, the bass player for Creedence Clearwater Revival, says the CCR record label Fantasy Records has bastardized the Creedence catalogue.
Fantasy Records re-issued the Creedence albums last year with bonus tracks that have riled Stu. “I’m not too thrilled about the bogus tracks,” he tells Undercover News. “They did not consult us about that. We were not involved in anyway in putting those together. A lot of it is trash”.
The bonus songs used on the reissued albums were content that Creedence rejected from the original albums. “It was stuff that wasn’t good enough. That is why it wasn’t released before,” he says. “Some collectors like it. They did a good job of remastering the original discs but they should have found some other way to release the other stuff. I don’t think it generated enough sales to warrant bastardizing the original albums”.
When he heard one of the bonus tracks, he realised that he wasn’t even on the it. “We were in the studio with Booker T. & The MGs just jamming, Stu said. “I listened to ‘Down On The Corner’ and thought “oh no, that can’t be me”, and it wasn’t. It was ‘Duck’ Dunn playing the bass and every third note is a mistake. Why did they do that? What is the redeeming value of putting something like that out without even running it by a musician? It was poor taste, poor judgement and only about the bottom line. They would have done much better if they got the artist involved”.
The history between Creedence and Fantasy Records was well documented in the 70s. Fantasy has a new owner with Concord Music, but the problems still exist. “Fantasy are pathetic and the people who bought them are pathetic,” he says. “It’s the same story. The only time you are happy with a label is when they think they need you. Then they treat you right. The rest of the time it is “get in line and shut up. I actually prefer the old Fantasy to the new Fantasy”.
Original members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford will begin their first ever Australian tour as Creedence Clearwater Revisited in Perth tomorrow (October 13, 2010).
Dates are:
October 13, Perth, Challenge Stadium
October 14, Adelaide, Thebarton Theatre
October 15, Melbourne, Hisense Arena
October 17, Sydney, Entertainment Centre
October 18, Newcastle, Entertainment Centre
