• AllMyVinyl #43
• Band: John Fogerty
• Album Title: Centerfield
• Release Date: 14 Jan 1985
• Date purchased: Unknown
• Location purchased: Unknown
• Color of vinyl: black
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

This is an album that was rescued from my mom’s basement – something I bought new back in the day for sure, but when my brother sent it to me, I had 100% forgotten I bought this.  As such, I have no memory when or where I got it, but given the “Zanz / Vanz issue” below, it probably was bought early in 1985.  This is definitely one I would have bought for the big singles from the album – “The Old Man Down the Road” and the title track “Centerfield”.

This was John’s first album in nine years at the time. Was his third solo album overall. The Wikipedia page for this album claims “Fogerty played all the instruments on this album himself”, yet further down they list people playing rhythm guitar, bass, & drums, so I’m not so sure how much Fogerty actually played here despite the “played everything” claim.

There won’t be a ton written here because I have no memory of this copy of the album from the 80’s, and as I listened to it today in 2024, I don’t have much to draw on besides listening to tunes now.   I will say that I was a bit shocked at how clean the vinyl is.  This album turns 40 in about 3-4 months, and my copy looks pretty new – the vinyl itself.  The cardboard sleeve has some wear after 39+ years, but the vinyl itself is immaculate – that surprised me.  No pops or anything – played great.

As for the tunes…

The Old Man Down the Road – The first single from the album – loved the riff and the sound. It sounded a lot like something that CCR would have done. I mean with Fogerty singing in both, that’s gonna happen to some extent. But the specific guitar riff that runs through this screams CCR to me. I always remembered the video too – the first time I saw it, I thought “where the hell is this cord going?” It’s a funny bit, but once you see it once, you know where the cord ends up, but I did enjoy seeing it again after all these years today.

Rock & Roll Girls – the line “life is like a rodeo” dances with a country sound to it. Like the saxophone that runs with the song too. As soon as the chorus came up, I remembered it well. Definitely didn’t remember it by title, but the “life is like a rodeo” vocal delivery is distinctive – had that “Oh yeah, I remember that!” thought. Song’s pretty good too – in terms of album placement a good followup to Old Man. It was released as a single too, so yeah, I can see why it was catchy.

Big Train from Memphis – Oddly when I hear this song today it reminds me of something we’d hear from The Traveling Wilburys. It’s a slower song, but definitely not slow – or a ballad. It’s a nice groove, just not in your face with what it’s doing musically.

I Saw It on TV – This song never really gets going. Not bad, but it doesn’t do anything for me.

Mr. Greed – This has a faster vibe to it, and I like the music. However, Fogerty sings in a higher register than he normally does – screechy at times. Don’t care for the vocals a ton, but I do really love the music on this one. Wish he chose a different way to sing this, it’d be one of my favorite songs of his. As the song faded out I realized “damn, I really wanted to like this”.

Searchlight – Zero memory of this song, but it’s got a slow bass influenced sound to it, that I really like. Good slow beat. Has a horn section in the middle. Not like Chicago level of horns, but enough to make a distinctive sound here. Like the guitar solo as well. Good track that as I listen tonight I have to confess I have zero memory of.

Centerfield – Here it is – the crown jewel of this album, and outside of Creedence, I have to say the song that most everyone knows by Fogerty. It’s the biggest catchiest thing on the album. I’ve also had to say that every baseball game I’ve attended since this song came out has played it. I’ve been a season ticket holder for the Texas Rangers for a couple of decades now, and they play the hell out of it. I’ve visited other parks – and they play it too. This song just SCREAMS baseball. It’s a banger of epic proportions – when you hear it, you’re taken back to the start of a baseball season when the sun is out, and you’re just enjoying the fresh start of a new season.

I Can’t Help Myself – Another song I don’t remember well.  It reminds me of a CCR song I can’t put my finger on as I listen, but I guess that’s the mark of Fogerty. His voice just is CCR – can’t not hear him sing and not think CCR.  Good song.

Vanz Kant Danz – This was a song written about Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records.  If you read the Wikipedia page about this album, there’s a bunch about what happened as they both sued each other.  In an attempt to avoid the lawsuit, Fogerty changed the name of the song to Zanz Kant Danz, but my copy is an original pressing, and has the original name on it.  As for the music – it’s OK.  Not bad, but doesn’t really move me a ton.

Overall, the album was better than I remember, which to be honest was the big songs (Old Man & Centerfield).  It was nice discovering some music that I obviously enjoyed in the past (as I bought this album in 1985), but have long forgotten about.  I also have the next Fogerty album after this on vinyl (1986’s “Eye of the Zombie”), so I’l be back to Fogerty when I get to “E” – I remember even less about that one!