Because Baseball is Starting...5 Out Of 5 Stars
Probably one of the 80's most unexpected comebacks was this album. John Fogerty dropped "Centerfield
" in early 1985, the same year Bruce Springsteen was dominating the world with Born in the U.S.A.. Prior to this, Fogerty's post CCR albums had not been wildly received, with his The Blue Ridge Rangers
being released under a pseudonym and the second slipping through the cracks...followed by a nine year silence.
All that changed the moment the crackling riff from "The Old Man Down The Road" roared from MTV.Sounding more alive and energized than either of the solo LP's would have suggested was coming, it swamp-rocked it's way to the Top Ten, and driving "Centerfield" to number one. There was a lot of nostalgia here, as "Old Man" sounded so much like "Running Through The Jungle" that Fogerty's arch-nemesis at the time, Saul Zaentz, sued him for self-plagerization (Fogerty won). "Big Train From Memphis" memorialized Elvis, and the title track became appropriated by baseball teams nationwide. Fogerty was fired up, eager to prove his place in the rock pantheon, and filled with righteous indignation over his betrayal by Fantasy and his former bandmates.
It made "Centerfield" feel good and effortless, a triumphant return of one of Rock and Roll's good guys. But under closer scrutiny (and kind of like Springsteen's juggernaut), there is a dark streak to "Centerfield." "I Saw It On TV" took a direct shot at Richard Nixon, a broad swipe at Ronald Reagan and a not-so-optimistic glance at the way that the sixties seemed to be drifting into hazy nostalgia rather than a warning beacon we shouldn't let fade.
The old man rocks among his dreams, a prisoner of the porch;
'The light,' he says 'at the end of the tunnel,
Was nothin' but a burglar's torch.
And them that was caught in the cover are all rich and free,
But they chained my mind to an endless tomb
When they took my only son from me.'
Even meaner in spirit (and therefore, cooler) were the two potshots at Zaentz, for whom Fogerty all but spits upon in "Mr Greed" and "Vanz Can't Dance" (originally "Zanz" before a threatened lawsuit prompted a revision). That meanness turned to spite by the time Eye of the Zombie
came out (and Fogerty went into another almost decade long hibernation), but when placed next to such good-timey fare like "Rock and Roll Girls" and the sheer rock joy of "Searchlight," the personal zingers were understandable. After all, Fantasy HAD screwed him over, and this was Fogerty's chance to vent. It wasn't until the 90's that he played a CCR song in public again, bitterly refusing to allow Zaentz a peeny of royalties. Having great new music made it all the more entertaining, as Fogerty hit the road with this album.
"Centerfield" remains Fogerty's best solo album and a highlight of the mid-eighties. He has also since come to terms with his past, and the terrific Revival
is easily his best CD since this one.
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