Centerfield (Remastered)

Released in 1984, Centerfield marked John Fogerty’s return to recording after nearly a decade of musical silence. If he had any concerns that people would forget about him, he needn’t have worried —Centerfield went to number one on the charts and yielded a hit single (“Old Man Down the Road”), and the irresistible title track has become nearly as ubiquitous in Major League ballparks as the National Anthem. And he did it by keeping true to the riff-based roots rock that he honed to pop perfection with Creedence Clearwater Revival. This is Fogerty doing what he does best: swampy rock with a relentless back beat (“Old Man Down the Road”), punchy, horn-driven R&B (“Rock ‘n’ Roll Girls,” “Searchlight”), and high-octane rockabilly (“Big Train (From Memphis)”). There are also two acerbic jabs (“Mr. Greed,” “Vanz Kant Danz”) at Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records, with whom Fogerty fought in court (unsuccessfully) for years over ownership of his own catalog. Fogerty’s signature sound is one of the most recognizable in all of rock-and-roll, and Centerfield is his most consistently satisfying solo effort and the one that comes closest to capturing the magic of his timeless CCR output.