For a good portion of his solo career,
John Fogerty
refused to play any of his old
Creedence Clearwater Revival
songs -- not because he hated them but because he was tied up in a nasty legal battle with
Saul Zaentz
, the head of his former record label
Fantasy
. After a few decades,
Fogerty
's position softened and he started playing the tunes in concert, then, after
Concord
purchased
in 2004, he celebrated
CCR
, first with a new hits compilation combining his old band and solo work, then eventually working his way around to
Wrote a Song for Everyone
, a 2013 album where he revisits many of his most popular songs with a little help from his superstar friends. Savvy guy that he is,
doesn't place all of his chips on one bet: he mixes up rock and country, old and new, dabbling just a bit in R&B and alternative folk, but preferring to stick to a tastefully weathered roots rock that suits him well. Curiously, there is very little swamp rock to be heard here --
Kid Rock
yowls through "Born on the Bayou," but that only helps it sound like it's coming straight out of a trailer -- and the song choice, along with the guest list, skews toward country; with
Bob Seger
singing "Who'll Stop the Rain" and
My Morning Jacket
easing back on "Long as I Can See the Light," which leaves just the aforementioned son of Detroit stomping through the bayou, and
the Foo Fighters
lumbering through "Fortunate Son" as pure rock & roll. Heavy as they are -- and they are, substituting volume for swing -- they're overshadowed by never-ending country-rockers, some spirited enough to enliven familiar melodies, some so sober the whole proceeding winds up seeming a bit po-faced. At worst, this means
is no better than generic -- it's hard to identify
Keith Urban
as the duet partner on a too-smooth "Almost Saturday Night" -- but a few of the guests stamp their own identity on the cover, whether it's
Brad Paisley
twisting "Hot Rod Heart" (the only cover here that can't be called a hit, as it's pulled off
's acclaimed 1997 LP
Blue Moon Swamp
) toward his twanging Telecaster territory, or
Miranda Lambert
stealing the title track from her host and guest guitarist
Tom Morello
. All of this is enjoyable but it's rarely compelling, as very few songs play with the original arrangement in any serious fashion (
Zac Brown Band
's untroubled "Bad Moon Rising" is the exception that proves the rule). It's telling that the lasting moments arrive either when
unveils two solid new solo songs -- "Mystic Highway" and "Train of Fools" -- or when he leads his sons through the terrific, bluesy choogle of "Lodi," turning the lament into a celebration. All three cuts prove that
, no matter how much fun he's having elsewhere on the record, doesn't need any guests to sound alive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine