1. Ramble Tamble

2. Before You Accuse Me

3. Travelin' Band

4. Ooby Dooby

5. Lookin' Out My Back Door

6. Run Through The Jungle

7. Up Around The Bend

8. My Baby Left Me

9. Who'll Stop The Rain

10. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

11. As Long As I Can See The Light

Rolling Stone

It should be obvious by now that Creedence Clearwater Revival is one great rock and roll band. Cosmo's Factory, the group's fifth album, is another good reason why.

Four of the eleven cuts have been on previous hit singles; John Fogerty wrote three of the remaining seven, only one of which, "Ramble Tamble," is unsatisfying. Apart from prolific writing, Fogerty's ability to consistently churn out good stuff is largely due to his penchant for rehearsing the band five days a week in a converted warehouse in Berkeley 's industrial section. It's doubtless because of this that drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford refers to the group's studio as the factory.

The emphasis is not on modern derivatives but on authentic reproductions of, for example, Roy Orbison's vintage "Ooby Dooby." On "My Baby Left Me" the early-Elvis echo-chamber effect and the old Scotty Moore riffs on lead guitar reveal a considerable amount of careful study of the original. Both cuts hold up very well as straight rockabilly.

"Travelin' Band" qualifies for historical authenticity, even though Fogerty grafts new lyrics onto a modified "Reddy Teddy" melody. He lays down a very credible Little Richard vocal and arrangement, substituting a good tenor shriek for a trademark upper register vibrato. In the absence of machinegun triads on keyboard, he dubs in saxophone—which he now plays.

Besides saxophone, Fogerty is now learning all the other instruments he's always wanted to play. In addition to lead guitar and vocal on Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me" he drops in some fine blues piano riffs but apparently out of modesty keeps them pretty well buried in an easy-going, traditional arrangement. Elsewhere he picks dobro on "Lookin' Out My Back Door." Though not geared for a gut-level Creedence treatment, the song is good car music, great for summer and will probably be commercially successful.

"Who'll Stop the Rain" has the same commercial feel, and amounts to Fogerty's version of a sizable production number with a somber message delivered at a ballad's pace.

Fogerty shows equal facility on "Long As I Can See the Light," a fine composition with more saxophone work and a strong Otis Redding flavor. Released as a single, it could easily end up on soul station play lists, as did "Run Through the Jungle" before it.

It's another damn good album by a group which is going to be around for a long time.

All Music

Throughout 1969 and into 1970, CCR toured incessantly and recorded nearly as much. Appropriately, Cosmo's Factory's first single was the working band's anthem "Travelin' Band," a funny, piledriving rocker with a blaring horn section — the first indication their sonic palette was broadening. Two more singles appeared prior to the album's release, backed by John Fogerty originals that rivaled the A-side or paled just slightly. When it came time to assemble a full album, Fogerty had only one original left, the claustrophobic, paranoid rocker "Ramble Tamble." Unlike some extended instrumentals, this was dramatic and had a direction — a distinction made clear by the meandering jam that brings CCR's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" to 11 minutes. Even if it wanders, their take on the Marvin Gaye classic isn't unpleasant, and their faithful, exuberant takes on the Sun classics "Ooby Dooby" and "My Baby Left Me" are joyous tributes. Still, the heart of the album lays in those six fantastic songs released on singles. "Up Around the Bend" is a searing rocker, one of their best, balanced by the menacing murkiness of "Run Through the Jungle." "Who'll Stop the Rain"'s poignant melody and melancholy undertow has a counterpart in Fogerty's dope song, "Lookin' out My Back Door," a charming, bright shuffle, filled with dancing animals and domestic bliss - he had never been as sweet and silly as he is here. On "Long as I Can See the Light," the record's final song, he again finds solace in home, anchored by a soulful, laid-back groove. It hits a comforting, elegiac note, the perfect way to draw Cosmo's Factory — an album made during stress and chaos, filled with raging rockers, covers, and intense jams — to a close.