Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Background

“Have Thine Own Way, Lord” is the B-side of "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues", the first single John Fogerty released as The Blue Ridge Rangers. The song was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley and engineered by Skip Shimmin and Russ Gary. Fogerty plays all the instruments by himself. The 45 RPM single was released in October 1972 and didn't chart.

"Have Thine Own Way, Lord" is a Christian hymn written by Adelaide A. Pollard (lyrics) and George C. Stebbins (music). It was first published in 1907, in the "Northfield Hymnal with Alexander's Supplement". John Fogerty never paid much attention to it until he heard the Country Gentlemen's version on their 1960 album Country Songs Old & New. Fogerty opted covering it because he thought the sound and the words of the song all fit together in his head. It also fit perfectly to the image of the Blue Ridge Rangers on the album cover (Promotional interview with John Fogerty on Blue Ridge Rangers in 1973).

Collector's notes

The single was released with different cover sleeves in Germany, Netherlands, and Portugal. The US release had no picture sleeve. 

The Portuguese pressing had a photo of Doug Clifford on the back of the picture sleeve. The US release had no picture sleeve. (Peter Koers, CCR: Illustrated Discography) 

Live versions

John Fogerty has never played "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" live in concert. 

Critical reception

""Have Thine Own Way Lord" is straight bluegrass and good as he does it, it invites comparison with the Country Gentlemen's original, which he has, in this case alone, copied too precisely." -Jon Landau, The Rolling Stone, July 5, 1973. 

"--- deadly dull --- John almost falls asleep at the end of each line." -George Starostin

previous | next