Walk on the Water

Background

"Walk on the Water" is the B-side of "I Put a Spell On You", the second 45 RPM single John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford recorded as Creedence Clearwater Revival. It also appears on their self-titled debut album.

The LP version is a remake of The Golliwogs era song titled "Walking on the Water". The original "Water" was released as a Scorpio label single in August 1966. It was sung by John Fogerty who also delivered an uptight guitar solo on the first recorded version of the song. 

Equipment

John Fogerty used three-quarter-size Rickenbacker 325 guitars in the sessions for the first album. They had a Bigsby tremolo arm and a humbucker in each, the tremelos being switched out. One “Rick” was black, and the other sported a Fireglo finish. As for the amplifiers, his choice was the 100-watt Kustom K200.

Songwriting dispute

Most of The Golliwogs era releases were officially credited  to John & Tom Fogerty under the joint composition agreement. Tom Fogerty claimed in 1985 that "Walk on the Water" was solely written by him. He said he got the idea for the chord changes from "House of the Rising Sun" by Animals and the word/melody pattern from "Mystic Eyes" by Them. John Fogerty claimed Tom got the idea from John's song called "Tombstone Epitaph" (Hank Bordowitz, Bad Moon Rising, 2007).  

Collector's notes

The "I Put A Spell on You" b/w "Walk on the Water" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in Germany, France and Italy. It was different from the one launched in Spain. The US version didn't have a cover photo (Peter Koers, Green River: An Illustrated Discography, 1999).   

Live versions

Creedence Clearwater played the song at Deno & Carlo's (later Keystone Korner) in San Francisco each week as per February 2nd until April 28th 1968.  "Walk on the Water" stayed in the programming of the band until summer 1969. The Bay Area quartet also delivered the song on their first gig in New York (Fillmore East) in October 1968. 

Critical reception

"---Fogerty’s first foray at socially conscious writing. One listen to Fogerty’s fuzzy guitar skirmishes makes one wonder why he is usually ignored as a distinguished guitar player." -Doug Simpson, Audiophile Audition, November 9th, 2009. 

"It is so simple and has such a mesmerizing effect in its sound that becomes a favourable amongst the band's catalogue instantly." -Antonius, Sputnik Music, May 3rd, 2013. 

Fans' views

"Tom's rhythm guitar during the guitar solo."

"It's creepy, and unlike most of the other songs they did."

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