Bring It Down to Jelly Roll

Background

“Bring It Down to Jelly Roll” is the sixth track on Blue Moon Swamp, the fifth solo album of John Fogerty. It came out in May 1997. The cut was written, produced and arranged by John Fogerty, engineered by John Lowson and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. The album peaked at #37 in the USA, #1 in Finland and #8 in Australia. It also won Best Rock Album at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998.

Personnel

All guitars, dobro, Farfisa organ, tambourine, vocals: John Fogerty

Bass: Bob Glaub

Drums: Kenny Aronoff

Handclaps: Bob Fogerty, John Fogerty, Tommy "V" Verdonck

Drummer Kenny Aronoff came to Blue Moon Swamp sessions in 1995. "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll" is one of the five cuts on the album where he contributed with a drum track (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015).  

Equipment

Fogerty managed to get a dobro and a Farfisa organ on "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll". He knew for two years he wanted to do a song like "Mendocino" or "96 Tears" (Willie G. Moseley, Interview with John Fogerty, The Vintage Guitar, August 1997). Fogerty also played an organ solo on "Radar" seven years later. 

Collector's notes

“Bring It Down to Jelly Roll” was also released as a promotional CD single (WB PRO CD 9286) in the USA (Peter Koers, Green River, 1999). 

Live versions

John Fogerty kicked off the Blue Moon Swamp Tour by playing in several House of Blues outlets in San Francisco and Los Angeles on May 18-24, 1997. "Jelly Roll" was heard for the first time at House of Blues in Chicago as late as May 27th and 28th. After that, he delivered the song in each regular concert on the Blue Moon Swamp World Tour and Premonition Tour next year. Then the song vanished from the set lists. He only played it four times in Europe in summer 2008, including Museumplatz in Bonn, Germany, on June 7th, twice in North America in spring 2009 and twice in Australia in spring 2012.  

In 1997 and 1998, Fogerty played a regular guitar and a lap steel and sideman Johnny Lee Schell delivered the organ solo. 

At that time, Fogerty performed "Bring It Down the Jelly Roll" live in two TV shows:

• Concert at Lollipop Festival in in Stockholm, Sweden (Swedish TV), July 25th, 1997

• Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, USA), September 11th, 1997, and February 23rd, 1998

The only time Fogerty has performed "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll" live on the radio was Roskilde Festival in Denmark on June 26th, 1997. The show was recorded by Radio Denmark and broadcast partially in Nordic countries in the same summer.  

"Hot Rod Heart" is also included in the Premonition concert DVD (1998).  

Critical reception

"--- fronting a Farfisa organ and slide guitar, he even advises you to "take it to the river" down in the "honey-dripping" South, where the mythical Jelly Roll will ease your suffering. And to top it off, Fogerty's voice has itself become a memento, a tattered and yellowing relic bolstered by weird echoes and other inappropriate effects -- so much so that you barely recognize him through the fog." -Robert Wilonsky, The Dallas Observer, June 5th, 1997. 

"'Hot Rod Heart,' for example, is a formulaic boogie. Mind you, it's a good formula and well-executed, but there's nothing special about it. Same story with 'Bring It Down to Jelly Roll' and 'Walking in a Hurricane'; by the end of Blue Moon Swamp, the spell begins to wear off a bit. Still, it's been one hell of a night and worth the wait." -Grant Alden, The Rolling Stone, June 12th, 1997. 

"Fogerty's not an automaton: Here, on "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll," once you get past the cheesy drawl in his voice and the cliched story about a groovin' little backwoods spot, you can jump to the beat. But it's a rarity." -Bill Wyman, The San Francisco Weekly, July 16th, 1997.  

"It was the sound of these swamps that inspired Fogerty as a kid in the small-town confines of El Cerrito, Calfornia, and it's this sound that propels him now; "Bring It Down to Jelly Roll," from Blue Moon Swamp, is as good a Southern anthem as the Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," the Black Crowes' "Hard to Handle"." -Christopher Gray, The Austin Chronicle, August 29th, 1997. 

"Paired with chug-a-lug boogie-woogie like 'Bring It Down To Jellie Roll' and 'Swamp River Days', the songs offer a good enough nostalgic panorama, so one might say John really hit the mark here. The funny thing is that once he finally abandoned all of his attempts to not sound like CCR, he suddenly ceased sounding like CCR. Sure, the lyrical matters are the same, and the melodies are essentially CCR-ish, but the effect is not." -George Starostin.

"As a songwriter, I don’t think I would ever use the word tandem “jelly roll” in my tunes. Offhand, it seems “Jelly Roll” is the name of a club or joint, and Fogerty is telling the listener to “bring it down to Jelly Roll” for a one of a kind good time. Still, I’ve never heard of Fogerty addressing the meaning directly, but according to the internet consensus (Isn’t that all that matters in this day and age?), the tune is a tribute to New Orleans Jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton.   Regardless, “Jelly Roll” is a rockin’, Southern-dripping track reminiscent of the Stones’ “Honkey Tonk Women” and has remained one of my favorite BMS tracks from first listen." -Cole Powell, Southern Senses, September 14th, 2015. 

Fans' views

"A great southern rock and roll song and I have one of those little girls from way down South and trust me the honey does drip!!"

"John again doing what he does best; three chord rock and roll. Simplicity is genius."

"Fat guitar sound!"

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