Ooby Dooby
Background
Ooby Dooby is an album track on Cosmo's Factory, the fifth long-player of Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was one of the album's three covers being inherited from the rock and roll era.
Written by Wade Moore and Dick Palmer, Ooby Dooby was originally recorded by Roy Orbison in 1956. John Fogerty owned this Sun Records' release on a 78 rpm. It was also one of the first songs he learned to play on guitar.
Live versions
The one and only documented Creedence Clearwater concert with Ooby Dooby in the set list was given at the Forum in Los Angeles on August 29, 1970. It's likely that the band also performed the Roy Orbison original on the other legs of the Mondo Bizarro Tour from July till October in 1970.
In March 1990, John Fogerty played the song live in television's tribute show for Roy Orbison who had passed away in 1988.
During the Deja Vu All Over Again Tour, John Fogerty performed the Sun Records original twice in North America in 2004 and eight times in Europe in 2005. The world premiere of the live version in a regular concert during the solo career of John Fogerty was delivered in Biloxi, MS, USA on the opening leg of the tour on November 6th, 2004.
The audience had to wait until the year 2011 to hear the song live again. John Fogerty performed it in the first Cosmo's Factory album concert at Beacon Theatre in New York on November 17th, 2011. Fogerty also played the song on the subsequent Cosmo's Factory concerts in Australia in 2012, Canada in 2012 and North America in fall 2013.
The Beacon Theatre concert in 2011 was broadcast live by Sirius XM satellite radio in the USA. Sound files of the fall 2013 concerts in the USA and Canada were officially made available for a couple of months in 2013-2014.
Critical reception
"I really dug the guitar breaks which brought back much nostalgia. Very basic yet very exciting." -Roy Carr, New Musical Express, July 25th, 1970.
"CCR effectively adds their unique touch to Orbison’s Rockabilly style and comes away with a song that is energetic and fun, but little else." -Reaganista, Sputnik Music, January 15th, 2005.
"Well, I don't care that much for their trusty rendition of Roy Orbison's 'Ooby Dooby' - but that's only because I don't see what it really adds to the original - Fogerty's guitar is as invigorating and mind-blowing as anything, but hell, the guitars on the original were fine, too." -George Starostin.
Written by Wade Moore and Dick Penner.
Recorded at Studio C, Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, CA, USA, in June 1970.
Appears on Cosmo's Factory album.
Released on July 25th 1970.