River Is Waiting

Background

"River Is Waiting" is the fifth track of Revival, the eight solo album of John Fogerty with new material. It was also his first CD with previously unreleased songs since rejoining Fantasy Records in 2005. The song was written, arranged and produced by John Fogerty and recorded by Jim Scott, Seth Presant and Ryan Freeland at NRG Recording in North Hollywood. The album was released in October 2007. It reached #14 in the USA, #5 in Sweden and #6 in Norway. 

As many of the songs of John Fogerty, the old-time spiritual, reggaeish "River Is Waiting", started to come while he was playing some chords on his guitar. He was getting a really cool sound out of the amp. It was feeding  back, and it was very loud but pretty. Then he went to sing it with kind of nonsense lyrics in an obscure foreign language that nobody knows. He had no idea what it meant but he decided to call it "River Is Waiting". 

In this song, the river represents the beginning of something new. Fogerty was pretty hopeful about the  future and hopeful about life at that time. He was quite positive you can make a purposeful setting of your course and leave your sorrows behind (Jim Ladd, interview with John Fogerty, KLOS, Los Angeles, September 27th, 2007).

After writing the songs for Revival, Fogerty and his band rehearsed them relentlessly and recorded the basic tracks in a 12-day session in spring 2007. It was the same process Fogerty used with Creedence Clearwater  (Harold Steinblatt, Interview with John Fogerty, The Guitar World, January 2008). 

Personnel

Vocals, guitar: John Fogerty

Guitar: Hunter Perrin

Bass: David Santos

Drums, percussion: Kenny Aronoff

Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer electric piano: Benmont Tench

Backing vocals: Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters

Trivia

"River Is Waiting" is one of the four John Fogerty song titles that include the word river. Others are "Green River", "Where the River Flows" and "Swamp River Days". 

Live versions

John Fogerty played "River Is Waiting" for the first time in the opening concert of the Revival Tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on November 2nd, 2007. He delivered the song regularly on the US legs of the tour in late 2007.  Next year he only performed it twice in Sweden in May.

The piece opened the show in most of the concerts in 2007. The beginning of the concert featured the album cover artwork projected on a giant screen. The silhouette of Fogerty bent down, picked up a guitar from the corn, and put it on. As the lights come on it was revealed that it was really John Fogerty playing "River Is Waiting" high in the air.

The song was also added in the set list in the PBS Soundstage TV concert Fogerty and the band recorded at WTTW Studios in Chicago on November  29th, 2007. It was aired in the USA on February 7th and 14th next year.  

The song made a short return to the concert programming in summer 2014 when Fogerty performed it together with Jackson Browne in Holmdel, New Jersey, on August 4th and Wantagh, New York, next day.  The soundboard recordings of the shows were officially made available as files. 

Critical reception

"'River Is Waiting' is interesting, with its somewhat fatalistic but hopeful outlook, simple guitar lines and tasteful underpinnings from the backup chorus and Heartbreaker Benmont Tench’s organ. It’s a very good song. I like it." -Charles Andrews, Audio Video Revolution, November 1st, 2007. 

"With Benmont Tench of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers providing the gospel bedrock that Julia, Maxine and Oren Waters reinforce with their harmonies, "River Is Waiting" sounds more like classic Paul Simon than classic Creedence, yet it ranks with the very best of Fogerty's music." -Don McLeese, No Depression, November-December 2007. 

"--- “River is Wating” changes to a more electric guitar sound. I love the finger picking rhythm that runs throughout the song. The simple chord progression consists of three plucked chords with the third one held for an extra couple of beats." -Upon This Rawk, September 9th, 2008

Fans' views

"Very soulful and gospel feel. Similar to Sail Away on the Zombie album but deeper and stronger."

"--- this is very much in the vein of Sail Away. Definitely some of Fogerty's best 

vocal work."

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