Different Freddie King but this record from one of my older brothers' album collection was always essential listening. I also always thought it was cool that it was released on Leon Russell's imprint, Shelter Records:

Looking forward to picking up the 25th anniversary edition tomorrow.

I keep looking for a "thanks" in there somewhere but can't seem to find one.

I always figured it would be a cold day in hell before Fogerty would play with his former bandmates in CCR again, especially after how he showed his ass during their induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame. In turn, that makes we wonder if the surviving members would even want to perform with him again.

From RollingStone.com: John Fogerty Open to Creedence Clearwater Revival Reunion Singer says he is no longer angry at his former bandmates John Fogerty Ethan Miller/Getty Images By MATTHEW PERPETUA After years of bad blood with his old bandmates, John Fogerty has softened his position on the possibility of a Creedence Clearwater Revival reunion. In an interview with the Calgary Herald, Fogerty says that he no longer feels an intense bitterness toward bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford. The guitarist refused to appear with either of them when the band was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and he sued the duo in 1997 for performing under the name Creedence Clearwater Revisited. "Years ago, I looked at people and I was so full of some sort of emotion and I'd say, 'Absolutely not!'," Fogerty says. "I have to admit, people have asked me more recently, and even though I have no idea how such a series of events would come to pass, I can tell that there isn't the bombast in my voice, in the denial, in the refusal. It's more like, 'Well, I dunno.' Never say never is I guess is what people tell you. In this life, all kinds of strange things come to pass." As of yet, Fogerty has no plans to pursue a reunion, but is open to giving it a shot down the line. "Realizing that it doesn't really kick up a big firestorm of emotion, it kind of suggests that at least if someone started talking I'd sit still long enough to listen," he says.

It's not out of any sense of negativity that I shoot down this particular rumor, it's that it has absolutely no basis in any sort of fact that I could find even remotely believable. As I've mentioned before, it even starts off with the classic "I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who..." line and proceeds to go downhill very swiftly from there.

Only time will tell but I'm not concerned with how what I'm listening to now will be remembered in 10 years. I listen to what moves me. Presently those artists would include The War On Drugs, the Decemberists, Megafaun and Mount Moriah, to name a few. Not that I needed any reminders but I'm pretty aware of this too. Over the weekend I was hanging out with a group of friends that are probably ten years older than me. One of them was trying to find a music channel on the cable system that we could all relate to when his son hollered out, "find the Classic Rock or the Oldies station". Prior to that, we had spent 4-5 minutes listening to Arcade Fire but I was the only one in the room (including the younger crowd) that had even heard of them. That made me feel old but it also wasn't that unusual for me considering I make a concerted effort to keep up with new music.

I also had a time period when I got pretty heavily into the blues but I don't think any of those musicans ever became what I'd consider one of my favorite artists. I always considered the blues more of an influence. Same thing for old rock n' roll. Though, if pressed, I could probably name a couple: Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry, respectively. I credit Zeppelin's first few records for me having the desire to seek out the works of Muddy Waters, the Wolf, Robert Johnson, etc. Skynyrd and Foghat also played a large part in that. It was the Honeydrippers which helped pique my interest in 50's rock which led to me searching out the works of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, etc. It was around this time when I completely lost interest in most anything commercial radio had to offer which just so happened to coincide with my then burgeoning interest in alt.country. That turned me onto tons of great bands and around '99 I found a group of fellow fans of that music online who in turn helped me discover lots of other artists I probably would have never have known about otherwise. In 2004 I signed up for XM which has also been very helpful in discovering new artists.

From The Tennessean: Peter Cooper: Country boys are wearing out calling cards Peter Cooper is the senior music writer and columnist for the Tennessean. by Peter Cooper To most every male country singer I’ve heard on the radio this morning..... First, I’m on your side. I’m rooting for you. I think we’ve got a lot in common. We probably like a lot of the same music. But I don’t believe you. All day, you’ve been singing rock songs to me about how country you are. And even country songs about how country you are. It’s been “dirt road” this and “back road” that, and “party in the woods” this and “redneck, hillbilly” that. Then there’s been some stuff about fishing with cane poles, and skinny-dipping in the lake with some two-named girl. Was it Betty Sue? Wanda Lou? And I don’t believe you were on the dirt road to the barn party with your redneck, hillbilly friends. I don’t believe the story about the lake. I don’t even believe anyone under the age of 30 is named Wanda. I know there are probably exceptions, but I will not be considering them on a case-by-case basis. I don’t know why we’re so adamant about all of this, anyway. Why should I be interested that you’re so proud of where you say you’re from? Wasn’t it kind of an accident of birth? Anyway, I like where I’m from just fine, but it wasn’t exactly my idea. It just sort of happened that way. And I could write a song about where I’m from — the Palmetto State of South Carolina — and make it chock-full of country references and stuff about the cradle of the Confederacy and the buckle of the Bible Belt, about tobacco fields and whacky politicians (I guess I’d leave out that last part). But the truth is, you and I are from exactly the same place. We’re from the home pretty near the interstate exit. You know the exit: The one with the Waffle House and the Sonic and the Applebees, close to the big box retail store. Ah, the stuff of great country songs. Perhaps I’ll write an up-tempo number, bragging about how I’m from one of the toughest suburbs in Columbia, S.C. Folks, you didn’t want to mess with the Gardendale boys if you crossed over the wrong side of Pine Forest Trail. Anyway, you and I, if our necks are red, it’s not from plowing the fields, it’s from leaning out the driver’s window on a hot summer day to place our onion ring order at the Sonic. There exists a grand country music tradition of writing about southern lifestyles, about good country people and bad country people and about the ways that common men and women bide their time, mourn and celebrate. I dig Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” and Mel McDaniel’s “Louisiana Saturday Night” and Jason Aldean’s agrarian rumination, “Amarillo Sky.” But this morning, most every male country singer on the radio, your antics have grown tiresome. I’d rather be hit by a can of your favorite domestic beer than hear you name-check that beer one more time when you’re singing about the party in the woods that you know darn well the three people who wrote the song in a metropolitan Nashville office absolutely, for sure, did not attend. I’m sorry, I’m unduly irritated. Truth is, I’m a little hung over from the big party out in the woods, down the dirt road. I don’t even remember the ride back home, so it’s a good thing Wanda Lou had the keys. But I’ve heard your albums, most every male country singer. And I know you can deliver songs of substance, songs that speak even to the 99.9 percent of the earth’s population who would not describe themselves as rednecks or hillbillies. I know that you sing things that make people think and feel, that make people feel connected to each other by more than beer brands. I also know that the hillbilly redneck party down in the country song is trending well on the radio stations these days. It’s summertime, and the youngsters are out of school (We remember those days, don’t we, most every male country singer?) and all over the South, radios are blaring and pickup trucks are gathering and the redneck kids are kicking it country-style. In the parking lot. At the Sonic. Reach Peter Cooper at 615-259-8220 or pcooper@tennessean.com

From RollingStone.com: R.E.M. Begin Work on New Album Band may self-release follow-up to 'Collapse Into Now' R.E.M. Anton Corbijn By MATTHEW PERPETUA Michael Stipe has announced in a message posted to xoJane.com that he is at an Athens, Georgia recording studio working on a new R.E.M. album. Stipe, who is friends with site founder Jane Pratt – the woman behind the late, lamented Sassy magazine – has been sending real-time updates to her phone that have been shared on the site. As of yet, no details have been released regarding R.E.M.'s latest project. The group released their most recent album, Collapse Into Now, back in March. That set happened to be the last record of their contract with Warner Bros. Records, the label that has put out all of their albums since Green in 1988. The band could be planning to self-release an album like their peers in Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam and Wilco, or they may end up going in the direction of Sonic Youth, who found a new home at Matador Records following a long term major label contract with Geffen. "We have the option of doing anything we want — and no pressure to do anything," bassist Mike Mills told Rolling Stone earlier this year. R.E.M.'s decision to jump into the studio so soon after the release of Collapse Into Now may shed some light on why the group chose not to tour for the record. "We don't tour to prop up records — that's not why we play live music," Mills said. "That's the thing about R.E.M. If we don't feel it, we don't go." This certainly wouldn't be the first time the group have opted to keep writing and recording rather than hit the road. Back in the Nineties, they declined to tour for Out of Time and Automatic For the People, two of their most commercially successful albums.

Some of my favorite bands/artists throughout my lifetime: Beatles Alice Cooper Kiss Grateful Dead Willie Nelson Waylon Jennings Lynyrd Skynyrd Jimmy Buffett Rolling Stones Led Zeppelin Van Halen R.E.M. U2 Bob Marley & the Wailers Pearl Jam Bob Dylan Whiskeytown Wilco The Gourds Ryan Adams Drive-By Truckers Megafaun Mount Moriah No telling what I will think of Mount Moriah 5-10 years from now but after seeing them live for the last couple of years and them finally releasing their debut record this year, I cannot get enough of it recently. They toured with the Indigo Girls last Fall and are presently back out on the road with them. Hopefully that will help bring their music to an even wider audience.

The overzealousness of the crowds and the inability to hear their own instruments were a couple of reasons cited by the Beatles for concentrating on their studio material. I don't think it takes away from their reputation as one of the best rock n' roll bands one iota. The Beach Boys were also more well known as being a studio band, (particularly with work such as Pet Sounds) but I also don't believe that should take away from the criteria of how good and/or influential they were.

Klosterman has actually already written and published a series of very successful books.

I'm not giving up hope, it's just that that any post that includes "I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who..." (or any variation thereof) is immediately suspect, not to mention the other misinformation in the first post in this thread such as Plant's tour suffering from poor sales (not true).

The Feelies cover R.E.M.:

Why all the negativity? For one, there's a huge difference between negativity and being realistic. I fall into the latter category. For another, the initial post in this thread is so full of holes that I wouldn't even know where to begin when dissecting it.

From Spin.com: EXCLUSIVE ALBUM: R.E.M.'s 'Lifes Rich Pageant' By Kevin O'Donnell R.E.M. in 1986 / Photo by Sandra Lee Phipps R.E.M. had already established themselves as kings of D.I.Y. college rock with the release of groundbreaking albums like 1983's Murmur, 1984's Reckoning, and 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction. But the Athens, GA-based rockers hit new heights in 1986 with Lifes Rich Pageant, the band's most successful and highest charting album to that point. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, R.E.M. and Capitol/I.R.S. Records teamed up for an expanded, digitally remastered reissue, which is stacked with rarities. SPIN has a premiere of the set ahead of its July 12 release, which you can stream in the player below. The highlight of the reissue is a second disc dubbed The Athens Demos, which culls 19 previously unreleased recordings that were recorded in March 1986. Cuts like "Fall on Me" and "These Days" sound remarkably polished compared to the final album versions, while early versions of "I Believe" feature eye-opening alternative arrangements (it's a blast to hear a humming Michael Stipe working out the song's final vocal melody). Also included: early drafts of tunes like "March Song (King of Birds)" — which would later appear on 1987's Document — and "Bad Day," which wouldn't get a proper release until 2003's rarities set In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. (Diehards will notice that track's remarkable similarity to 1987's classic "It's the End of the World as We Know It.") The hard-charging rocker "Wait," meanwhile, has only circulated on bootlegs until now. To listen to the stream, click here.

Ex-Yes Frontman Jon Anderson Opens Up About Getting Fired As the band gets ready to release a new album and go on tour, Anderson is still bitter about how he was treated Rob Verhorst/Redferns/Getty Images By ANDY GREENE When Rolling Stone posted the new Yes song "We Can Fly" last month it didn't just provide fans of the legendary prog band the first glimpse into the band's new album – it also allowed former lead singer Jon Anderson to check out what his band has done in his absence. "I wasn't really convinced," he tells Rolling Stone. "The new singer is singing good, but it sounded a bit dated to me. Also, the production wasn't as good as I expected. They've got a great producer with Trevor Horn, so what the hell are you doing?" Anderson has reason to be bitter. He co-founded the band in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire, and with the exception of 1980's Drama he sang on every album. In 2008 – after illness kept him off the road for four years – Yes replaced him with Benoit David, an Anderson sound-alike who previously fronted the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge. To read the rest of the article click here.

It's not a real graph based on actual statistics, that's why I posted it in the "Make Me Laugh" thread.