The Golliwogs

Of all the vault recordings by '60s rock groups that were unearthed and repackaged, few are less indicative of future fame and greatness than the Golliwogs'. With no changes in personnel, the group became superstars as Creedence Clearwater Revival. As the Golliwogs, they issued seven singles in the mid-'60s; all flops, they were eventually repackaged as a retrospective. These 45s liberally borrowed from the British Invasion and other rock and R&B trends of the day without displaying a shred of distinction, or even an especially high energy level. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the problem is; over half the songs were sung not by John Fogerty, but his brother, Tom. The half-dozen numbers sung by John are indeed more palatable, but even so, his songwriting had a distance to go before attaining maturity. The Golliwogs' recordings are interesting for their historical insight, but listeners shouldn't approach them expecting anything on the level of Creedence. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide