Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival (often referred to as Creedence or CCR) was a Berkeley-based American rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s which consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; bassist Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford.

 

These members had played together since 1959, first as The Blue Velvets and later as The Golliwogs. Their musical style encompassed roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock. They played in a Southern rock style, despite their San Francisco Bay Area origin, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River, and other popular elements of Southern United States iconography, as well as political and socially conscious lyrics about topics including the Vietnam War. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival in Upstate New York.

 

The group disbanded acrimoniously in late 1972 after four years of chart-topping success. Creedence Clearwater Revival's music is still a staple of US radio airplay; the band has sold 28 million records in the United States alone. Rolling Stone ranked them 82nd on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

 

At their height, in 1969 they had produced three Top Ten albums, four hit singles (charting at No. 2, No. 2, No. 2, and No. 3) with three additional charting B-sides.

 

 

Creedence Clearwater Revival was a Berkeley-based band that began as the Golliwogs. In 1966, John Fogerty and Doug Clifford received draft notices and to avoid conscription, Fogerty joined the Army Reserve while Clifford joined the Coast Guard Reserve. When they returned in late 1967, Fantasy Records offered the band a chance to record an album on the condition that they change their name. Creedence Clearwater Revival was chosen, rejecting other contenders like Muddy Rabbit and Gossamer Wump.

 

Their first album, released May 28, 1968 featured I Put a Spell on You and the 8:37 Suzie Q. John Fogerty specifically lengthened SuzyQ and the band tried to psychedelicize it to get it played on the alternative radio station, KMPX. "Suzie Q' was designed to fit right in," Fogerty explained. "The eight-minute opus. Feedback. Like [the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's] "East-West". But, lo and behold, it worked!"

 

Allmusic called the album “gloriously out of step with the times,” with Fogerty’s raspy swamp vocals, bayou beat and raw scratchy power but we all know how the story went from here.