Creedence Clearwater Revival

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Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival 1968
Creedence Clearwater Revival 1968
General information
origin Berkeley , United States
Genre (s) Roots rock , swamp rock , country rock , blues rock
founding December 24, 1967
resolution October 16, 1972
Website creedence-online.net
Founding members
John Fogerty
Tom Fogerty (until 1971; † 1990)
Doug Clifford
Stu Cook

Creedence Clearwater Revival (abbreviated as CCR ) was an American rock band from Berkeley , California that was active between 1967 and 1972. The music and lyrics of their pieces are mainly from John Fogarty .

Band history

Forerunner bands - the early years

The musicians began as The Blue Velvets , founded in early 1959 by John Fogerty and his school friend Doug Clifford, as well as Stu Cook, who joined shortly afterwards, in El Cerrito , California .

In an interview, Doug Clifford stated that he met John Fogerty in his school at the time in the music room, where he was playing the piano . He'd noticed the room because Fogerty was listening to the kind of music Clifford was interested in, namely pieces by Fats Domino and Little Richard .

Shortly afterwards, the two of them had the following conversation: Clifford: […] “I said 'Do you wanna start a band?' He said 'what do you play?' I said 'I'm a drummer.' […] ” (“ I said, 'Do you want to start a band?' He said, 'What do you play?' I said, 'I'm a drummer.' ”) Clifford owned too this time a snare drum and a kick drum . […] “He said 'Well, let's do that, but actually I play guitar. I'm looking for a piano player. '” (“ He said,' Well let's do this, but I actually play the guitar. I'm looking for a piano player. '”)

After five months, Stu Cook joined the duo. At first he played the piano and later learned to play the bass guitar . A little later Tom Fogerty, John's older brother, joined the band. They played together at school events and small parties, their repertoire essentially consisting of instrumental versions of the hits of the time. During this time they already recorded a few records for the local orchestral music publisher, but were unsuccessful.

After all band members graduated from high school , The Blue Velvets barely worked on a musical career. Tom, the older of the Fogerty brothers, already had a family to support; Doug Clifford and Stu Cook went to college and John Fogerty to the Army Reserve.

When the four of them made some demo recordings for the record company " Fantasy Records " in 1964 , they were impressed by the music of the Blue Velvets . The pieces of music followed by vocal recordings were then put on the market as records .

However, the musicians were not thrilled when they found out on release that the record company had renamed the band The Golliwogs - based on the children's book character Golliwog . At first the success was limited, they released a couple of neglected singles. Nevertheless, the four musicians stood out from the crowd of local music groups with their own compositions.

With the song Brown Eyed Girl , which was released in 1967, John Fogerty replaced his brother Tom as singer. This change meant a new musical departure; with Walk on the Water was created soon after the first piece, it was not a love song. The last single released under the previous name was Porterville .

Creedence Clearwater Revival - renamed, breakthrough and fame

In December 1967, the group was renamed Creedence Clearwater Revival . This name originated from the first name (Credence) of a colleague of Tom Fogerty and a beer brand (Clearwater) that advertised, among other things, with purity. However, Clearwater also stood for the band's attitude towards environmental protection. The "Revival" symbolizes the cohesion of the band, which was allowed to name itself again after some (not always voluntary) name changes.

The first track they recorded under this name was Suzie Q. , a then eleven year old song by Dale Hawkins , which they had in their program since they were founded. They then recorded I Put a Spell on You , Walk on the Water , Get down Woman , Gloomy and more. The title The Working Man was an early attempt to address the core of the “lower-class” mentality of the people.

The first album, called Creedence Clearwater Revival , was completed in early 1968 and released in June of that year. The response to this record was great; the radio stations received numerous requests from listeners. After that, the record was regularly on the radio, and a real CCR mania developed.

With the 1969 album Bayou Country , the band found the style that they maintained over the next few years. The group's music was now called "Bayou Rock" or " Swamp Rock " because the lyrics and recurring themes dealt with rural wisdom. Finally, it was assumed that Creedence Clearwater Revival must come from Louisiana , which was particularly reinforced by the second hit single Proud Mary . This myth developed mainly through John Fogerty's love for the southern United States; his favorite music, blues and classic rock 'n' roll , almost invariably came from there. And this style, also with a country touch, manifested itself on the following album Green River with the title song of the same name and the other hits Lodi and Bad Moon Rising . With that, the band had finally found its musical stamp.

Her appearance that same year as co- headlining the Woodstock Festival did not appear in the film about the festival or on the original Woodstock album , as John Fogerty and the record company refused to release the rights to it. Fogerty considered the gig, which had taken place around 3 a.m. after a lengthy appearance by the Grateful Dead , as too bad to be released as only a small part of the audience was awake and the band reportedly faced technical difficulties. On August 2, 2019, a recording will be released in full for the first time on audio carriers.

With the hit Fortunate Son on the album Willy and the Poor Boys (November 1969) Creedence Clearwater Revival became political for the first time. The object of contempt was the callous empire who twisted power for his own ends. Cross-references to the Vietnam War , which was simmering at the time, come to mind . The lines of text: “It ain't me, it ain't me. I am no senator's son. It ain't me, it ain't me. I am no fortunate one. ”Probably refer to the fact that wealthier and more influential citizens had opportunities to evade military service. Down On the Corner was the biggest hit from this LP, the lesser known title Don't Look Now (It Ain't You or Me) was met with strong official hostility.

At the time of release of Cosmo's Factory , the fifth LP, Creedence Clearwater Revival was at the height of their career. Hits from this period are Lookin 'Out My Back Door , Up Around the Bend and Who'll Stop the Rain . In the meantime the band played regularly in front of large audiences all over the world, each single sold millions of copies and each of their five LPs to date had sales of over a million. There were even robberies on the market.

The four musicians campaigned strongly for civil rights and gave numerous benefit concerts. Without making this known, they supplied the Indians of the besieged Alcatraz Island with food and equipment.

The LP Pendulum , released in December 1970, was ordered over a million times before its release date. The album contained Hey Tonight, the only number 1 hit for CCR in Germany. Years later, however, it became clear that John Fogerty had demoted his bandmates on Pendulum to extras; the main contributions to the record came from him. Perhaps that's why Fogerty never sang more confidently than on this album. The group association could no longer be maintained; Tom Fogerty resigned in February 1971 to try his hand at a solo career.

On the album Mardi Gras , released in April 1972 , each of the three remaining musicians presented their own compositions. The record was supposed to be made according to democratic principles within the band, but it was not stylistically uniform.

However, CCR saw little of the money they earned from their hits, as the contracts at that time only included the costs of the tours and hotel costs plus food. These toggle contracts were also blamed on John Fogerty by the other band members, which accelerated the breakup of the band. John Fogerty still had to struggle with these contracts in the 80s, as they even forbade him to sing his own songs in public. Only much later did the publisher give in and they were reconciled at a concert.

resolution

In July 1972, Creedence Clearwater Revival finally broke up. Stu Cook and Doug Clifford later founded the formation Creedence Clearwater Revisited with other musicians , with which they kept the old hits alive. After the separation, John Fogerty was initially only moderately successful in various projects and with a solo career - it is particularly worth mentioning here his musical excursion into traditional country music, which he made under the hidden name The Blue Ridge Rangers and the album of the same name in 1973 undertook. In 1975 he released the song Rockin 'All Over the World on his second solo album , which became world famous two years later due to Status Quo . It wasn't until 1985 that he had commercial success again with the album Centerfield and the singles Rock and Roll Girls and The Old Man Down the Road . Later, the albums Blue Moon Swamp (1997) and Revival (2007) also received a lot of attention.

Rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty died on September 6, 1990 at the age of 48.

In 1993 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . In 2011, Rolling Stone listed her as 82 of the 100 greatest musicians of all time .

The asteroid "19398 Creedence" was named after the band after its discovery in 1998.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • 1969: Live at Woodstock (release 2019)
  • 1970: The Concert (recording at Oakland Coliseum ; released 1980)
  • 1970: The Royal Albert Hall Concert (released 1980)
  • 1973: Live in Europe (1973)

Compilations (selection)

Creedence Clearwater Revival

  • Spirit Orgaszmus of Jeronimo and Creedence Clearwater Revival (split LP on pink vinyl , 1970)
  • Creedence Gold (1972)
  • More Creedence Gold (1973)
  • Chronicle - The 20 Greatest Hits (1976)
  • Chronicle Volume Two - Twenty Great CCR Classics (1986)
  • The Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival (2000)
  • The Singles Collection 2 CD (2009)
  • 24 Carat 3 CD (2002)

The Golliwogs

  • The Golliwogs (1975)

Singles

Tommy Fogerty & the Blue Velvets

  • Come On Baby / Oh My Love (October 1961)
  • Have You Ever Been Lonely / Bonita (November 1961)
  • Now You're Not Mine / Yes You Did (June 1962)

The Golliwogs

  • Don't Tell Me No Lies / Little Girl (Does Your Mama Know) (November 1964)
  • You Came Walking / Where You Been (April 1965)
  • You Can't Be True / You Got Nothin 'on Me (July 1965)
  • Brown Eyed Girl / You Better Be Careful (November 1965)
  • Fight Fire / Fragile Child (May 1966)
  • Walking on the Water / You Better Get It Before It Gets You (September 1966)
  • Porterville / Call It Pretending (November 1967)

Creedence Clearwater Revival

  • Porterville / Call It Pretending (1968)
  • Suzie Q, Part I & II (June 1968)
  • I Put a Spell on You / Walk on the Water (October 1968)
  • Proud Mary / Born on the Bayou (January 1969)
  • Bad Moon Rising / Lodi (April 1969)
  • Green River / Commotion (July 1969)
  • Down on the Corner / Fortunate Son (October 1969)
  • Travelin 'Band / Who'll Stop the Rain (January 1970)
  • Up Around the Bend / Run Through the Jungle (April 1970)
  • Lookin 'out My Back Door / Long as I Can See the Light (July 1970)
  • Hey, Tonight / Have You Ever Seen the Rain (January 1971)
  • Sweet Hitch-Hiker / Door to Door (July 1971)
  • Someday Never Comes / Tearin 'up the Country (March 1972)
  • Molina / Sailor's Lament (1972)
  • I Heard It Through the Grapevine / Porterville (1970)

In the English-speaking world, the A and B sides of some singles were reversed;
In the USA, 7 titles were also able to place themselves in the charts as B or double A sides.

literature

  • Peter Koers: Creedence-Clearwater-Revival: Rocking All Over The World . Sonnentanz-Verlag, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-926794-17-8 .
  • Peter Koers: Green River: The Discography of Creedence Clearwater Revival . Balve / Star Cluster Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-925005-51-X .
  • Mark Bloemeke, Rüdiger Bloemeke: John Fogerty and the drama Creedence Clearwater Revival . Voodoo Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-00-003885-X .
  • Mark Bloemeke: Songs For Everyone. John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival - the musical work . Voodoo Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-049687-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ [1] Interview with Doug Clifford, the band's former drummer
  2. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Creedence Clearwater Revival in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  3. 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  4. Info on the NASA website , accessed on April 4, 2018.

Web links

Commons : Creedence Clearwater Revival  - Collection of images, videos and audio files