CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

“Thought I heard a rumblin

Callin to my name,

Two hundred million guns are loaded

Satan cries, take aim!”

 

 

 

 

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“B”

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Main Decade: 60's 

Main Ages: Country, Country Rock and Southern

Key Members:

John Fogerty, Lead Guitar and Singer

Tom Fogerty, Rythm Guitar

Doug "Cosmo" Clifford, Drums

Stu Cock, Bass

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Key Songs:

Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Susie Q, Proud Mary, Who'll Stop The Rain, I Put A Spell On You, Run Through The Jungle, Born On The Bayou, Good Golly Miss Molly, Green River, Walk On The Water, Fortunate Son, Lodi, Travelin' Band, Bad Moon Rising, Cotton Fields, I Heard It Through the Grapevie, Long As I Can See The Light, Someday Never Comes, Hey Tonight, Effigy, The Working Man, Penthouse Pauper, Commotion, Down on the Corner, Pagan Baby, Hey Tonight

 

Just a few moments ago, I was arguing with my cousin about Creedence Clearwater Revival… Creedence, or CCR for that matter. This is another one of those rather rare bands on the rock scene. I was mentioning that many of the biggest bands have many, many detractors, most of them with quite acceptable arguments. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Doors, Zep, Floyd… Creedence, despite being a somewhat inferior band, basically has no enemies. The most objective comments against the band I found in the review of someone who considers them their fourth favorite band. You just listen to them and fall in love with that rural, swampy, seemingly basic sound… In the small discussion, my cousin mentioned that Creedence is the equivalent of grupera music in the US. Nope. Country is the equivalent. CCR have an undeniable country influence, but they also have enough influences from psychedelia and blues to inaugurate and close a totally unique and unparalleled genre. That is to say, they sound like country, but not like the Allmans; they sound like psychedelia, but not like the Doors; they bring blues into harmony and arrangements, but not like Clapton; they talk about completely inconsequential things, but never like... ehh... (Name any of the 35,000,000 average rock bands?); and they also wrote deep and intense lyrics, but never like, let alone Dylan's, but Lennon's; and the voice was powerful and heartfelt, but never like Joe Cocker's, for example.

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So? The rhythm is catchy, yes, and you can play four or five chords in the entire song. But John Fogerty managed to avoid simple strumming and create monstrous riffs, bluesy spiders, intricate accompaniments, and an improvisational spirit that the average guitarist doesn't have. John, in addition to being the band's vocalist and leader, has a power and raspy timbre that are completely impossible to mistake. Without any major pretensions in their lyrics, they speak of swamps, green rivers, Salem spells, rumors on the corner... and slowly evolve into more politically engaged lyrics: Against Vietnam, American politics, propaganda, and war in general, all from a perspective so simple and sincere that it's impossible to label them as pretentious or posers. Creedence is the voice of the people, and perhaps that's why it's impossible to hate them.

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Another of my points in my favor is that there are hardly any discographies that don't tire you out when you listen to them in their entirety. Even the Rolling Stones and Dylan can tire you out after a full day of listening to them. In my very personal opinion, Creedence never tires, and that's a very important point. CCR isn't your average grupera or country band. They manage to create a sound based on so many others that it's impossible not to distinguish them. A separate genre that contributed nothing to music, especially after its belated arrival on the scene, but that is strangely fundamental to rock today. Don't believe me? Ask any rocker who sounds halfway decent if they don't like Creedence. Creedence is the typical band that started playing in the garage in their tender teens in the late 1950s. However, they had to struggle much more than the average one-hit wonders that bombed in the early 1960s. After multiple lineup and name changes, including the constant entry and exit of brother Tom Fogerty from the band, but always with John and Doug Clifford in the lineup, they finally began to achieve some success and recorded several singles, thanks in part to their extraordinary ability to recreate covers of classic songs. These singles were never released until their famous Anthology, but they already showed what the band was capable of in 1967, at the height of their psychedelic effervescence. After Tom's umpteenth return and the addition of Stu Cock on bass, the lineup was formed, and they all quit their stable, but unhealthy, jobs to dedicate themselves 100% to music. It only took eight years of struggle and a change of manager at the record company to a fan to begin the sessions for their first album in mid-1968.

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By that time, psychedelia was retreating as rapidly as it had in the face of more bluesy, regressive, and basic sounds. What CCR conveyed was a perfect balance between what was going on and what was coming, immediately propelling them to number 11 among the best-sellers. No major campaigns, no multi-million-dollar investments: just word-of-mouth recommendations from hippies who appreciated a not-SO-hippie sound and farmers who recommended a not-SO-country sound.

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Following the success of their crossover at the end of '68, Creedence embarked on an endless tour throughout the following year, which also gave them enough inspiration to release three albums in the same twelve months without any disrespect, and in the process, increasing their busy schedule and growing status day by day. If you ask me who the best band of '69 is, my answer is undoubtedly Creedence. The three albums released that year only served to consolidate all the years of work and catapult them as the greatest post-summer-of-love legend. As a musician, it seems impossible to me that these melodies hadn't been written long before. If, with most triple albums, one laments that each vinyl wasn't released a year or two apart and without so much filler, one wonders why Creedence didn't release the best triple album in history in 1969.

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By 1970, without stopping for a single second between tours and studio sessions, they released "Cosmos Factory," their finest creation. A furious mix of swampy rhythms, poignant lyrics that once again range from the most banal to the most furious protest, blending them with immortal ballads like "Who'll Stop the Rain"…

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Success this time wouldn't leave them so unscathed… If '69 was exhausting, '70 was suffocating, and after the creative explosion, the spark began to plummet. "Pendulum," their next release from 1970, would only serve to distance them from their sound and push "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" back to the top. After this album, Tom left for good, and the quartet suffered an irreparable fracture. Although John Fogerty was three-quarters of Creedence, his brother's departure affected them so much that, if I were to consider "Mardi Grass" as Creedence's last album, as they suggest, the score would drop at least one point.

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The inevitable breakup would follow. John Fogerty, being the band's creative genius, guitarist, and vocalist, had no problem pursuing a solo career, but while his solo albums aren't bad, IT'S NOT CREEDENCE; the magic of the full band is missing. Thus, the other members, without being great virtuosos, make themselves known when needed.

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Creedence lasted as a band for only about four years, considering only their recording career, and that's if we take into account Mardi Grass '72. For practical purposes, CCR lasted just a little over a couple of years, and that was enough for them to become legendary. They arrived very late to the rock scene, following the profusion of psychedelic bands in the mid-sixties and after the Summer of Love, but they brought a mix of simple, catchy, energetic sounds, sometimes bordering on hard rock and at other times approaching country or blues, with simple but tremendous riffs, solos that aren't majestic like Clapton's, but are sharp, precise, and often feature delirious improvisations. This sound marked a shift in the music being made, and soon everyone would be abandoning strobe notes for more rootsy music. Although their sound isn't opposed to psychedelia, I wonder if they had arrived earlier they might have slowed the Summer of '67 movement a bit.

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Creedence never displayed the air of divas despite their meteoric career. John, of course, had a strong ego, but they never got into trouble offstage for outrageous statements or actions. Their stage outfits reflected the same simplicity of character and music. Generally, overalls and jeans, striped shirts, and boots. The guys looked more like tomato pickers than one of the biggest rock bands. Perhaps that was part of the image they were trying to convey; the truth is, it worked quite well.

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Their albums also have virtually no fillers. Despite such a short career, it's extremely rare to find a band that doesn't have a single song worth throwing away. Of course, there are songs that aren't as good as others, but overall, they all have redeeming qualities, whether it's the catchy rhythm or some interesting riff in their legacy of seven studio albums. At least they've left behind twenty immortal classics, from the famous cover of "Suzie Q," the hard rock "Green River," and beautiful ballads like "Have You Ever Seen the Rain."

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While I think it's impossible for you not to have heard Creedence, I can't help but highly recommend them. If you download a few songs, you might be surprised to realize you've heard them before, and you'll soon find yourself looking for more and more material. You won't find complex sounds that will take your breath away, but I promise you'll find quite pleasant, simple, energetic, and addictive melodies. Very well-crafted and intelligent music, then.

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Lineup:

John Fogerty was the absolute genius and driving force of the band. The main composer and riff player. He was also the lead vocalist. His voice had quite a bit of power, a slightly raspy, and quite distinctive timbre. It's impossible to mistake him.

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Tom Fogerty: John's brother, the band's rhythm guitarist. He's not a genius, but he provides the necessary support for John to shine with the riffs and solos.

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Doug Clifford: Drums.

Stu Cook: Bass.

Always precise and creating an incredible rhythmic foundation. They may not be virtuosos, but the more I listen to them, the more I'm amazed by their creativity without getting too complicated, and I think they're one of the most underrated rhythm sections in history. Without them, John Fogerty definitely wouldn't be Creedence.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the band that stops the rain: Creedence Clearwater Revival!

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By Corvan  

Jan/26/2008

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