Creedence Clearwater Revival, The #19 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

 

In 1970, CCR toured Europe for the first time.  The band recorded their next album in San Francisco, and released Cosmo's Factory.  This song is about the group's hectic schedule in 1969, when they experienced numerous problems such as lost baggage, waiting in the hot sun to perform at festivals, and yet having to perform at their best as one of the world's top performers.

After the basic track was ready for this song, John went back to the studio to record several instrumental parts himself, including horns and piano.  "Travelin' Band" flew to #1 in the Netherlands and #2 in the U.S. and Australia and sold over two million singles.  The song was a Top 10 hit in every major country in the world.

 

CCR enjoyed one of The Top Double-Sided Hits of the Rock Era* with "Who'll Stop The Rain", another #2 song.  All three verses speak of unending trouble and turmoil brought on by "good men through the ages".  The song also has a reference to the heavy rain and mud the day CCR played at Woodstock, which was the day before Fogerty started writing the song.

 

The group released another amazing double-sided hit, the "A" side being the million-seller, "Up Around The Bend", #4 in the United States and #1 in Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.  Fogerty wrote it and the group recorded it prior to their 1970 tour of Europe.

 

The flip side for that great song was another great one, which really caught the ears of American servicemen stationed in the jungles of Vietnam--"Run Through The Jungle".  The Vietnam jungles were indeed the backdrop, but the song is about responsible gun control after Fogerty learned that there was a gun for every man, woman, and child in the United States ("200 million guns are loaded").  As John told Rolling Stone in 2016:

     I just thought it was disturbing that it was such a 

     jungle for our citizens just to walk around in our

     own country at least having to be aware that there 

     are so many private guns owned by some 

     responsible and maybe many irresponsible people.

 

CCR became the first artist of the Rock Era to generate six Top 10 hits from an album (they all made it to the Top 5) as another double-sided smash landed at #2.  This song sold over two million copies--"Lookin' Out My Back Door".

 

The flip side was "Long As I Can See The Light".  Fogerty used a candle as a metaphoric beacon to guide him back home.

 "Ramble Tamble" is a seven-minute jam session filled with layers of guitar and a piano part that connects everything together .  It is one of The Top Tracks of the Rock Era*.

 Creedence included this Bo Diddley tune--"Before You Accuse Me".

 

CCR covered "Ooby Dooby", a hit for Roy Orbison in 1956.

Cosmo's Factory referred to an inside joke that John was working the other members like dogs, though as we soon found out, it wasn't a joke to the other members.  John was the undisputed leader and he made all business and artistic decisions.  "I wasn't popular in my own band," John admitted in a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.  "There's an old war movie where the guy says, 'When you put on the clothes of the general, you cannot be popular with your men."

The amazing album has sold over four million units in the U.S. alone.  It rocketed to #1 in every major country except the Netherlands, where it peaked at #2, West Germany (#4) and Japan (#10).

John upset the other members further when he agreed to a tax shelter plan proposed by Zaentz in which most of the members' assets were transferred to Castle Bank & Trust in the Bahamas.  Before the bank was dissolved, Zaentz and his company withdrew the savings of the four CCR members.  Several lawsuits ensued before a California court awarded $8.6 million to the members in 1983.  This represented a tiny fraction of their earnings.

 

CCR released the album Pendulum later in 1970.  Lacking one more song to complete the album, John wrote this song to express exasperation that, at the height of their fame, they were falling apart.  Creedence released another of The Top Double-Sided Hits of the Rock Era* as "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" sold over one million copies, went to #1 in Canada and peaked in the Top 10 in every major Rock Singles chart except that of the U.K.  

 

"Hey Tonight" gave the group their eighth Top 10 hit in just over a year, one of the most amazing runs in the history of the Rock Era.

 

"It's Just A Thought" is a ballad by a group that didn't do a lot of ballads, and another highlight.

Pendulum swung to #1 in Australia, Finland and Norway and has been certified Platinum.  "Pagan Baby" is another of the group's career best.

 

"(Wish I Could) Hideaway" shows further development of not only John's songwriting growth but his vocal strengths as well.

Tom resigned from the group after recording the album, not happy with the monopoly John had imposed on the group.  He recorded several unsuccessful solo albums before his death in 1990 caused by a tainted blood transfusion he received while undergoing back surgery and died of an AIDS complication. 

Creedence continued as a trio for their next album.  Fogerty changed tactics and allowed Cook and Clifford to write and sing their own songs on the album.  Tensions boiled over in a tour of the United States and Europe.

 

The result of the "democratic approach" to recording was CCR's worst album, Mardi Gras.  The single "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" also rose to #1 in Canada and landed in the Top 10 everywhere except the U.K.  

"Someday Never Comes" had a rough ride up the charts, stopping abruptly at #25.  It is nevertheless one of the group's great songs.

Creedence played 20 dates in the U.S., but on October 16, 1972, less than six months after the completion of the tour, the band broke up.  Several compilations have been released in the time since, led by Creedence Gold in 1972, a two-million seller, More Creedence Gold in 1973, the 10-million selling album Chronicle, Vol. 1 in 1976 and Chronicle, Vol. 2 in 1986.

In 1980, Fantasy released the album The Concert, which has gone Platinum.  Creedence Clearwater Revival never reunited as a working band, but the four jammed together at Tom Fogerty's wedding in 1980.  John Fogerty, Cook and Clifford all played at the 20th reunion of their El Cerrito High School graduating class in 1983, but because of the flurry of lawsuits concerning royalties and problems with Zaentz, the problems which had caused their breakup resurfaced.

In 1993, CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but John refused to perform with Cook and Clifford and he instead played the group's music with other musicians on stage, including Bruce Springsteen.  

Cook and Clifford later started the spin-off group Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995.  Fogerty began his solo career in 1973 under the name the Blue Ridge Rangers, which was really just Fogerty playing all the instruments.  He scored a major comeback with his self-titled album in 1985 and released Eye of the Zombie the following year.

Fogerty refused to play CCR songs on tour even though he owned the rights to them, saying "it would be too painful to revisit the music."  He broke that ban in 1987 after Bob Dylan and George Harrison told him that "if you don't, the whole world's gonna' think 'Proud Mary' is Tina Turner's song.  Ike and Tina Turner remade the song into a hit.  

Fogerty took time off from music until 1997 when he returned with the Grammy Award-winning album Blue Moon Swamp.  John still tours and continues to play CCR songs in addition to his solo work.

Creedence Clearwater Revival holds the Rock Era record for the most #2 songs (five) without a #1 hit.  Only Elvis Presley and Madonna (six each) have more #2 songs while the Carpenters are tied with CCR with five.  In their short but meteoric career, Creedence amassed 20 hits, 19 of which came in a mind-blowing four year period.

CCR has sold an estimated 68 million albums worldwide.  "Down On The Corner" and "Fortunate Son" have both been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.