Members

• John Fogerty – vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ
• Tom Fogerty – guitar, vocals
• Stu Cook – bass, vocals
• Doug Clifford – drums, percussion, occasional vocals

History

The Early Years

The band started out as The Blue Velvets, formed by John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook in El Cerrito, California in the late 1950s. They were an instrumental trio, however in 1959 they began backing Tom Fogerty, John's older brother, on fraternity house gigs and in the recording studio. In the middle of 1964, the band recorded two songs for Fantasy Records, a local label based in San Francisco at that time. They were attracted to the label because Fantasy had released a national hit by Vince Guaraldi, "Cast Your Fate To The Wind". Max Weiss, Fantasy's co-owner initially changed the group's name to The Visions, but when the record was released, in November 1964, Weiss re-named the group The Golliwogs, an apparent reference to a once-popular minstrel doll called a Golliwogg. Seven singles were released in the San Francisco Bay area, but none received national attention. (However, in 1975 Fantasy released Pre-Creedence, a compilation album of recordings by The Golliwogs).

CCR is Born

The year 1967 was a watershed for the band. For one thing, the group almost broke up when the draft board came for both John Fogerty and Doug Clifford. However, Fogerty was able to enlist in the Army Reserve instead of the regular Army, serving the first six months of the year in the military, and then returning annually for two weeks for the next several years, while Doug did a short spell in the Coast Guard Reserve. Neither had to serve in Vietnam, and both received medical discharges. The second major event of the year was when Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss. He offered the band the chance to record a full album, but only if they changed the group's name. Never having particularly liked the Golliwogs, the foursome readily agreed, and Zaentz enthusiastically agreed to their suggestion: Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Heyday

The Decline And Fall

It was around this time that tensions began to grow. The incessant touring and heavy recording schedules were starting to take their toll on the band. Inarguably the band's leader, John Fogerty, gradually took total control of the group, determining what songs they would record, how the other three band members would play, and where they would tour. This arrangement began to grate on the other members of CCR, particularly Tom Fogerty, who had shared singer and songwriter duties with his younger brother prior to the band hitting the big time, but who was now relegated to the role of rhythm guitarist.

After CCR

In 1973, John launched a solo career with a collection of country and gospel songs on which he played all of the instruments, under the nom de plume Blue Ridge Rangers. The album was a minor hit, the relative commercial failure of which Fogerty blamed on lack of support from Fantasy Records, with which he was in virtual open warfare. Although still owing Fantasy eight more records under his old Creedence contract, John refused to work for the label any longer, and both sides reached an impasse that was only resolved when David Geffen of Asylum Records agreed to buy Fogerty's contract from Fantasy for $1,000,000. However, the purchase only applied to Fogerty's releases in the USA and Canada...Fantasy still controlled his distribution for the rest of the world.

Trivia

• CCR have had many of their songs appear in movies and video games. Some include "Who'll Stop the Rain" in Who'll Stop the Rain; "Fortunate Son" in the movies Forrest Gump, Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam and in the video game Battlefield: Vietnam. The video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas featured the song "Green River". Other movies include Remember the Titans with "Up Around the Bend"; The Longest Yard with "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"; The Big Lebowski with "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Run Through the Jungle," (also featured on HBO's Entourage) and The Big Chill; An American Werewolf in London and Blade with "Bad Moon Rising," and Twilight Zone: The Movie with "The Midnight Special". "Born On The Bayou" was featured in The Waterboy and Born on the Fourth of July. "I Put A Spell on You" was featured in the movie Hocus Pocus. CCR's "Susie Q" is featured in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, during the scene in which the Playboy bunnies perform for a crowd of military personnel in Vietnam.

• The band took its name from Credence Nuball, a friend of Tom Fogerty, "clearwater", a reference to the band's concern for the ecology (from a beer commercial of the day), and "revival", which spoke to the four member's re-commitment to their band.

• The band is often considered the most successful band to never have a #1 single in the USA. They did have five No. 2 singles there, more than any other act. "Bad Moon Rising" hit #1 in the UK.

• Although not included in the film nor its soundtracks because Fogerty felt their performance was sub-par, CCR did perform at the original Woodstock Music Festival. Several CCR tracks from the event were included in the commemorative box set years later. They performed 11 numbers, including "Susie Q". The band complained that they had to perform at 3:00 in the morning because the previous artist, the Grateful Dead, jammed far past their scheduled set, and by the time CCR took the stage, many in the audience had gone to sleep. Their hit song "Who'll Stop the Rain" has lyrics which reflect their appearance at Woodstock.

• In The Simpsons episode "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington", Homer sings a portion of "Bad Moon Rising," after hearing Marge ask someone to perform CPR.

• In Nick Hornby's book "A Long Way Down" CCR is quoted as being a disease which one of the main characters is dying of, in fact he is not dying just too ashamed to admit his reasons for committing suicide.He uses CCR as they are one of his favourite bands.

• In the book The Shining by Stephen King, there is a portion of the lyrics to "Bad Moon Rising".

• Fantasy Records in 1980 released a concert LP from the band entitled Live From Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, it was soon thereafter determined that the performance was recorded not in London, England as the LP name claimed, but rather in Oakland, California. Subsequent pressings of the album have been retitled simply The Concert.

• In the film The Big Lebowski, the main character, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, lists the band as his favorite band.

Samples

• Download sample of "Bad Moon Rising" from Green River