Creedence Clearwateer Revival?

[Newguy562]

What are your thoughts of this amazing swamp rock group? Sure they had huge hits and had a completely different style than everything else that was happening at that time What did you think about their albums though? their sound? their career? what is your favorite album/song? I think their Cotton Fields is a million times better than the Beach Boys version They had a dirty ass, grimey, filthy sound that I loved so much it just made me feel like I was inside of a swamp and making my way to the country.

[Rocker]

Greatest Rock'n'Roll band ever imo. They had the authenticity in sound, the great original material and Fogerty's voice was just unbelievable (not to mention his gift for producing and arranging). I'm not a fan of his voice's sound nowadays though. I like the Beach Boys' "Cottonfields" better but I can dig CCR's. My favorite album might be "Pendulum" although it showed a step into a new sound that was not as primitive as their sound until that point. "Cosmo's factory" could be their most impressive album in terms of hits and classics, though their version of Presley's version of "My baby left me" just sucks in comparison imo.

Fogerty has some very good stuff in his solo carreer but imo nothing could really compete on an eye-to-eye level with his recordings with CCR.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbr0qOizAVY

[Newguy562]

Greatest Rock'n'Roll band ever imo. They had the authenticity in sound, the great original material and Fogerty's voice was just unbelievable (not to mention his gift for producing and arranging). I'm not a fan of his voice's sound nowadays though. I like the Beach Boys' "Cottonfields" better but I can dig CCR's. My favorite album might be "Pendulum" although it showed a step into a new sound that was not as primitive as their sound until that point. "Cosmo's factory" could be their most impressive album in terms of hits and classics, though their version of Presley's version of "My baby left me" just sucks in comparison imo.

Fogerty has some very good stuff in his solo carreer but imo nothing could really compete on an eye-to-eye level with his recordings with CCR.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbr0qOizAVY

pendelum is an amazing album and possibly can be their most slept on album i even love mardi gras even though it's one of the most hated albums of all time lol.. even at their worst i considered that a great ass album!
his voice reminds me a southern version of robert plants voice ..(even though he's from the san francisco area lol)...they created a sound that can't ever be duplicated..one of a kind...

[stack-o-tracks]

Some great songs. Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Hey Tonight, & Up Around The Bend are some of my favorite songs OF ALL TIME. There were a couple years where that guy pumped out hits like Brian Wilson did.

[Newguy562]

What are your thoughts of this amazing swamp rock group? Sure they had huge hits and had a completely different style than everything else that was happening at that time What did you think about their albums though? their sound? their career? what is your favorite album/song? I think their Cotton Fields is a million times better than the Beach Boys version They had a dirty ass, grimey, filthy sound that I loved so much it just made me feel like I was inside of a swamp and making my way to the country.

I listen to Creedence Clearwater Revival like 5 days a week. They really rock! And John Fogerty's an excellent singer imo! As for the music, mostly I love:
- Green River (title track, Cross-Tie Walker, Commotion, Broken Spoke Shuffle),
- the eponymous LP (my favourite tracks - Susie Q, 99 & A Half, Gloomy, Walking on the Water) and
- Mardi Gras (it's an extremely overlooked record, there are many good songs, specially I'll mention Sail Away, Take It Like a Friend & Tearin' Up the Country).
 
Concerning Cotton Fields I equally like both versions - either by The Beach Boys or CCR.
 

yes mardi gras is so slept on :/ ugh! it has a handlful of great records on it!
It's pretty much the equivalent to smiley smile

[Lonely Summer]

John's songs on Mardi-Gras feel like a sneak preview of his Blue Ridge Rangers album. Doug Clifford is actually a good singer, but Stu Cook? Bleah!  Pendulum is a very underrated album, and the kickoff track, Pagan Baby, is one I always have to crank up LOUD! Some great interplay there between John on guitar, Stu on bass, and Doug on drums.

[Newguy562]

John's songs on Mardi-Gras feel like a sneak preview of his Blue Ridge Rangers album. Doug Clifford is actually a good singer, but Stu Cook? Bleah!  Pendulum is a very underrated album, and the kickoff track, Pagan Baby, is one I always have to crank up LOUD! Some great interplay there between John on guitar, Stu on bass, and Doug on drums.

stu is a horrible singer i must admit ..the worst song on there is take it like a friend smh lol

[Lonely Summer]

John's songs on Mardi-Gras feel like a sneak preview of his Blue Ridge Rangers album. Doug Clifford is actually a good singer, but Stu Cook? Bleah!  Pendulum is a very underrated album, and the kickoff track, Pagan Baby, is one I always have to crank up LOUD! Some great interplay there between John on guitar, Stu on bass, and Doug on drums.

stu is a horrible singer i must admit ..the worst song on there is take it like a friend smh lol

The song itself is okay, it just needed a better singer. Too bad John waited till Tom left to force democracy on the band. Tom was actually a pretty good singer, and in rare instances could even rough it up vocally like John.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I have Tom's first solo album and it's damn good. He has a good voice and some of the songs could have easily beefed up Cosmo's Factory or Willie N The Poor Boys in place of some of those goofy covers. What the hell was John's problem?

[Mike's Beard]

What the hell was John's problem?

He was a prick.

[Rocker]

Last recording with all four CCR members. From Tom Fogerty's soloalbum (he's singing the lead).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQzs3o6zcTc


John overdubbed his parts later than Stu and Doug played their parts. But a great song and track

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

I love CCR. When I want to listen to pure, kick-ass, no holds barred rock n roll, I put on "Chronicle."  That may be one of, if not the, very best compilations by any rock band in history.  Nearly every one of the 20 tracks is killer. 

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I was in 8th and 9th grade when Creedence was at its peak, and I was listening mostly to AM Top 40.  What an incredible run of singles they had in a time still wonderful for that, some of them double sided.  To hear "Up Around the Bend" or "Proud Mary" for the first time, and then have it be a soundtrack for the golden days...wasn't that a time?  Or "Bad Moon Risin' ", or "Suzie Q', or "Sweet Hitchhiker", or "Run through the Jungle", or....

[Newguy562]

I was in 8th and 9th grade when Creedence was at its peak, and I was listening mostly to AM Top 40.  What an incredible run of singles they had in a time still wonderful for that, some of them double sided.  To hear "Up Around the Bend" or "Proud Mary" for the first time, and then have it be a soundtrack for the golden days...wasn't that a time?  Or "Bad Moon Risin' ", or "Suzie Q', or "Sweet Hitchhiker", or "Run through the Jungle", or....

you are so lucky i was born decades and decades after the broke up i barely started listening to them about 2 weeks ago but i love their whole body of work..i never listen to the radio so all this amazing music is brand new to me!

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I was in 8th and 9th grade when Creedence was at its peak, and I was listening mostly to AM Top 40.  What an incredible run of singles they had in a time still wonderful for that, some of them double sided.  To hear "Up Around the Bend" or "Proud Mary" for the first time, and then have it be a soundtrack for the golden days...wasn't that a time?  Or "Bad Moon Risin' ", or "Suzie Q', or "Sweet Hitchhiker", or "Run through the Jungle", or....

you are so lucky i was born decades and decades after the broke up i barely started listening to them about 2 weeks ago but i love their whole body of work..i never listen to the radio so all this amazing music is brand new to me!

And you're lucky you're not 56 years old!

I try not to be a 60s/70s chauvinist, but there's no denying that it was a special time for music.  I like that (Little) Steven Van Zandt refers to that general time period as a "Renaissance" (for him roughly from the Beats to the early 70s -- I'd add probably a lot from the mid to late 70s but that's a quibble).  But to turn on the radio back in the day and hear CCR, the Beatles, the Stones, Motown, Stax, James Brown, and oh yeah the Beach Boys, all with new records out...yeah baby!

[Newguy562]

I was in 8th and 9th grade when Creedence was at its peak, and I was listening mostly to AM Top 40.  What an incredible run of singles they had in a time still wonderful for that, some of them double sided.  To hear "Up Around the Bend" or "Proud Mary" for the first time, and then have it be a soundtrack for the golden days...wasn't that a time?  Or "Bad Moon Risin' ", or "Suzie Q', or "Sweet Hitchhiker", or "Run through the Jungle", or....

you are so lucky i was born decades and decades after the broke up i barely started listening to them about 2 weeks ago but i love their whole body of work..i never listen to the radio so all this amazing music is brand new to me!

And you're lucky you're not 56 years old!

I try not to be a 60s/70s chauvinist, but there's no denying that it was a special time for music.  I like that (Little) Steven Van Zandt refers to that general time period as a "Renaissance" (for him roughly from the Beats to the early 70s -- I'd add probably a lot from the mid to late 70s but that's a quibble).  But to turn on the radio back in the day and hear CCR, the Beatles, the Stones, Motown, Stax, James Brown, and oh yeah the Beach Boys, all with new records out...yeah baby!

hey it's tough being as young as i am cuz the music out now is all trash but hey if some of my peers want to listen to justin bieber so be it!
i really believe that 60's/70's was the golden age of music and no decade can ever come close to that...maybe the 50's but not exactly...and van zandt was right i think i heard him say that in the rock and roll hall of fame induction or somehting like that...whenever i go to the market or tmobile i hear the beatles/stone/beach boys on the radio ..it makes me feel good knowing that there will be millions of ppl hearing that as well!

[Lonely Summer]

I have Tom's first solo album and it's damn good. He has a good voice and some of the songs could have easily beefed up Cosmo's Factory or Willie N The Poor Boys in place of some of those goofy covers. What the hell was John's problem?

Tom had a great single called Goodbye Media Man. Really great organ solo by Merle Saunders, great rhythm section....yeah, John was a prick, thought he was the only one with any talent. Sure, he was the MOST talented in the group, I don't doubt that, but he wasn't the ONLY talented one.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I don't know if I'd even say John was the MOST talented one. I think it's more of a case that he worked his way into the position he did early on and held it with an iron fist. Yes, he's an amazingly talented songwriter/singer/guitarist, and sure, that puts him ahead of Doug and Stu (as if being THE tightest and most groovin (for white guys) rhythm section in rock history is anything to scoff at) but as for Tom: it could have almost been 50/50 John and Tom songwriting/singing-wise and history might not know the difference.

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I don't know if I'd even say John was the MOST talented one. I think it's more of a case that he worked his way into the position he did early on and held it with an iron fist. Yes, he's an amazingly talented songwriter/singer/guitarist, and sure, that puts him ahead of Doug and Stu (as if being THE tightest and most groovin (for white guys) rhythm section in rock history is anything to scoff at) but as for Tom: it could have almost been 50/50 John and Tom songwriting/singing-wise and history might not know the difference.

I don't like to be dismissive of others' opinions, we're all entitled and I certainly trudge with the minority often -- but I struggle with this one!    Tom Fogerty certainly had talent and was a good musician and perhaps wrote a couple of good songs.  Probably he was hampered in the band dynamic with his brother and could have contributed more. And absolutely Cook and Clifford are one of the great rhythm sections. But John Fogerty is one of the greatest writer/performers of the classic rock era.  Asking him to include more of the other members is the same as expecting Jagger/Richards to give Bill Wyman more space.  You understand their frustration, but the greatness of the legacy is tied to their vision and yes ego.

I have heard John Fogerty called a "prick" a lot.  Wonder if any of the folks using that word actually met him.  It may have been just as frustrating for him to keep the level of the music high in the face of others' less talented opinions.

Just MY opinion! 

[onkster]

Weird, irrelevant fact: I saw John Fogerty TWICE at the Target store on Sepulveda in Sherman Oaks! I guess his recording studio is nearby, in Van Nuys or something? (This is the same Target where I used to see the Rovell sisters every once in a while...I don't think they go there now, though...)

Even more irrelevant: this Target is a couple of blocks from where FM's "Rumours" was recorded.

It's the Rock'n'Roll Target!

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I don't know if I'd even say John was the MOST talented one. I think it's more of a case that he worked his way into the position he did early on and held it with an iron fist. Yes, he's an amazingly talented songwriter/singer/guitarist, and sure, that puts him ahead of Doug and Stu (as if being THE tightest and most groovin (for white guys) rhythm section in rock history is anything to scoff at) but as for Tom: it could have almost been 50/50 John and Tom songwriting/singing-wise and history might not know the difference.

I don't like to be dismissive of others' opinions, we're all entitled and I certainly trudge with the minority often -- but I struggle with this one!    Tom Fogerty certainly had talent and was a good musician and perhaps wrote a couple of good songs.  Probably he was hampered in the band dynamic with his brother and could have contributed more. And absolutely Cook and Clifford are one of the great rhythm sections. But John Fogerty is one of the greatest writer/performers of the classic rock era.  Asking him to include more of the other members is the same as expecting Jagger/Richards to give Bill Wyman more space.  You understand their frustration, but the greatness of the legacy is tied to their vision and yes ego.

I have heard John Fogerty called a "prick" a lot.  Wonder if any of the folks using that word actually met him.  It may have been just as frustrating for him to keep the level of the music high in the face of others' less talented opinions.

Just MY opinion!  
[/quote)

I've never called Fogerty a prick, and for the most part I think the situation with Creedence was just as much a case of guys who simply played with each other too long. We got to remember they'd been playing since teenagers and sh*t happens. But all I was ever really saying was that Tom could have been given a space for a song or two on most Creedence albums in place of some of the (IMO inferior) covers they did. Wouldn't be going out of the way on John's part or compromising the band's integrity. "Joyful Resurrection" on Cosmo's Factory in place of "Before You Accuse Me" perhaps. Not a big huge deal. As for Doug and Stu: they weren't asking to be able to bring their own songs in. They just wanted smarter business decisions and to be able to sing the background vocals on the records as they did live. John put the stop to such an idea. If one thinks this makes him a prick, that's their right as a person with an opinion.

[Newguy562]

"John's Revenge" is the nickname for Mardi Gras lol

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Yeah, and apparently his conditions were: he'd only contribute what 3 songs(?) and either Stu and Doug filled up the rest of the album or there would be no album and no more band....

Doug and Stu should have just quit and formed a band with Tom!

[Newguy562]

Yeah, and apparently his conditions were: he'd only contribute what 3 songs(?) and either Stu and Doug filled up the rest of the album or there would be no album and no more band....

Doug and Stu should have just quit and formed a band with Tom!

their contributions to that album weren't bad but they weren't great either john dominated that album! lol

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Yeah, I LOVE Sweet Hitchiker!

If Jon would have sung and played on Stu and Doug's tracks, the material might have come off about as well as most of Pendulum. In fact, if this had been the case, I doubt anyone would have even noticed it was Doug or Stu's songs.