The Boys Down on the Corner

One of my favorite groups Creedence Clearwater Revival was a popular American rock group from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. The boys in the band were John Fogerty lead vocal, lead guitar, and songwriter, Tom Fogerty rhythm guitar, Stu Cook on bass, and Doug Clifford on drums. Their musical style was a mixture of swamp rock and roots rock genres. Their origins were from San Francisco but they mostly portrayed themselves as a Southern band singing about the Mississippi, the bayou and catfish. During their popularity, they sold over 26 million albums. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and were ranked 82 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook went to the same high school in California and started off as a trio calling themselves The Blue Velvets. Tom Fogerty joined up with the band when they signed with Fantasy Records in 1964. Just as it seemed that things would take off for them John Fogerty and Doug Clifford got drafted in 1966. The band's unusual name was put together from three different things – the name of Tom Fogerty’s friend CredenceNewball changing his first name to creed to symbolize faith, clear water for a TV commercial for Olympia beer and the band’s commitment to their music. The result as we all know was the Creedence Clearwater Revival.

They began to seriously perform in 1968 playing clubs full-time and came out with their first self-titled album from which a much-played song was “Suzie Q”. 

Their second album, Bayou Country produced a hit single “Proud Mary”. 

Their third album Green River went on to gold along with their single “Green River”. Another popular song from this album was “Bad Moon Rising” written by John Fogerty and it was the lead single to be released.

Creedence Clearwater Revival performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival and at Woodstock. Their next album Willy and the Poor Boys brought the following hits in 1969 “Down on the Corner” and “Fortunate Son”. 

Their album Pendulum released in 1970 brought the band their first number one hit “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” a song written by band member John Fogerty. This album was the only one that didn't contain any cover songs. Fogerty wrote all the songs.

In 1970 they released two-sided hits “Travelin’ Band’ and “Who’ll Stop the Rain”. John Fogerty explained that the latter song was inspired by their experiences at Woodstock. 



The band began to experience some discord and tension among them as John Fogerty had taken complete control over the group and his decision was that the band wouldn’t give encores at any of their live shows. Then deciding that enough was enough Tom Fogerty resigned from Creedence Clearwater Revival in late 1970. The rest of the band continued on as a trio. 

In the spring of 1971, John Fogerty informed Cook and Clifford that they too could write and perform their material. They came out with another Top 10 single “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” in July of 1971. All through that summer they toured the U.S. and Europe well into the autumn. 

Since relationships among the members continued to be strained as they released their final album in 1972 Mardi Gras. Since the band felt the strain the music did not come together as before and the album failed miserably. The two singles from it were “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” and “Someday Never Comes.”

Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded in October 1972. Leaving behind great memories and songs that still rock today.