As a consequence, almost nothing remains of them except the music. John Fogerty refused even to be in the same studio with his former collaborators-a feud that continues to this day.Ĭreedence did virtually no merchandizing, and its amateurish marketing was overseen almost entirely by John. A year later, their final album earned a damning review from Rolling Stone ’s Jon Landau, who called it “the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band.” Six months after that, CCR was kaput. Tom quit in 1971, and simmering anger between the remaining members made collaboration impossible. Their records outsold the Beatles, who broke up just four days before Creedence took the stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall on April 14, 1970, as part of their first European tour. But they hit gold a decade later with songs such as “ Suzie Q ,” “ Proud Mary ” and “ Green River ,” and were soon performing before immense crowds at mega-concerts, including Woodstock. The four boys from California’s Bay Area-lead singer John Fogerty, his brother Tom on rhythm guitar, and their junior high school classmates Stu Cook and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford on bass and drums, respectively-had played together since 1958. In fact, there was a brief moment when it looked like Creedence might eclipse the Beatles. Written in “an American tradition,” their songs seemed to be written for “waylaid Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns.” He recalled how, when starting out himself, he would often play their hits in a local bar, and watch the songs establish a brief and beautiful camaraderie among the diverse patrons: “rough kids just out of high school, who hadn’t been snatched up by the draft yet truck drivers heading home south through the Jersey pines … and a mixture of college and working girls, women with bouffant hairdos, and a small but steady hippie contingent.” They all loved CCR. Their music was “severe precise lyrically spare and beautiful,” he said. In his speech inducting Creedence Clearwater Revival into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Bruce Springsteen got to the heart of what makes the band so special. (Photo by Charlie Gillett Collection/Redferns via Getty Images.)
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