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Where are they now? – American rock band – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Image by brizzle born and bred
Creedence Clearwater Revival 1968. L-R: Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and John Fogerty.

Unquestionably one of the greatest American rock bands ever, Creedence Clearwater Revival will best be remembered for their unique bayou sound that is often referred to as "garage band music."

Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR) was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums.

The group consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and swamp rock genres. Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they are sometimes also cited as southern rock stylists.

CCR’s music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay and often figures in various media. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone. CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Creedence had an astonishing track record: eight consecutive gold singles;

Proud Mary – Jan. 1969
Bad Moon Rising – April 1969
Green River – July 1969
Down on the Corner / Fortunate Son – September 1969
Who’ll Stop the Rain / Travlin’ Band – Jan.1970
Up Around the Bend – April 1970
Lookin’ Out My Back Door – June 1970
Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – Jan. 1971

and eight consecutive gold albums

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bayou Country
Green River
Willy and the Poor Boys
Cosmo’s Factory
Mardi Gras
Pendulum

John Fogerty

In 1973, John began his solo career with The Blue Ridge Rangers, his one-man band collection of country and gospel songs. Under his old Creedence contract, however, Fogerty owed Fantasy eight more records. In the end, he simply refused to work for the label any longer. The impasse was resolved only when Asylum Records’ David Geffen bought Fogerty’s contract for ,000,000. His next major hit was Centerfield, a chart-topping success in 1985.

On tour in 1986, however, Fogerty suffered complaints over his steadfast refusal to play Creedence songs live and suffered with recurring vocal problems which he blamed on having to testify in court. Fogerty’s explanation for not playing CCR songs was that he would have had to pay performance royalties to copyright holder Saul Zaentz—and that it was "too painful" to revisit the music of his past.

With the Centerfield album, Fogerty also found himself entangled in new, tit-for-tat lawsuits with Zaentz over the song "The Old Man Down the Road" which was, according to Zaentz, a blatant re-write of Fogerty’s own 1970 Creedence hit "Run Through the Jungle". Since Fogerty had traded his rights to Creedence’s songs in 1980 to cancel his remaining contractual obligations, Fantasy now owned the rights to "Run Through the Jungle" and sued Fogerty essentially for plagiarizing himself. While a jury ruled in Fogerty’s favor, he did settle a defamation suit filed by Zaentz over the songs "Mr. Greed" and "Zanz Kant Danz". Fogerty was forced to edit the recording, changing the "Zanz" reference to "Vanz".

On February 19, 1987, at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles, Fogerty broke his self-imposed 1972 ban on performing his CCR hits, on an admonition from Bob Dylan and George Harrison (who both joined him onstage) that "if you don’t, the whole world’s gonna think ‘Proud Mary’ is Tina Turner’s song." At a Fourth of July benefit for Vietnam veterans, Fogerty finally ran through the list of Creedence hits—beginning with "Born on the Bayou" and ending with "Proud Mary"—to an ecstatic audience. He retreated from music again in the late 1980s but returned in 1997 with the Grammy-winning Blue Moon Swamp. John Fogerty still tours frequently and plays CCR tunes alongside material from his newer albums.

Tom Fogerty

Tom Fogerty released several solo albums, though none reached the success of CCR.

Tom’s 1974 solo album Zephyr National was the last to feature the four original band members. A few of the songs sound very much in the Creedence style, particularly the aptly-titled "Joyful Resurrection". All four members did play on the song, but John recorded his part to the mix separately.

In September 1990, Tom Fogerty died of AIDS, which he contracted via a tainted blood transfusion he received while undergoing back surgery.

Stu Cook and Doug Clifford

Junior high buddies Doug Clifford and Stu Cook continued to work together following the demise of CCR both as session players and members of the Don Harrison Band. They also founded Factory Productions, a mobile recording service in the Bay Area. Clifford released a solo record, Cosmo, in 1972. Cook produced artist Roky Erickson’s The Evil One and was bassist with the popular country act Southern Pacific in the 80s.

Following a relatively lengthy period of musical inactivity, the two formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995 with several well-known musicians. Revisited toured globally performing the original band’s classics. John Fogerty’s 1997 injunction forced ‘CCRev’ to change to ‘Cosmo’s Factory’, but the courts later ruled in Cook’s and Clifford’s favor.

Video – I Put A Spell On You – Creedence Clearwater Revival

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