He emerged with Centerfield (Number One, 1985), a typically simple, tuneful collection that sold 2 million copies and produced hit singles in “The Old Man Down the Road” (Number 10, 1985), “Rock and Roll Girls” (Number 20, 1985), and “Centerfield” (Number 44, 1985). Except for two brief Creedence reunions he was not heard from for 10 years. Fogerty and his family retired to a farm in rural Oregon. It sold poorly, and his next album, to be called Hoodoo, was rejected by Asylum Records. Nearly three years passed before his next LP, another one-man show titled John Fogerty. Two songs, the Hank Williams classic “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” and “Hearts of Stone,” made the Top 40. Immediately after the breakup he released a bluegrass/country album, The Blue Ridge Rangers, on which he played all the instruments. Not surprisingly, John Fogerty’s solo pursuits have attracted the greatest attention. In the mid-’80s Cook joined country group Southern Pacific, which had several hits. Thereafter, he and Cook provided the rhythm section for Doug Sahm on his 1974 LP and the Don Harrison Band after 1976. Clifford released a solo album in 1972 of ’50s-style rock & roll. He moved to Arizona in the mid-’80s and died there from respiratory failure brought on by AIDS in 1990 at age 48. Tom Fogerty released a number of albums on his own and with his band Ruby, and worked occasionally in the early ’70s with organist Merle Saunders and Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Creedence disbanded in October 1972, and Fantasy has subsequently released a number of albums, including a live recording of a 1970 Oakland concert, which upon original release was erroneously titled Live at Albert Hall (it was later retitled The Concert). It was the band’s first album not to go platinum. CCR’s final album, Mardi Gras, gave Cook and Clifford an equal share of the songwriting and lead vocals. The band carried on as a trio, touring worldwide Live in Europe was the recorded result. Tom left in January 1971, one month after the release of the pivotal Pendulum which became the group’s fifth platinum album. Internal dissension, primarily the result of John Fogerty’s dominant role, began to pull the band apart in the early ’70s. Creedence had seven major hit singles in 19, including “Bad Moon Rising” (Number Two, 1969), “Green River” (Number Two, 1969), “Fortunate Son” (Number 14, 1969), “Down on the Corner” (Number Three, 1969), “Travelin’ Band” (Number Two, 1970), “Up Around the Bend” (Number Four, 1970), and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (Number Two, 1970).Īlthough Creedence’s success continued after Cosmo’s Factory, it was the group’s artistic peak. Beginning with the two-sided gold hit “Proud Mary” (Number Two, 1969) b/w “Born on the Bayou,” Creedence dominated Top 40 radio for two years without disappointing the anticommercial element of the rock audience.ĬCR’s rough-hewn rockers often dealt with political and cultural issues, and the quartet appeared at the Woodstock Festival. With the release of Bayou Country it became the most popular rock band in America. Several Fogerty compositions appeared on Creedence Clearwater Revival, but cover versions of Dale Hawkins’ “Suzie Q” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” were the group’s first hit singles.
Greater success came after they adopted the CCR moniker in 1967. “Brown-Eyed Girl” sold 10,000 copies in 1965, but the followups were flops.
The label renamed them the Golliwogs and began putting out singles. In 1964 the quartet signed to San Francisco–based Fantasy Records, where Tom had been working as a packing and shipping clerk. They began playing together, and by 1959 were performing at local dances as Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets.
He met Cook and Clifford at the El Cerrito junior high school they all attended. The Fogerty brothers were raised in Berkeley, where John studied piano and at the age of 12 got his first guitar. John Fogerty’s fervent vocals and modernized rockabilly songs built on his classic guitar riffs made Creedence Clearwater Revival the preeminent American singles band of the late 1960s and early 1970s.