Creedence Clearwater Revival: 1967-1972

Creedence Clearwater Revival A Retrospective: 1967-1972

Overview: Rock group formed while members attended high school at El Cerrito, CA. Active: 1967-72. The Players: John Fogerty (vocals, guitar: 1967-72) Tom Fogerty (guitar: 1967-71) Stu Cook (keyboards/bass: Blue Velvets: 59-64; Golliwogs: 64-67; CCR: 67-72; Don Harrison Band) Doug Clifford (drums: Blue Velvets: 59-64; Golliwogs: 64-67; CCR: 67-72; Don Harrison Band) Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Creedence Clearwater Revival Facebook Wikipedia

Awards:

CCR’s seven studio albums are listed below. Those songs which are highlighted are those featured on the greatest hits compilation Chronicle, are noted after the song with the code CH. Also listed with the song are the writer(s) in parentheses, the running time in brackets, and the chart date and chart peaks on various charts in parentheses. Click for codes to charts.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968): Susie Q (Dale Hawkins) [4:36] (9/7/68, 11 BB, 9 CB, 4 GR, 11 HR, 4 CL, 1 DF) CH I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Herb Slotkin) [4:32] (11/9/68, 58 BB, 65 CB, 55 HR, 12 CL, 19 DF) CH

Bayou Country (1969): Proud Mary (John Fogerty) [3:08] (1/18/69, 2 BB, 2 CB, 1 GR, 1 HR, 1 CL, 8 UK, 2 CN, 5 AU, 1 DF) CH

Green River (1969): Bad Moon Rising (John Fogerty) [2:19] (4/16/69, 2 BB, 2 CB, 1 GR, 1 HR, 1 CL, 1 UK, 5 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF) CH Lodi (John Fogerty) [3:10] (4/16/69, 52 BB, 58 CB, 46 HR, 7 CL, 5 DF) CH Green River (John Fogerty) [2:33] (7/26/69, 2 BB, 3 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL, 19 UK, 4 CN, 6 AU, 10 DF) CH Commotion (John Fogerty) [2:42] (7/26/69, 30 BB, 40 CB, 50 HR, 19 CL) CH Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Willy and the Poor Boys (1969): Down on the Corner (John Fogerty) [2:45] (10/24/69, 3 BB, 10 CB, 2 GR, 4 HR, 2 CL, 31 UK, 5 DF) CH Fortunate Son (John Fogerty) [2:20] (10/24/69, 3 BB, 6 CB, 2 GR, 4 HR, 1 CL, 2 CN, 2 AU, 1 DF) CH Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Cosmo’s Factory (1970): Travelin’ Band (John Fogerty) [2:08] (1/24/70, 2 BB, 5 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL, 8 UK, 12 DF) CH Who’ll Stop the Rain (John Fogerty) [2:28] (1/24/70, 2 BB, 13 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL, 5 DF) CH Up Around the Bend (John Fogerty) [2:42] (4/18/70, 4 BB, 2 CB, 6 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL 3 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, 20 DF) CH Run Through the Jungle (John Fogerty) [3:07] (4/18/70, 4 BB, 48 CB, 6 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL, 3 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, 17 DF) CH Lookin’ Out My Back Door (John Fogerty) [2:33] (8/7/70, 2 BB, 1 CB, 3 GR, 1 HR, 1 CL, 1 CN, 1 AU, 9 DF) CH Long As I Can See the Light (John Fogerty) (8/8/70) [3:31] (2 BB, 57 CB, 1 HR) CH I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) [11:04] (1/24/76, 43 BB, 47 CB, 40 GR, 87 HR, 4 CL, 9 DF) CH Read more on the DMDB page for this album.

Pendulum (1970): Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (John Fogerty) [2:38] (1/29/71, 8 BB, 3 CB, 4 GR, 3 HR, 1 CL, 36 UK, 1 CN, 4 DF) CH Hey Tonight (John Fogerty) [2:43] (1/29/71, 8 BB, 3 CB, 4 GR, 3 HR, 3 CL, 24 DF) CH

Mardi Gras (1972): Sweet Hitch-Hiker (John Fogerty) [2:56] (7/17/71, 6 BB, 5 CB, 2 GR, 3 HR, 3 CL 36 UK, 1 CN) CH Someday Never Comes (John Fogerty) [4:00] (4/29/72, 25 BB, 25 CB, 31 GR, 27 HR, 16 CL) CH

Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits Creedence Clearwater Revival

Recorded: 1968-1972 Released: January 1976 Peak: 22 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU, 13 DF Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, -- UK, 12.10 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock Rating: 4.777 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Susie Q (2) I Put a Spell on You (3) Proud Mary (4) Bad Moon Rising (5) Lodi (6) Green River (7) Commotion (8) Down on the Corner (9) Fortunate Son (10) Travelin’ Band (11) Who’ll Stop the Rain (12) Up Around the Bend (13) Run Through the Jungle (14) Lookin’ Out My Back Door (15) Long As I Can See the Light (16) I Heard It Through the Grapevine (17) Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (18) Hey Tonight (19) Sweet Hitch-Hiker (20) Someday Never Comes Total Running Time: 67:55 About the Album: Creedence Clearwater Revival were only around for five years, but they released seven albums and a slew of essential songs during that time. This collection ranks as one of the best compilations ever assembled, gathering up all the band’s hit singles in chronological order to make for a perfect entry point for casual fans. Chronicle has spent more than 12 years on the Billboard album chart.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Creedence Clearwater Revival Dave’s Music Database: Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists Wikipedia page for Chronicle First posted 4/15/2008; last updated 5/6/2024.

David Bowie Station to Station released

Station to Station David Bowie

Released: January 23, 1976 Peak: 3 US, 5 UK, 2 CN, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 3.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Station to Station [10:11] Golden Years [4:00] (11/17/75, 10 US, 12 CB, 14 HR, 15 RR, 3 CL, 1 CO, 8 UK, 34 AU, airplay: 1 million) Word on a Wing [5:50] TVC 15 [5:31] (4/30/76, 64 US, 20 CL, 8 CO, 33 UK) Stay [6:13] (7/76, 25 CL, 31 CO) Wild Is the Wind (Tiomkin/ Washington) [6:00] (11/19/81, 38 CL, 11 CO, 24 UK) Songs written by David Bowie unless indicated otherwise. Total Running Time: 37:45 The Players: David Bowie (vocals, guitar, saxophone, Minimoog, Mellotron) Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick (guitar) Roy Bittan (piano, organ) Dennis Davis (drums) George Murray (bass) Warren Peace (backing vocals) Harry Maslin (melodica, synthesizer, vibraphone)

Rating: 4.303 out of 5.00 (average of 27 ratings) Quotable: “Enormously influential on post-punk.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: For Station to Station, David Bowie introduced yet another persona – the Thin White Duke. The character has been described as “a mad aristocrat” and “amoral zombie.” WK Bowie dressed in white shirt, black trousers and waistcoat to assume the personality. Musically, the album was a mix of the “plastic soul” or blue-eyed soul Bowie explored on Young Americans with the new influences from krautrock and electronic music of bands such as Neu! and Kraftwerk. “Bowie seemed to step back, ponder the future of rock, and then turn up the guitars and the art-rock sensibilities and make a completely engaging and evocative album.” AZ “Station to Station is a transitional album that creates its own distinctive style. Abandoning any pretense of being a soulman, yet keeping rhythmic elements of soul, David Bowie positions himself as a cold, clinical crooner and explores a variety of styles.” AMG “Everything from epic ballads and disco to synthesized avant pop is present on Station to Station, but what ties it together is Bowie’s cocaine-induced paranoia and detached musical persona.” AMG Lyrically, he drew on his preoccupations with Friedrich Nietzsche, the occultism of Aleister Crowley, Grail mythology, and the Kabbalah. WK Author Nicholas Pegg said the album’s theme was a clash of “occultism and Christianity.” WK The Christian element was most obvious in “the hymn-like Word on a Wing.” WK Bowie said it came from “the darkest days of my life…I’m sure that it was a call for help.” WK “At its heart, Station to Station is an avant-garde art-rock album, most explicitly on” AMG “the epic sprawl of the title track” AMG, a song which finds Bowie “introducing the Thin White Duke character and building into an incendiary rocker,” AMG and “the playful TVC 15 [which] takes the listener on a bumpy ride into unholy tech-love.” AZ “The irresistible Golden Years,” AZ complete with “disco stylings,” AMG was the first track recorded for the album and was released as the first single. It exemplified Bowie’s new direction by infusing the sound established with Young Americans with “a harsher, grinding edge.” WK Bowie said he wrote the song initially for Elvis Presley, but he rejected it. Bowie’s wife, Angie, claimed it was written for her. Still, “the soul of David Bowie is pretty much meshed into every track” AZ such as on the “physically wrenching and funk-drenched Stay.” AZ There’s also the “the cool crooning of Wild Is the Wind and ‘Word on a Wing.’” AMG The former was the “album’s sole cover, and has been praised as one of the finest vocal performances of Bowie’s career.” WK “It’s not an easy album to warm to, but its epic structure and clinical sound were an impressive, individualistic achievement, as well as a style that would prove enormously influential on post-punk.” AMG In The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Rob Sheffield called it “the most intense music of his life.” WK NPR’s Jem Awad said it “paved the way not only for thousands of artists who were influenced by it, but also for the brilliant wave of experimentation that followed over the next five years.” WK Notes: The 1990 Rykodisc reissue adds live versions of “Word on a Wing” and “Stay.” A 2010 reissue expanded the collection to a 3-CD special edition and 5-disc CD/DVD set.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for David Bowie AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AZ Amazon.com review by Lorry Fleming WK Wikipedia First posted 2/20/2008; last updated 7/31/2021.

 

Today in Music (1966): Simon & Garfunkel Sounds of Silence released

Sounds of Silence Simon & Garfunkel

Released: January 17, 1966 Peak: 21 US, 13 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Genre: folk rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. The Sound of Silence (electric version) (11/12/65, 12 BB, 11 CB, 11 GR, 12 HR, 50 AC, 1 CL, 7 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU, 2 DF) Leaves That Are Green Blessed Kathy’s Song Somewhere They Can’t Find Me Anji Richard Cory A Most Peculiar Man April Come She Will We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Goin’ I Am a Rock (4/29/66, 3 BB, 4 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 CL, 17 UK, 20 AU, 10 DF) Total Running Time: 29:09

Rating: 3.532 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: When the folk-rock trend kicked in, producer Tom Wilson lifted the acoustic version of The Sound of Silence from Simon & Garfunkel’s Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. album and overdubbed it with electric guitar, bass, and drums. After releasing it as a single, it took off and hit #1 and became a quintessential song of the new folk-rock movement. To capture the moment, Simon & Garfunkel reunited and recorded a second album titled Sounds of Silence, featuring the new rendition of the song. While recorded only 18 months after the duo’s debut, “the sound here seemed a million miles away from the gentle harmonizing and unassuming acoustic accompaniment on the first record.” BE They also reworked a full half dozen songs from Paul Simon’s 1965 release The Paul Simon Songbook. Simon also rewrote “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.” as Somewhere They Can’t Find Me. BE “The parts that work best, Kathy’s Song and April Come She Will, two of the most personal songs in Simon’s output, were similar to the stripped-down originals Simon had cut solo in England, and among the most affecting (as opposed to affected) folk-style records of their era.” BE “But it also had flaws, some of which only became fully apparent as their audience matured: the snide, youthful sensibilities of I Am a Rock and Blessed haven’t aged well.” BE “Though a rushed effort, this was a far stronger album than their debut, mostly thanks to Simon’s compositions; indeed, in one fell swoop, the world learned not only of the existence of a superb song-poet in Paul Simon, but, in Simon’s harmonizing with Art Garfunkel, the finest singing duo since the Everly Brothers.” BE

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Simon & Garfunkel BE All Music Guide review by Bruce Eder Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 5/5/2011; last updated 10/9/2023.