"Best of..." - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival were an American rock band who 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 lyricist John Fogerty, rhythm guitarist and brother of John, Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and swamp rock genres. Despite their San Francisco 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. John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook (all born 1945) met at senior high school in El Cerrito, California and began playing instrumentals and "juke box standards" together under the name The Blue Velvets. By 1964, the band had signed to Fantasy Records, an independent jazz label based in San Francisco at the time. For the band's first release, however, Fantasy co-owner Max Weiss renamed the group The Golliwogs (after the children's literary character, Golliwogg), apparently to cash in on a wave of popular British bands with similar names. In 1967, Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss and offered the band a chance to record a full-length album, but only if the group changed its name. Zaentz and the band agreed to come up with ten suggestions each, but he enthusiastically agreed to their first: Creedence Clearwater Revival. The resulting 1968 debut album Creedence Clearwater Revival struck a responsive note with the emerging underground pop culture press, which touted CCR as a band worthy of attention. While undertaking a steady string of live dates around the country to capitalize on their breakthrough, CCR also was hard at work on their second album Bayou Country at RCA Studios in Los Angeles. Released in January 1969 and becoming a #7 platinum hit, the record was the first in a string of hit albums and singles which continued uninterrupted for the next three years.. Creedence's following album, Willy and the Poor Boys, was released in November 1969. 1969 had been a remarkable chart year for the band: three Top Ten albums, four hit singles (charting at #2, #2, #2, and #3, respctively) with three additional charting B-sides. Just after the new year, 1970, CCR released yet another new double-sided 45, "Travelin' Band"/"Who'll Stop the Rain". The band also recorded its January 31, 1970, live performance at the Coliseum in Oakland, California, which would later be marketed as a live album and television special. In April 1970, Creedence was set to begin its first European tour. The band returned to Wally Heider's San Francisco studio in June to record what many consider the finest CCR album, Cosmo's Factory. The album, eleven songs in all, was Creedence's best seller and went straight to #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts and #11 on Billboard's Soul Albums chart. The Cosmo's Factory sessions had seen the stirrings of tensions within the foursome as the incessant touring and heavy recording schedules took their toll. John had taken control of the group in its business matters and its artistic output, feeling that a 'democratic' process would threaten their success. Pendulum, released in December 1970, was another top seller, but the album marked yet another shift in the band's approach: gone was the wall of sound of Creedence's previous three albums. The single's flip side, the ringing "Hey Tonight", was also a hit. But even continued musical innovation and success could not resolve the differences between John and Tom Fogerty. During the recording of Pendulum Tom Fogerty left Creedence Clearwater Revival permanently. His departure was made public in February 1971. The band members considered replacing Tom but never did. In spring 1971, John Fogerty informed a startled Cook and Clifford the band would continue only by adopting a 'democratic' approach: each member would now write and sing his own material. Fogerty also would contribute only rhythm guitar to his bandmates' songs. Cook and Clifford, who had wanted more of a voice in the band's music and business decisions, resisted this arrangement. Fogerty insisted they accept the new arrangement, or he would quit the band. In spite of their continuing commercial success, however, relations among the three had become increasingly strained. The band's final album, Mardi Gras, was released in April 1972, featuring songs written by Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford and one cover by Gene Pitney "Hello Mary Lou". It received mostly poor, even savage reviews, and suffered comparatively weak sales. Finally, on October 16, 1972 - less than six months later - Fantasy Records and the band officially announced the disbanding of Creedence Clearwater Revival.





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01- Green River
02- Proud Mary
03- Bad Moon Risin'
04- Travellin' Band
05- Who'll Stop the Rain?
06- Down on The Corner
07- Lodi
08- Up Around the Bend
09- Have You Ever See the Rain?
10- Lookin' Out My Back Door
11- It Came Out of the Sky
12- Sweet Hitch-Hiker
13- Molina
14- Born on the Bayou
15- Tombstone Shadow
16- Don't Look Now
17- Hey Tonite
18- Fortunate Son
19- Cotton Fields
20- I Heard It Through the Grapevine