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Creedence Clearwater Revival, American rock band that was hugely popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Derided by many rock critics at the time as merely a “singles” band, Creedence Clearwater Revival proved to be masters at making
thoughtful records that sold. The members were John Fogerty (b. May 28, 1945, Berkeley, Calif., U.S.), Tom Fogerty (b. Nov. 9, 1941, Berkeley—d. Sept. 6, 1990, Scottsdale, Ariz.), Stu Cook (b. April 25, 1945,
Oakland, Calif.), and Doug Clifford (b. April 24, 1945, Palo Alto, Calif.). John Fogerty and his brother Tom, both singer-guitarists, joined forces in 1959 with
bassist Cook and drummer Clifford, their junior-high-school classmates in El Cerrito, California, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay area. After achieving marginal success under names such as the Blue Velvets and the Golliwogs, they emerged as Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967, with John Fogerty as their lead singer, lead guitarist, and sole
songwriter. Released on the Fantasy label, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) was marred by psychedelic clichés but nevertheless earned gold album status and yielded “Suzie Q (Parts 1 and 2),” which was a cover of the Dale Hawkins rock standard and reached number 11 on the
American charts. This modest debut scarcely hinted at the power of their follow-up album, Bayou Country (1969), on which John Fogerty—singing with raw, grainy fervour and drawing inspiration from the wellspring of Southern rock and roll and blues—demonstrated his mastery of the
three-minute rock song. “Proud Mary,” a mythic journey down the Mississippi River of Fogerty’s imagination, was an instant international hit. Constant touring established Creedence as one of the era’s most exciting live acts as Fogerty penned a remarkable string of hit
singles. Along with creating driving dance tunes, he had an uncanny gift for catching the temper of the times that few of his peers could match. The hits “Bad Moon Rising” (1969) and “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (1970) evoked the Vietnam War and civil
discord without explicitly referring to those events; “Fortunate Son” (1969) was a furious blast at wealth and status. From the beginning of 1969 until the end of 1970, Creedence ruled the American pop charts. Their other albums from this period—Green River (1969), Willy and the
Poorboys (1969), and Cosmo’s Factory (1970)—collected hits such as “Green River,” “Down on the Corner,” “Up Around the Bend,” and “Travelin’ Band” (1970) and offered many other songs equal to them in craftsmanship. Tom
Fogerty left the band in 1971 as “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” scaled the charts. Cook and Clifford demanded greater prominence, resulting in Mardi Gras (1972), which was dominated by their songs. Its critical and commercial failure led to the band’s demise later that year. Unlike many 1960s acts, Creedence never
staged a reunion. Tom Fogerty pursued a solo career until his death. Cook and Clifford worked as a rhythm section behind various artists before forming a touring version of Creedence with other musicians in 1995. John Fogerty’s solo career was marred by legal battles over royalties and by long intervals between albums; however, he triumphed in 1997 with the Grammy Award-winning Blue Moon Swamp. Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in 1993.
Christopher Walters
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 10: (L-R) Inductees Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons of KISS attend the 29th Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on April 10, 2014 in New York City.
The 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony is this Friday (March 29.) Similar to last year’s class, there seems to be something different about the 2019 class: There’s little to no drama surrounding the inductees.
While it’s nice to see everyone seemingly getting along (for now), it just doesn’t seem like a proper Rock Hall induction without something crazy happening. With that in mind, here are eight of the biggest drama moments in Rock Hall induction history.
KISS
Good lord…who could forget this one?! KISS’ induction was long overdue, but they certainly made up for the late honor with a whole boatload of drama. From controversy around only the original four members being inducted to whether or not the band would perform to the all-out war of words in the press, it’s amazing the band were inducted without a hitch.
Blondie
This one was awkward. When Blondie was inducted in 2006, past group members Frank Infante, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison and Gary Valentine were invited to attend the ceremony, but Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke wouldn’t let them perform. During the band’s acceptance speeches, all the performance controversy came to a head thanks to Infante’s time at the mic.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Another awkward moment! CCR was part of the 1993 induction class, and when it came time to perform, John Fogerty refused to do so with former bandmates Doug Clifford and Stu Cook. Per Fogerty’s book Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, he said it was due to Clifford’s and Cook’s roll in an ongoing dispute with their record label.
Steve Miller
Many artists take issue with the Rock Hall in how they operate the induction ceremony, but no other artist has taken the system to task quite like Steve Miller in 2016. With the exception of how he spoke to a publicist who was only trying to do her job, this might be one of the most rock and roll moments in Rock Hall induction history.
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were a no-show when they were inducted into the Rock Hall in 2006, but they did send a letter, which was read by Rolling Stone founder/Rock Hall co-founder Jann Wenner. (Spoiler: The letter’s badass.)
Van Halen
What a mess this induction was! VH was inducted in 2007 and around that same time the following things happened: Michael Anthony was fired and replaced with Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang; EVH was receiving treatment for alcohol/drug addiction and David Lee Roth was rejoining the band for a reunion tour. Long story short: The only members to attend the induction was Anthony and Sammy Hagar. Velvet Revolver ended up performing in tribute to VH with Anthony and Hagar performing “Why Can’t This Be Love” with the house band.
Chicago
After Chicago was announced as part of the 2016 Rock Hall induction class, an epic back-and-forth began regarding whether or not Peter Cetera would actually attend and perform at the induction ceremony. In the end, Cetera opted to sit out the ceremony, which surely disappointed many of Chicago’s fans who hoped to see the founding singer/bassist reunite with the band since quitting back in 1985.
Guns N’ Roses
In hindsight, GN’R’s Rock Hall induction in 2012 is now even more awkward since Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan reunited for the “Not In This Lifetime…” tour. At the time, Rose declined the ceremony invite and wrote a letter stating, “Let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn’t owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another’s, or in this case several others’, expense.” Guitarist Izzy Stradlin also sat out the ceremony but considering his reclusive ways, that wasn’t terribly shocking.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock news blogger who's well versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice.