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At a limę when rock was evolving further and further away from the forces that had madę the musie possible in the flrst place, Creedence Clearwater Revival brought things back to their roots with their concise synthesis of rockabilly, swamp pop, R&B, and country. Though CCR was very much a group in their tighl, punchy arrangements, their vision was very much singer, songwriler, guitarist, and leader John Fogerty's. Fogerty's dassic compositions for Creedence both evoked enduring images of Americana and reflected burning social issues of the day. The band's genius was their ability to accomplish Ihis with the economic, primal power of a dassic rockabilly ensemble.

The key elements of Creedence had been woodshedding in bar bands for about a decade before their breakthrough to national success in the late ’60s. John s older brother Tom formed the Blue Yebels in the late '50s in El Cerrilo, CA, a tiny suburb across the bay from San Francisco. Ry the mid ’60s, with a few hopelessly obscure recordings under their beli they'd signed to Fantasy, releasing several singles as the Goiliwogs that went nowhere. In fact there's little promise to be found on those early efforts, primarily because Tom, not John. was doing most of the singing. The group only found themselves when John took firm reigns over the band s diredion, singing and writing virtually all of their materiał.

On their hrst album as Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1968, the group played it both ways, offering extended, quasi psychedelic workouts of the '50s dassics "I Pul a Spell on You" and "Suzie Q." The latter song became their hrst big hit, but the band didn't really bloom unlil "Proud Mary," a number-two single in early 1969 that demonslrated John s talent at tapping into Southern roots musie and imagery with a natural ease. II was the start of a torrent of dassic hits from the gritty, Little Richard inspfred singer over the next two years, induding "Bad Moon Rising," "Green River," "Down on the Corner," "Travelin' Band," "Who'11 Stop the Rain," "lip Around the Bend," and "Lookin¹ Out My Back Door."

Creedence also madę good albums, but their true forte was as a singles band - their LPs contained some filier, both in the forms of average original materiał and straightforward covers of rock & roli chestnuts. When the Beatles broke up in early 1970, CCR was the only other ad that provided any competition in the fine art of crafting bold, super catchy artistic statements that soared to the upper reaches of the charts every three or four months. Although they hailed from the San Francisco area, they rarely succumbed to the psychedelic indulgences of the era. John Fogerty also proved adept at voicing the concerns of the working dass in songs like "Fortunate Son," as well as partying with as much funk as any white rock band would muster on "Trafelin¹ Band" and "Down on the Corner."

With John Fogerty holding such a strong upper hand, Creedence couldn't be said to have been a democratic unit, and Fogerty s dominantę was to sow the seeds of the group s quick dissolution. Tom Fogerty left in 1971 (recording a few unremarkable solo albums of his own), reducing the band to a trio. John allowed drummer Doug Clifford and bassist Stu Cook equa! shares of songwriting and votal time on the group s finał album,

Mardi Gras (1972), which proved condusively that Fogerty's songs and singing were necessary to raise CCR above journeyman status.

It was John Fogerty, of course, who produced the only notable work after the quar!et broke up. Even his solo outings, though, were erralic and, for nearly ten years, nonexisten! as he became embroiled in a web of business disputes with Fantasy Records. His 1984 album Centerfield proved he could still rock in the ńnlage Creedence modę when the spirit moved him, bul Tom Fogerty s death in 1990 ended any hopes of a CCR reunion with the original members intacl