CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL  
Fantasy F-8393 Green River  (DJ) 1969 ... white label stereo promo LP

Cover: NM ... OK so lets dispell the myth right now that all of the Fantasy promo LPs had the S A M P L E perforation in the upper right corner. Because it just ain't so .. both of the Green River promos we have are in stock copies and we know the sources from which they came.

Vinyl: EX+/ NM .. side one has a couple of noticeable paper lines keeping it from NM. Record is full of sheen and is in remarkable condition.

Side One:
1. Green River
2. Commotion
3. Tombstone Shadow
4. Wrote A Song For Everyone

Side Two:
1. Bad Moon Rising
2. Lodi
3. Cross-Tie Walker
4. Sinister Purpose
5. The Night is The Right Time

Members

• John Fogerty – vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ
• Tom Fogerty – guitar, vocals, piano
• Stu Cook – bass, vocals
• Doug Clifford – drums, percussion, vocals

 History

The Early Years

The band started out as The Blue Velvets, formed by John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook in El Cerrito, California in the late 1950s. They were an instrumental trio, however in 1959 they began backing Tom Fogerty, John's older brother, on fraternity house gigs and in the recording studio. In the middle of 1964, the band recorded two songs for Fantasy Records, a local label based in San Francisco at that time. They were attracted to the label because Fantasy had released a national hit by Vince Guaraldi, "Cast Your Fate To The Wind". Max Weiss, Fantasy's co-owner initially changed the group's name to The Visions, but when the record was released, in November 1964, Weiss re-named the group The Golliwogs, an apparent reference to a once-popular minstrel doll called a Golliwogg. Seven singles were released in the San Francisco Bay area, but none received national attention. (In 1975 Fantasy released Pre-Creedence, a compilation album of recordings by The Golliwogs).

 CCR is Born

The year 1967 was a watershed for the band. First, the group almost broke up when the draft board came for both John Fogerty and Doug Clifford. However, Fogerty was able to enlist in the Army Reserve instead of the regular Army and Clifford did a short tenure in the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Both received medical discharges. The second major event of the year was when Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss. He offered the band the chance to record a full album, but only if they changed the group's name. Never having particularly liked the Golliwogs, the foursome readily agreed, and Zaentz enthusiastically agreed to their suggestion: Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band took its name from Credence Nuball, a friend of Tom Fogerty; "clearwater", a reference to the band's concern for the ecology (from a beer commercial of the day); and "revival", which spoke to the four members' re-commitment to their band.

Determined to make this opportunity a success, the band devoted themselves exclusively to its music, the four members quitting their day jobs and rehearsing and playing area clubs incessantly. By the time they went into the studio to record their self-titled debut LP, they were an incredibly tight and disciplined musical unit.

The rootsy Creedence Clearwater Revival was somewhat out of step with the Top 40 music scene of 1968, which was then in the midst of Psychedelia and Bubblegum Pop. But the album struck a responsive note with the emerging underground pop culture press, which touted CCR as artists worth paying attention to. More importantly, AM radio programmers around the United States took note when a song from the LP, Suzie Q, started receiving favorable airplay in both the band's native Bay Area, as well as in Chicago on WLS radio, where listeners used to the blues of Chess Records and the R&B of Vee-Jay Records doubtless heard similarities with CCR. "Suzie Q" went on to be the first single by the band to crack the Top 40, falling just shy of the Top 10 at #11. It was also Creedence's only Top 40 hit that was not written by John Fogerty.[1] After some eight years of making music together, the group was an "overnight success".

[edit] Heyday

While undertaking a steady string of live dates around the country to capitalize on their breakthrough, CCR also was hard at work on their follow-up LP, Bayou Country. Released in January 1969, the record inaugurated a stream of hit albums and singles which continued right up until the band's demise several years later. Proud Mary was culled from the LP and released as a single, and it went to Number 2 on the national Billboard chart. It would also prove to be the group's most-covered song, with some 100 cover versions by other artists to date, including a hit version by Ike and Tina Turner.

CCR's fourth single, Bad Moon Rising, peaked at #2 on the charts. The song was included on their next album, Green River, released in August 1969. The album quickly went gold and the single, Green River reached #2 on the Billboard charts. The B-Side of the Green River single, Commotion, also charted peaking at #30. Another song on the album, Lodi, became a popular staple on FM radio.[citation needed]

Creedence Clearwater Revival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia