Has there ever been a band more deserving of No. 1 single status that came so close without reaching the pinnacle as Creedence Clearwater Revival? Incredibly, CCR released five singles in a two-year span that topped out at No. 2 on the pop charts.
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The variety, in terms of topics and musical approach, of these songs speaks highly of this legendary band. Here’s a look back at the five CCR songs that just missed the top.
“Proud Mary”
CCR first made a big splash on the pop charts with their cover of “I Put A Spell On You” from their debut album in 1968. It was just a matter of time before John Fogerty’s songwriting acumen came to the fore. “Proud Mary” does an amazing job of creating a sense of time and place. Even as the narrator makes changes to his life in an effort to find his true calling, the sorrow in Fogerty’s vocal suggests he might never get there. Ike and Tina Turner famously reimagined the song as a relentless soul workout.
“Bad Moon Rising”
Fogerty possessed a knack for writing songs about contemporary issues without directly referring to them. Instead, he couched them in lyrics that seemed derived from parables and myths. “Bad Moon Rising” refers to an oncoming storm, not the kind that will blow in and blow out with little damage other than a few puddles. Considering that the song was released in 1969, it’s easy to connect it with the tumultuous times. The sturdiness of Fogerty’s lyrics ensures that this song stays forever relevant.
“Green River”
Although the quartet that comprised CCR proved versatile enough to tackle numerous musical styles, they were most associated with a swamp rock vibe. “Green River” certainly epitomized this as well as any of their tracks. Fogerty was actually talking about a body of water that he knew when he was growing up in California. But because of his colloquialisms and the humid groove cooked up by him and his band, listeners associated it with the South. As sharply written and performed as any 60s song you can imagine.
“Travelin’ Band’”/”Who’ll Stop The Rain”
Arguably their high point, Cosmo’s Factory, released by CCR in 1970, featured a ridiculously deep roster of great songs. So great that the band decided to try releasing double A-sided singles to make the most of it. The first of those, “Travelin’ Band” backed with “Who’ll Stop The Rain”, shows how these guys could get it done in different ways. The former song trucks along at a furious pace but never gets sloppy. And the latter gives Fogerty a songwriting showcase, one that captured the ache so many idealists felt at the start of the new decade.
“Lookin’ Out My Back Door”/”Long As I Can See The Light”
Adept as they were at so many different roots genres, CCR had no problem handling the back-porch folk-country stomp of “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”. Doug Clifford’s drumming keeps snapping the listener to attention, while Tom Fogerty’s rhythm guitar keeps things hopping. The other side of this double A-side, “Long As I Can See The Light”, finds the band effortlessly settling into a gospel groove. And it highlights just how potent John Fogerty could be as a lead singer, with soulful yelps that would have made Otis Redding proud.
Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
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