Remembering When a Creedence Clearwater Revival Hit Revealed the Growing Fissures Within the Band in 1969

Considering how many hits they churned out during their career, you might think that Creedence Clearwater Revival was around for a long while. In actuality, their recording career spanned only five years, from 1968 to 1972. Instead of pride, the success of CCR often bred resentment. The wildly successful single “Proud Mary” provided one of the first examples of this odd disconnect.

CCR’s Climb

Members of Creedence Clearwater Revival were already playing together when they were students in the same California high school. The quartet (John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford) did a stint as The Golliwogs in the mid-60s. That group became CCR, which recorded its first album in 1968.

That first Creedence album gained popularity on the strength of a pair of cover songs. “I Put A Spell On You” displayed John Fogerty’s thrilling singing voice. “Suzie Q”, which the band stretched out over eight minutes on the self-titled LP, showed off their instrumental chemistry.

For the group to have legs, however, they’d need to prove they could score with an original song. The lead single off Bayou Country, the 1969 sophomore album by the band, did the trick. It was called “Proud Mary”.

Harsh Truths about Harmonies

John Fogerty, who penned the band’s original songs and served as lead singer, first wrote the title “Proud Mary” down in a notebook in 1967. That came before the band had even changed their name. A year later, he started writing a song about a riverboat. Suddenly, that name he’d written down came in handy.

Creedence Clearwater Revival laid down the track for “Proud Mary” at Hollywood’s RCA Studios in 1968. The rhythm that they conjured indeed evoked the sound of a boat “rollin’ on the river.” But John Fogerty listened to the playback and thought that there was something missing, as he explained in the Marc Myers book Anatomy Of A Song:

“The band’s background vocals sounded harsh – like punk rock, not harmonious. I had wanted a gospel feel. When I told the guys I was going to overdub the harmony vocals myself, we had a big fight.”

The Legacy of “Mary”

John Fogerty went back to the studio by himself while the other members of CCR stewed in their anger. Not only did he overdub all the backing vocals, replacing the parts of his bandmates, but he also knocked out the tripping, melodic guitar solo that meant so much to the finished version.

“Proud Mary” soared to No. 2 on the pop charts when released as a single in 1969. But it also set a precedent of John Fogerty handling most of the artistic decisions within the band. In a few years, despite all their success, that pattern rankled the other band members beyond hope of repair.

Creedence Clearwater Revival eventually broke up following the making of the 1972 album Mardi Gras, due in large part to these differences. Tom Fogerty had already left the band by that time. As such, “Proud Mary” sowed the seeds for the band’s destruction even as it sent them roaring to the heights.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)