On July 5, 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival cranked up its hit-making machine releasing its eponymous album, a unique blend of progressive yet retro swamp rock. The platinum debut was one of 7 studio albums (3 in 1969 alone) produced by the HOF group during its mercurial 4-year lifespan. In that brief time, CCR had 16 top 100 singles, and 9 top 10s. Melody Maker tagged them as the biggest rock stars since the Beatles.

Tommy Fogerty, John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook

CCR began life in 1959 in Cerrito, CA. Originally, The Blue Velvets was an instrumental trio of high school friends, John Fogerty (guitar), Stu Cook (bass), and Doug Clifford (drums). John’s brother Tommy joined the following year as lead singer/rhythm guitarist and in 1961 and 1962 the quartet released 3 unremarkable singles in the SF area as Tommy Fogerty & The Blue Velvets. After a name and record company change in 1964, the band produced 7 singles, one of which (“Brown-Eyed Girl”) was a near breakout hit in Miami, FL, for The Golliwogs. At the end of 1967, The Golliwogs, named for an African American rag doll in children’s literature, were offered a chance to record a full-length album of its own creation. Saul Zaentz, owner of Fantasy Records, had only two conditions: the band name had to go; and the record company would own all the publishing rights to the songs. No problem – after all, even Lennon and McCartney didn’t own their publishing rights.

CCR: Stu Cook, John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Tommy Fogerty

CCR got its new name from a mash up of Tom Fogerty's friend Credence Newball, whose name they changed to form the word Creedence (as in creed), a television commercial for Olympia beer ("clear water"), and the four members' renewed commitment to their band. Rejected contenders for the band's name included Muddy Rabbit, Gossamer Wump, and Creedence Nuball and the Ruby. “Finally, John put together the three names and we surrendered to the inevitable,” says Stu Cook. “A name weirder than Buffalo Springfield or Jefferson Airplane.”

John Fogerty also took charge of production and on Creedence Clearwater Revival laid down the template for every CCR album: a mix of John Fogerty's original songs and covers, featuring strong singles. CCR hit the charts, peaking at #52 on the Billboard 200 albums. 3 singles were released from the album: “Susie Q” (#11 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles), a Dale Hawkins cover; “I Put a Spell on You” (#58), introducing a new generation to the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic (it was performed at Woodstock the following year); and “Porterville”. “Porterville”, the only single written by Fogerty, was one of five Fogerty originals on the album. Written while John was serving active duty in the Army Reserves, it foreshadowed “Fortunate Son” and gave Fogerty an “Aha! Moment “ in which he realized his best writing was about things personal to him: "It’s semi-autobiographical; I touch on my father, but it’s a flight of fantasy, too. And I knew when I was doing it, ‘Man, I’m on to something here.’ Everything changed after that. I gave up trying to write sappy love songs about stuff I didn’t know anything about, and I started inventing stories." Uncut interview, 2012.

Woodstock (1969): Tommy, Stu, Doug, John

The cleverly packaged 2-sided single “Susie Q (Part 1)/Susie Q (Part 2)”, allowed radio stations to play a standard length song, or an extended 8-minute version. Fogerty did this for the expressed purpose of getting airplay on KMPX, a progressive SF station that featured longer tracks not heard on traditional format radio

Track list – All songs written by John Fogerty, except where noted.

Side one

1. "I Put a Spell on You" (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) 
2. "The Working Man" 
3. "Susie Q" (Dale Hawkins, Eleanor Broadwater, Stanley Lewis) 

Side two

1. "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett) 
2. "Get Down Woman"
3. "Porterville”
4. "Gloomy" 
5. "Walk on the Water" (J. Fogerty, Tom Fogerty)

CCR released a 40th Anniversary Edition CD in 2008. It includes bonus tracks:

6. "Call It Pretending"
7. "Before You Accuse Me" (1968 outtake)
8. "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (Live at the Fillmore West, 3/14/69)
9. "Susie Q" (Live at the Fillmore West, 3/14/69)

As we leave Independence Day 2016 behind, enjoy this classic American band.