The Artist

Credence Clearwater Revival

By Sarah Lipset 2/6/11

My artist is Credence Clearwater Revival, a rock band that included four men. These men were Doug Clifford, a drummer, Stu Cook, a bassist, Tom Fogerty who played rhythm guitar and his brother John Fogerty, the main guitarist, singer, and songwriter. This band was so popular ts has sold 26 million albums just in the America. 

All of the members of the band were from El Cerrito, California.They started off with the name The Blue Velvets. In fact John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook all met in Jr. High. Being in a rock band, they all traveled to different places.

  John Fogerty was born on May 28, 1945 and is still alive today. Tom Fogerty was born on November 9, 1941 and died on September 6, 1990 from AIDS. Doug Clifford was born on April 24, 1945 and is still alive.  Stu Cook was born just one day after Doug, on April 25, 1945 and he is also alive still.

             The Beatles were indeed an influence for Credence Clearwater Revival because the style of their songs was similar. For example, the Credence Clearwater Revival song “Looking For A Reason” is very much alike to the Beatle’s  ''Act Naturally''. The key difference between the two songs is “Act Naturally” has a faster beat than “Looking for a Reason”.

            One thing that was special about their music was it had a bayou sound.  Some of the rhythm sounded like the music of New Orleans – sometimes called Zydeco music.  Their music was so liked that they made into the rock 'n roll hall of fame in 1993.

            The Credence Clearwater Revival songs “Fortunate Son" and “Who’ll Stop the Rain" made people reflect on the fact that they should feel badly for the people fighting in the harsh Vietnam War. These songs probably influenced other people to make songs protesting the war that were sung at rallies during this time.  Also, they may have gotten more people to write songs of protest in the future.

Credence Clearwater Revival started in 1967 and ended in 1972. The band broke up  soon after their tour for Fantasy Records in October of 1972. The band never went completely back together but Stu Cook and Doug Clifford played in a band Credence Clearwater Revisited. Tom Fogerty made a few albums after Credence Clearwater Revival broke up but none of them were as popular as the work of Credence Clearwater Revival. The last time all four members of the band were in a solo album together was in 1974. Their peak may have been over but in 1993 the band joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!