Swamp pop

Swamp Pop is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences. Although a fairly obscure genre, swamp pop maintains a large audience in its south Louisiana and southeast Texas homeland, and it has acquired a small but passionate cult following in the United Kingdom, northern Europe, and Japan.

The sound

The swamp pop sound is typified by highly emotional, lovelorn lyrics, tripleting honky-tonk pianos, undulating bass lines, bellowing horn sections and a strong rhythm and blues backbeat. It is exemplified by slow ballads like Cookie and the Cupcakes' "Mathilda" (recorded 1958), considered by many fans as the unofficial swamp pop "anthem." But the genre has also produced many upbeat compositions, such as Bobby Charles' "Later Alligator" (1955), popularly covered by Bill Haley & His Comets.

Sam Phillips

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Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American musician, businessman, record executive, music producer, and disc jockey who played an important role in the emergence and development of rock and roll and rockabilly as the major form of popular music in the 1950s. He was a producer, label owner, and talent scout throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

He was the founder of both Sun Studio and Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. Through Sun, Phillips discovered such recording talent as Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. The height of his success culminated in his launching of Elvis Presley's career in 1954. He is also associated with several other noteworthy rhythm and blues, country, and rock and roll musicians of the period. Phillips sold Sun in 1969. He was an early investor in the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. He also advocated racial equality and helped break down racial barriers in the music industry.

John Fogerty

John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, and guitarist, early in his career best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for the band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and later as a successful solo recording artist. Fogerty was listed on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists (at number 40) and the list of 100 Greatest Singers (at number 72).

Early life

Fogerty was born in Berkeley, California and grew up in El Cerrito, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the younger brother of Tom Fogerty. He attended El Cerrito High School along with the other members of CCR and took guitar lessons from Berkeley Folk Festival creator/producer Barry Olivier. He spent summer vacations at Putah Creek, near Winters, California, which became the subject of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Green River".

1959–1966: The Golliwogs

Inspired by rock and roll pioneers, especially Little Richard and Bo Diddley, John and his brother Tom Fogerty joined Doug Clifford and Stu Cook in the late 1950s to form the band Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets in El Cerrito, California. After signing with the jazz label Fantasy in 1965, they became The Golliwogs and released a few singles that were largely ignored.