Look up revival in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Revival may refer to:

• Resuscitation of a person
• Language revival of an extinct language
• Revival (sports team) of a defunct team
• Revival (television) of a former television series
• Revival (theatre) of a former hit play in a new production

Architectural movements[link]

• Revivalism (architecture)
• Colonial Revival architecture
• Egyptian Revival architecture
• Gothic Revival architecture
• Greek Revival architecture
• Mediterranean Revival Style architecture
• Romanesque Revival architecture
• Mission Revival Style architecture

Music[link]

• Albums:
  • Revival (Jully Black album)
  • Revival (Core album)
  • Revival (John Fogerty album)
  • Revival (Tara Oram album)
  • Revival, by Reid Paley
  • Revival (Petra album)
  • Revival (Reverend Horton Heat album)
  • Revival (Gillian Welch album)
  • Revival (The Answer album)
• Songs:
  • "Revival" (Deerhunter song)
  • Revival (Eurythmics song)
  • "Revival", by The Allman Brothers Band
  • "Revival", by Soulsavers
• Revival, Charles Davis Tillman's series of hymnals which influenced the development of Southern gospel
• Revival Records, a record label
• Creedence Clearwater Revival, an American rock band from the sixties
• Revival, a Rock Band from Shanghai China
• Revival's Club

Religion[link]

• Christian revival, a revival of religious fervor or fervent traditions
• Revival meeting, a Christian gathering
• Revival Centres International, a church group
• The Revival, Charles Davis Tillman's series of hymnals which influenced the development of Southern Gospel
• Islamic revival, an ongoing process since the 1970s

Geography[link]

• Revival, Jamaica, a settlement in Westmoreland Parish

Other uses[link]

• Aitaira (Revival), a political party in Abkhazia
• The Revival (UK magazine), a magazine for British Muslims
• Revival (quartet), a barbershop quartet

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

Robin Mark is a Northern Irish Christian singer, songwriter, worship leader, and recording artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mark has written several songs sung throughout the world. He is best known for his songs "Days of Elijah", "Revival", "All for Jesus", "The Wonder of The Cross", "Not by Might" and many more. He has released thirteen albums in total with sales of over two million world wide and has won the GMA's international award.

Though known within the United Kingdom and throughout Canada and Europe from the early 1990s, it was not until his 1999 live album Revival In Belfast that Mark became known in the United States, Australia and the rest of the world. His signature song, "Days of Elijah", has proven popular and his album Revival In Belfast which was released in 1999 remained high in both the Christian retail charts and billboard charts for many years. It was still at number 39 five years later on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart in 2004.^[1] When the follow up album Come Heal This Land was released in 2001 it went straight to number one in the Christian Retail Charts in America, Robin became the first artist from the UK to accomplish this feat ^[2]

Robin attends Christian Fellowship Church Strandtown, Belfast, Northern Ireland on a weekly basis.

Discography[link]

Studio recordings[link]

• Not By Might (1993)
• Days of Elijah (1996)
• This City, These Streets (1998)
• Sanctuary (2000)
• My Song Is Love Unknown (2003)
• East of the River (2007)
• Fly" (2011)

Live recordings[link]

• Room For Grace (1997)
• Mandate - All For Jesus (1999)
• Revival In Belfast (1999)
• Mandate - Men of Faith (2001)
• Come Heal This Land (2001)
• Revival in Belfast 2 (2004)
• Arise: A Celebration of Worship (2006)
• Year of Grace (Integrity) (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

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This article about a British musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2011)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

Ray Stevens (born Harold Ray Ragsdale, January 24, 1939^[2]) is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become equally well known for his serious material as he has for his novelty songs.

Early life[link]

Stevens was born Harry Ray Ragsdale on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia. While attending high school, Stevens formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group he named the Barons. Following his graduation from high school, Stevens enrolled in Georgia State University as a music major.^[3]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Capitol Records signed Stevens to their Prep Records division in 1957,^[3] and produced the singles "Silver Bracelet," that Billboard predicted to be a teen favorite, and "Rang Tang Ding Dong," about a Japanese sandman, for which Billboard credited the 16-year-old Stevens' vocals as "strong, attractive."^[4] The latter song was a cover of a song recorded by Manhattan doo-wop group The Cellos in 1957, and written by Cellos bass singer Alvin Williams.^[5]

In 1958, Bill Lowery created the National Recording Corporation (NRC), and brought Stevens on board playing numerous instruments, arranging music, and performing background vocals for its band. Around that time, he had adopted the professional name of "Ray Stevens," which was inspired by his middle name and his mother's maiden name. Lowery was unable to collect debts from his own accounts and was forced into bankruptcy.^[6]

Stevens then signed with Mercury Records^[7] with whom Stevens recorded a series of hit records in the 1960s that included songs such as "Ahab the Arab," "Harry the Hairy Ape," "Funny Man," the original recording of "Santa Claus Is Watching You," and "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills." The song that introduced Stevens to most of his fan base is "Ahab the Arab," which reached number five on the Hot 100 in the summer of 1962.

In 1966, Stevens signed with Monument Records and started to release serious material such as "Mr. Businessman" in 1968, a Top 30 pop hit; "Have a Little Talk With Myself" and the original version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969, which became Stevens' first two singles to reach the country music charts. O.C. Smith covered the Stevens-penned Isn't It Lonely Together while Sammy Davis, Jr. covered Have a Little Talk With Myself. Stevens continued releasing novelty songs, and in 1969 he had a Top 10 pop hit with "Gitarzan." Stevens also became a regular on The Andy Williams Show during the 1969–1970 season, and he hosted his own summer show, The Ray Stevens Show, in 1970. In Australia, Ross D. Wylie reached the top 20 with his cover of the Stevens-penned, Funny Man. Stevens' collection of Hot 100 hits is evenly divided between serious and novelty.

As an A&R man, music producer, songwriter, and music arranger he assisted countless artists in the recording studio during his years at Mercury Records and Monument Records, 1961 through early 1970. Some of the acts he was associated with during that time period were Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, Patti Page, Joe Dowell, Dusty Springfield, and Dolly Parton. Stevens was a writer or co-writer of several songs those particular acts recorded. My True Confession , a Top-10 on the R&B chart in 1963 for Brook Benton, was written by Stevens and Margie Singleton. Stevens was the arranger for an obscure Doyle Holly recording titled "My Heart Cries For You" which had been recorded previously by Stevens during the late 1950s.

1970s[link]

Starting in the 1970s, Stevens became a producer and well-known studio musician on the Nashville scene. He recorded songs for Barnaby Records and Warner Brothers during 1970–1979. Stevens' biggest hit in the United States was his gospel-inflected single "Everything Is Beautiful" (1970). The single won a Grammy Award, was the theme song for his summer 1970 TV show, hit number one on both the pop and Adult-Contemporary charts, and marked his first time in the Top 40 on the country charts, peaking at number 39. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[8] His other 1970 singles were "America, Communicate With Me" and "Sunset Strip," both of which reached the Top 20 on the Adult-Contemporary lists. His novelty song "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of The Blues)" made number two on the United Kingdom chart in 1971 and in the US it reached number 50. Stevens had a gospel/country hit single in early 1972 with Albert E. Brumley's "Turn Your Radio On," reaching the country Top 20. Two more of Stevens' songs in 1971 were also minor pop hits, "A Mama and a Papa" and "All My Trials," but both crossed over to the Top 10 Adult-Contemporary lists. Stevens frequently toured Canada and went overseas to the UK. A rock-infected gospel arrangement accompanied his version of "Love Lifted Me" and it became a hit single in Bangkok in the fall of 1972, finding its way into the Top Five for the week ending September 30.

In 1973, Stevens had a top 40 country hit with the title track of his album, "Nashville," and increased his exposure on television by performing on a variety of prime-time programs of the era. In 1974, Stevens recorded perhaps his most famous hit, "The Streak," which poked fun at the early-1970s fad of running nude in public, known as "streaking." It made number one in both the UK and the US and No. 3 on the country chart. In 1975, he released the Grammy-winning "Misty," which became his biggest country hit (reaching number three on the country charts and number 14 on the pop charts); he also entered the country Top 40 with a doo-wop version of "Indian Love Call," "Everybody Needs a Rainbow," and a ballad version of "Young Love" in early 1976. Stevens' tenure with Barnaby came to an end in early 1976.

Stevens joined Warner Brothers in 1976, where his debut was a strong showing with three hit singles in a row. The first was the up-tempo version of "You Are So Beautiful," which reached the country Top 20, then "Honky Tonk Waltz," which reached the Top 30. He then released a novelty single: under the pseudonym "Henhouse Five Plus Too," Stevens recorded a version of Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" in the style of a clucking chicken; it became a Top 40 hit in the US and UK in early 1977. In 1978 he had a hit with "Be Your Own Best Friend" on the country charts, and in 1979 he had his last Hot 100 hit (to date) with the novelty "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow," which he released from the album The Feeling's Not Right Again. In the US, Stevens' singles would reach only the country chart nationally thereafter. He joined RCA in late 1979, releasing new material in 1980.

1980s[link]

After joining RCA in 1980, Stevens continued having hit singles, but with somewhat less success than in the previous decade. His debut single, the Top 10 "Shriner's Convention" and then the Top 20 love ballad "Night Games" performed relatively well on the charts. In 1981, only one single made the charts, the Top 40 hit "One More Last Chance." In 1982, after he had released a few more singles, notably the Top 40 "Written Down in My Heart," Stevens left RCA and returned to Mercury Records, the label that made him a star in the early 1960s. This resulted in only one album, the 1983 project Me, and only one chart hit, "My Dad," in early 1984.

In 1985, Stevens sung the credits song for Stephen King's "Cat's Eye" (1985).

Stevens then joined MCA in 1984 as a "country comedy" act and thereafter released only novelty song albums. The fan-voted Music City News awards named Stevens Comedian of the Year annually for nine consecutive years from 1986 to 1994. A few of Stevens' commercial singles charted on the Single Sales charts during this time, but only one single, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival," made it to the Top 40. "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" reached the Top 20, making that his final single to hit the Top-40 portion of the country singles chart. "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex" is the only single during his 1984–1989 stint on MCA that came close to reaching the Top 40, stalling at number 41 in 1987. Second to that, the other single close to hitting the Top 40 on the country chart was the number 45 hit "The Haircut Song" in 1985.

His comedy albums were nonetheless enjoying widespread success. His first series of albums for MCA all made the country charts with several of them remaining on the charts for months at a time. His first two albums for MCA reached the Top-5 with I Have Returned hitting the top spot in early 1986. Afterward his albums routinely peaked in the middle of the charts. A 1987 Greatest Hits album became a platinum seller while several other releases achieved gold status. One of the trademarks of Stevens' string of comedy albums were the photo shoots. For example, on one album he's dressed up as Napoleon Bonaparte, on another he's Humpty Dumpty, and on another he's dressed as General Douglas MacArthur. Stevens' lack of airplay wasn't affecting his ability to sell records. National shows like Hee-Haw and a variety of programs on The Nashville Network frequently gave exposure to all forms of country music.

1990s[link]

Stevens left MCA in 1989 for Curb/Capitol Records. His first release arrived in 1990. The two labels split up soon after and Curb Records continued releasing material on Stevens. His All-Time Greatest Comic Hits, a compilation project released by Curb in 1990, became a gold album by mid-decade. Lend Me Your Ears and Number One With a Bullet were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The latter featured the satirical hit "Working for the Japanese" in which Stevens sings about the American economy and how dollars are boosting overseas economies instead of its own.

In the 1990s, Stevens took new directions. The most ambitious was the opening of his own theater in Branson, Missouri in 1991. The theater business had been steadily growing in the small Missouri town of Branson for a period of years and by the time Stevens began building his theater the area was reaching its peak. Stevens benefited from the theater boom largely because his stage show was different from others. His reputation as a comedian and as an all-around entertainer meant that for most tourists his show was one of the destination spots judging by the number of sold-out performances he gave at the theater. When crowds reacted favorably to his music videos being played on a large screen at his theater Stevens began selling videos for his fans to take home.

In the spring and summer of 1992, his Comedy Video Classics became a million-selling home video through direct marketing and television advertisements. Commercials for Stevens' home video aired countless times throughout 1992, mostly in the morning hours and often during late-night. Branson was also experiencing its highest commercial peak in the summer and fall of both 1992 and 1993. Ray Stevens was back in the national media once again with his enormously successful home video and music theater. In the midst of all the success, though, Stevens closed down his theater after the 1993 season citing exhaustion and monotony after doing two shows a day, six days a week, for five to six months at a time. Several of his performances at his theater were filmed and surfaced in home video form. Ray Stevens Live! became another home video mail-order success in 1993 following the same path of Comedy Video Classics.

Meanwhile, Comedy Video Classics had become available for retail distribution and it became a big seller again. In 1993, it was named Home Video of the Year by Billboard magazine in their annual end of the year publication which cites the most popular artists, songs, CDs, and video items of the year.

Classic Ray Stevens was issued in the early fall of 1993. This was the first audio release from Stevens since early 1991. The album's title was a reference to the classical-looking photo shoot which features a bust of Ray Stevens mocking Beethoven. The home video of Ray Stevens Live! was released to retail stores in 1994 and it became a Top-5 success on Billboard's Home Video chart. The concert video often ranked above or below Comedy Video Classics on the charts. In the late summer of 1995, the movie Get Serious! was released on home video.

The movie, which runs 1 hour and 50 minutes, offers several plots and a collection of newly-produced music videos which act as commentary to the action. One plot point of the movie centers on a fictional record company for which Stevens records being bought out by a Japanese conglomerate. This is a reference to the consolidation practices taking place in the music industry. Another plot-point deals with Stevens' reputation as a comical singer and how the new executive of the fictional record company, based vocally on Paul Lynde, wants Stevens to change his image from comedy to classical opera. Stevens refuses and this brings to the surface another plot-point of the movie: political correctness. Seeking revenge on Stevens, the executive hatches a plan to ruin Stevens’ career by labeling him politically incorrect. The last plot-point centers on character defamation as numerous characters from several Stevens songs turn out to really exist and they want to sue the singer for defamation. This plot is based on a song that Stevens recorded in 1986 entitled "Dudley Dorite of the Highway Patrol" where a local policeman stops Stevens for speeding and afterward informs the singer that he's in a whole lot of trouble for using easily identifiable people as characters in his songs. The song was re-recorded specifically for the movie as Dudley Dorite is one of the main characters in the movie. He's portrayed by Stevens' long-time songwriting partner, C.W. Kalb, Jr..

The home video became another mail-order success throughout 1995 and was released to retail stores, via MCA, late in 1996. The video hit the Top-5 on Billboard's Home Video chart early in 1997 during a more than 20 week chart run. Stevens had by this point exited Curb Records.

Stevens found a new home with his previous label, MCA. MCA was responsible for the retail distribution of Get Serious! and for marketing Ray as a comical singer for the first time in the mid-1980s.

The reunion with MCA consisted of the retail release of Get Serious! in late 1996 and two new audio CD's in 1997: Hum It and Christmas Through a Different Window, the latter release being a collection of Christmas novelty songs. After the MCA contract ended, Stevens became exclusive to his own label, Clyde Records, for a period of years.

On-line rumors began circulating about his death. The confusion may have arisen in the summer of 1996 following the death of a wrestler named Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. The singer Ray Stevens once recorded a wrestling song entitled "The Blue Cyclone." Stevens, the singer, reported to the media that his office had received thousands of sympathy cards due to the confusion.

In April 1999 Stevens was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer and had to cancel his series of concerts at the Acuff Theatre that summer. Stevens received a clean bill of health upon successful surgery and returned to the stage in time to deliver his Christmas concert series.

2000s (2000–2009)[link]

After the partnership with MCA ended, he remained active on his own label, Clyde Records, until he found another home with Curb Records, returning to the label in 2001. Early in 2002, "Osama Yo' Mama" was released. It made the country Top 50, reached the Top-5 on the country single sales chart, achieved Gold selling status, and the album of the same name reached the country Top-30. After the release of this album Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri and re-opened his theater in 2004. He remained active there for three more seasons. He shut the theater down for good after the 2006 season, selling it off to cable network RFD-TV, which continues to operate it to this day.

An obscure release called "The New Battle of New Orleans" came along in 2005 as a response to the vandals and looters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Many people confused the version of The New Battle of New Orleans by its principal writer, Chuck Redden, with the version by Stevens. The recording by the writer features much more pointed accusations and assertions and it is this version which appears on various web-sites specializing in lyric re-printing. The confusion arises when these web-sites credit Stevens as the singer of that version.

Ray and his songwriter friend Buddy Kalb removed a lot of the original lyrics in the song and supplied new lyrics in a more G-rated setting. In spite of the various lyrical re-writes by Stevens and Kalb, the overall point of the song that the locals expected and demanded too much from their government, is still clear. The song was issued as a single-only in 2005.

Curb Records, in the meantime, continued to release DVD music video collections on Stevens during this time. The music videos featured limited animation.

Stevens returned to releasing music once again in 2007, firstly in July 2007, with the single-only "Ruby Falls," a combination of jazz, blues, and country music, and secondly with the CD New Orleans Moon, released on his own label. This CD contains various songs in tribute and honor to New Orleans and Louisiana. Stevens covers "Louisiana Man," "Louisiana," "The Battle of New Orleans," "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "New Orleans," and several more.

The following year Stevens issued the album Hurricane, also on his own label. It was released in February 2008 at Stevens' on-line music store at his website then was released nationally in November of that year to a wider audience. This CD featured a wide array of comical songs including a pair of redneck anthems, "Hey Bubba, Watch This!" and "Bubba the Wine Connoisseur." The CD also marked the debut of "Sucking Sound," a political/economic song about Ross Perot and how his warnings of the flaws in a global economy, which were mocked in 1992, became somewhat of a reality by 2008, resulting in massive lay-offs and job losses.

Concurrently in 2008, a tribute to the songs of Frank Sinatra that Stevens recorded was also being offered at the web-site store during the latter half of 2008. The album is titled Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?? and it became nationally distributed in February 2009. Stevens did not promote or publicize the tribute album. Later in 2009 he released One for the Road, a CD aimed primarily at truckers. It was sold exclusively at the Pilot truck stops for several weeks prior to its release nationally. The CD contains a mixture of material ranging from truck driver oriented songs to somber ballads. There are also several re-recordings of his greatest hits added into the equation. There are fifteen tracks featured on the trucker CD in which the first three tracks, in addition to track seven, specifically deal with situations while on the road: "Concrete Sailor," "Convoy," "Right Reverend Road Hog McGraw," and "Hang Up and Drive." "Mary Lou Nights" and "Oh, Lonesome Me." "Retired" originated as a duet between Stevens and Brent Burns but for this CD it is delivered solo.

In 2009 Stevens was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and he appeared on the PBS series Legends and Lyrics. A television show that Stevens stars in, We Ain't Dead Yet, became available to subscribers at his web page. The subscription is to an exclusive section of his web-page called "Ray Stevens Backstage" and each month a different episode becomes available. The series focuses on senior citizens and it usually features a special guest each episode stopping by the main set, a retirement home, to perform songs.

In the early fall of 2009 Stevens released a holiday collection of songs titled Ray Stevens Christmas. Late in November an EP became available featuring a couple of his serious Christmas songs but the main attraction was his cover of Seymour Swine's (a fictional group that recorded a stuttering rendition of "Blue Christmas") "Blue Christmas," complete with stutter. Stevens had also recorded a non-comical version of this song for his Ray Stevens Christmas release. The stuttering version can only be found on the EP release.

In December 2009, Stevens issued the single and on-line video "We the People," which quickly became a viral video and surpassed a million unique views in a month's time on YouTube. The video is critical of health care reform. Stevens followed this music video with "Caribou Barbie" in March 2010. This music video is supportive of Sarah Palin. The video uses a Palin impersonator and through the help of sight-gags it takes aim at several high-profile personalities on cable television.

2010s (2010–present)[link]

Stevens issued another music video on YouTube, "Throw the Bums Out!," as a direct response to the March 2010 passage of health care reform legislation in the House of Representatives.

In April 2010 Stevens released a collection that includes a CD and a DVD, titled We the People. The project features 22 political songs. The four music videos on the DVD are "We the People," "Caribou Barbie," "Throw the Bums Out!," and "Thank You," Stevens appeared in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2010, as part of the tax day rally associated with the Tea Party. On April 24, 2010 the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored the career of Ray Stevens in the recurring series "Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians." The special focused mostly on Stevens' career as a Nashville-session musician during the 1960s and 1970s.

On May 13, 2010, the music video of "Come to the USA" was released. This is a song dealing with the hot button issue of illegal immigration. The song uses exaggeration and small doses of satire to comment on illegal immigration acceptance internationally compared with the United States’ more passive policy. The song was written and recorded before the Arizona illegal immigration bill, SB 1070, was introduced to the nation. The music video became Stevens' second to surpass a million unique views on YouTube; the first being "We the People." Following the release of the "Come to the USA" music video Stevens found himself being spotlighted again on the Fox News Channel and then by The New York Times. Stevens' We the People CD made its Top-10 debut on the Billboard Comedy Album chart for the week ending June 26, 2010, and it moved into the Top-5 for the week ending July 3, 2010. Meanwhile, a new music video, "The Global Warming Song," had become available on YouTube on June 29. The song, the sixth release from his We the People CD, is a broad exaggeration on the global warming topic, drawing inspiration from the concept of the Earth's temperature rising beyond control. The song depicts a couple of brothers who hold fort in a frozen wasteland with a money-making scheme of awaiting the arrival of climate change. The song is purposely silly and plays on the fears of global warming.

Starting in July 2010 and running through August most PBS stations aired a special titled Marvin Hamlisch Presents the 1970s: The Way We Were during pledge drive fundraisers. The special celebrates the music of the 1970s and Ray Stevens participated in the proceedings. Stevens' contributions include "Everything Is Beautiful," "The Streak," and "Misty." On July 31 Stevens made a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

On August 4, 2010 a new music video from Stevens made its debut on YouTube. This time around the subject matter is the Federal Government of the United States and the on-going war of words with Arizona over immigration. The song, "God Save Arizona," criticizes the policies of the Federal Government and it questions the competence of Eric Holder, the United States Attorney General with regards to the Federal lawsuit brought against Arizona. The beginning of the song starts out as a tribute to the U.S.S. Arizona during World War II before switching to a look at a modern-day verbal war between Arizona's State Government and the Federal Government.

Given the overall on-line popularity of his music videos on YouTube it enabled Stevens to reach a milestone in early September 2010. This milestone refers to the collective number of plays that all of his music videos had obtained up until that point in time. When the play totals for each officially-released music video were tallied the collective total reached ten million. "Come to the USA" obtained over four million YouTube unique views while "We the People" had obtained over three million.

Stevens returned to Branson, Missouri once again in mid September to kick off a nearly month-long engagement at The Welk Resort which ran through October 23. On the last date of his concert series at the Welk Theatre he participated in a Tea Party rally held in Branson earlier in the day. The rally was billed as 'the Pre-Election Pink Slip Rally and Concert' and it took place throughout most of the morning and into the afternoon. Stevens performed "We the People" and "Throw the Bums Out!" at the rally and that night wrapped up his concert series at the Welk Theatre.

On November 3, the day after the 2010 mid-term elections, Stevens uploaded a new music video on YouTube entitled "Nightmare Before Christmas." The song has nothing to do with politics or elections but instead deals with political correctness gone amuck as Santa Claus gets arrested and is charged with crimes against a politically correct society. In the video Stevens portrays himself, Santa, the prosecutor, and the Judge. Political correctness and the mockery of liberal-progressive special interest groups is at the crux of the song.

On November 29 Stevens alerted his audience via the social network site Twitter that he would be recording ten new political comedy songs. Several days prior, on November 23, Stevens announced on his Facebook page that he's in the process of recording a huge project of one hundred songs to be released at some point entitled The Encyclopedia of Musical Comedy Recordings. On December 2, "Bad Angel," a song that Stevens published and his daughter, Suzi Ragsdale, co-wrote, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Country Collaboration category. The song's trio of artists are Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Jamey Johnson. It is available on Bentley's CD Up on The Ridge.

On January 19, 2011 via Twitter, Stevens announced that he would take part in the annual CPAC gathering in Washington, D.C. The event takes place during February 10–12. On January 24 Stevens turned 72 years old and showing no signs of slowing down he embarked on what he referred to as a radio call-in tour. The first program that Stevens called was the Charlie Brennan radio show on KMOX in St. Louis on January 28 to promote a brand new recording about airport security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Next, on February 2, Ray called in to KWEL in Texas to promote his TSA song and the latest happenings in his career.

Stevens called-in to the Jim Bohannon radio program on February 4 resulting in an interview that lasted about one hour. On February 7 he called-in to the Martha Zoller program and a radio program that aired on Minnesota's KLTF. On February 8 a CD single along with an Mp3 single of The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore became commercially available. On February 9 Stevens was spotlighted on the XM and Sirius satellite radio program Cruisin' with Cousin' Brucie which spotlights 1960s pop songs.

Stevens performed three songs while at CPAC on February 10, 2011. The airport security/TSA song entitled The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore kicked off the performance while he followed it with "We the People" and concluded the appearance with a song entitled "Mr. President-Mr. President" which takes a comical look at how President Barack Obama is viewed by a segment of the population amidst domestic and foreign turmoil. On February 17 Stevens called-in to WSGI radio's Steve Jarrell program, "Big Daddy-o on the Patio." Later that same day Stevens uploaded the much-anticipated music video of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore."

On February 18 Stevens called radio stations KSCJ and KDWN to promote the music video and to talk about politics in general. By February 24 "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" soared past the 52,000 play mark on YouTube.

On February 25 Stevens gave an interview on radio station WPTF's Bill Lumaye program and later the same day appeared on the Fox Business Network program, Freedom Watch, hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano. In the television interview Stevens offered his opinions of the current political climate, the TSA, and announced that his next single would deal with President Obama's budget plan.

On February 27 the RFD-TV network reran a 1972 episode of Hee-Haw which featured Stevens as one of the guests. He performed Turn Your Radio On and Along Came Jones. On that same day, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" had amassed over 70,000 unique views on YouTube in a span of ten days. Continuing the mostly talk radio station promotion of his TSA song Stevens called the Daybreak USA program on February 28 and on March 2 he called in to Ed Morrissey's radio program. On March 17 one of Stevens' previous music videos, "Come to the USA," reached the five million mark on YouTube. On March 25, via Twitter, Stevens announced that he taped a performance for an upcoming television show hosted by country singer Ronnie McDowell titled Music City Late Night.

On April 14 Stevens decided to end his subscription-based web-site, Ray Stevens Backstage, after a two year run. The site was aimed at providing the most ardent of fans with exclusive content. Upon its cancellation it was revealed that elements of the Backstage site would be incorporated into the main Ray Stevens web-site. A classic music video from Ray uploaded on YouTube in 2009 but taped in 1992 entitled The Mississippi Squirrel Revival surpassed a million on-line views. This became the third music video from Stevens to obtain at least a million on-line views. On April 25 Stevens uploaded a new music video onto YouTube entitled "The Obama Budget Plan." A video clip was highlighted on The O'Reilly Factor. The same day, April 25, Stevens released his latest collection of songs, The Spirit of '76, which contains the previously mentioned "Obama Budget Plan," "God Save Arizona," and "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore."

The collection was available in its earliest weeks of release in digital download format. By May 1, Stevens' "Obama Budget Plan" on-line music video had generated over 95,000 unique views in less than a week's time. Later that same night news broke on the death of Osama bin Laden and as a result Stevens' music video from 2002 entitled "Osama Yo' Mama," which was uploaded on YouTube in 2009, experienced a resurgence in on-line activity. The video had received more than 990,000 unique views prior to the news of bin Laden's death and in the aftermath it received more than 20,000 additional plays causing it to surpass a million on-line views and as a result it became his fourth music video to surpass a million plays.

On May 5 Stevens called the Lars Larson show on radio station KXL to discuss current events. On May 11 he appeared at a conservative rally in Franklin, Tennessee billed as Conservatives on the Move. Stevens made the rounds of the Fox Business Network in early June during a trip to New York to promote the Obama budget music video and his Spirit of '76 collection. On June 2 Stevens made an appearance on America's Nightly Scoreboard, an economics program hosted by David Asman on the Fox Business Network. The following day, June 3, Stevens made an appearance on Freedom Watch hosted by Judge Napolitano.

On June 4 Stevens appeared on Huckabee, which airs on the Fox News Channel and is hosted by Mike Huckabee. It was on the latter program that Stevens performed "Obama Budget Plan" for the first time on television. On June 27 Stevens appeared at a star-studded reunion at the Quonset Hut Studio. Legendary session musicians and artists gathered to celebrate the studio's history, perform songs, and tell stories about the recording sessions.

After a low-key July, Stevens kicked off the month of August being interviewed on WSM radio. The interview took place on a program hosted by WSM DJ and Grand Ole Opry announcer, Eddie Stubbs, titled Intimate Evenings. The interview aired on August 1. The 2-hour series airs from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The host played several of Ray's songs and often mentioned how packed the venue was and how electric the atmosphere felt. A lot of time was spent on Ray's past (his career, after all, goes back to 1957) but yet there was also discussion of Ray's current recordings and activity. Ray offered his opinions on politics and other topical issues...bringing chuckles and cheers from the host and from the audience. Several days later, on August 9, the CD copy of his digital release from April, Spirit of '76, was released to wider distribution. Previously the CD copy had only been available at the singer's web-site store.

On August 12 the "Obama Budget Plan" music video surpassed half a million views and by the middle of September it had surpassed 700,000 on-line views. On September 27 Stevens uploaded the music video, "Mr. President - Mr. President," and it quickly amassed more than 200,000 unique views in a little more than a week's time. A snippet of the video, during the first days of its YouTube availability, was previewed on The O'Reilly Factor. On October 7 the song was heard on Mark Levin's nationally syndicated radio program. On October 10 Stevens announced that his upcoming novelty song encyclopedia will consist of nine CDs and will be released in January 2012. In December his music video, "Obama Budget Plan," obtained 1,000,000 on-line views. It happened on Christmas Eve.

The release date for The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music was pushed back one month from January 2012 to February. The release date was February 28, 2012. Publicity for the collection started a week earlier when Stevens made an appearance on the GAC news/video program, On the Streets, on February 21. Stevens gave an interview for the radio series, American Country Countdown, hosted by Nashville songwriter and half of the Brooks and Dunn duo, Kix Brooks. The interview is part of a segment known as The Back Forty.

On February 27 Stevens uploaded a brief video on You Tube promoting the collection. In the video clip Stevens appears on camera and talks about the collection. There is also footage of him performing at his recording studio. On February 29, just a day after releasing the 9-CD encyclopedia box set, Stevens' on-line music video, "Mr. President - Mr. President," passed the half a million mark in YouTube views. On March 8 Stevens appeared on the RFD-TV series, Larry's Country Diner, and performed four songs: The Preacher and the Bear, I Still Write Your Name in the Show, Get a Job, and Mississippi Squirrel Revival. The songs are part of The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. Also on March 8 an article on Ray by a writer named Chuck Dauphin appeared on Billboard.com detailing the Encyclopedia's contents. The article also included Ray's feelings about the lack of an abundance of comedy songs on contemporary radio stations, the comedy song's lack of respect, and the unfounded stigma that exists about comedy songs.

April 5 saw the You Tube release of a live version of "We The People" recorded in Branson, Missouri during one of his series of concerts. The video's gotten more than 7,500 views with hardly any promotional hype behind it. A day later on April 6 a fast-paced four minute commercial was uploaded onto YouTube promoting the Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music. The commercial features Buddy Kalb, one of Ray's business associates and songwriters, as well as Ray giving detail about the box set. On April 10 Stevens appeared on Fox and Friends and performed a brief medley of some of the songs on the Encyclopedia. Afterwards he appeared on their "After the Show show", and discussed more about the Encyclopedia and performed "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" in its entirety. Later that evening Stevens was a guest on the Fox Across America radio program hosted by Spencer Hughes. On April 14 Stevens was featured on the country music interview and lifestyle program, Crook and Chase. The syndicated series airs on Saturdays.

On May 6 comedian/actor George Lindsey passed away at the age of 83. A long-time friend of Ray's, Lindsey appeared at Ray's CD release party on February 28th when the 9-CD box set became available. Lindsey had also appeared with Stevens at the Country Music Hall of Fame during the induction of Sonny James in 2006. Stevens and Lindsey dressed up as Indians and performed the song, Running Bear, which had been a big hit for James. Prior to this, Lindsey made a cameo appearance in Stevens' 1995 direct-to-video movie, Get Serious!. Stevens attended George Lindsey's funeral on May 11th and performed "Everything Is Beautiful".

Videos[link]

Stevens' songs have been showcased in several videos. "Gitarzan" was featured on Disc 1 of "The Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection." Stevens videos were frequently offered via television commercials. 1992's "Comedy Video Classics" contained 8 music videos, winning the Home Video of the Year in 1993 as well as other awards. Two videos filmed at his Branson, Missouri theatre "Ray Stevens Live!" and "More Ray Stevens Live!" were released in 1993, although the second collection was only available to fan club members at the time. In 1995 he released a movie, "Get Serious!," which contains ten music videos sandwiched within an actual movie. The film runs 110 minutes. The video collection "Latest and Greatest" was released in 1996. In 2000 he released "Funniest Video Characters" including the video to his 1985 song "The Ballad of the Blue Cyclone." In 2004 "Greatest Video Characters" was released...this was a large all-encompassing collection of music videos from Stevens that had been released on previous collections. Stevens' video albums are released by mail order on his own label, Clyde Records. Beginning in late 2009 Stevens began releasing new music videos directly to YouTube. A lot of the music videos released by Stevens since December 2009 are political in nature. The music videos, many of which have obtained more than half a million unique views, have helped establish Stevens as a legitimate political entertainer.

Grammy Awards[link]

Stevens has 11 Grammy nominations and won two Grammy Awards: one for "Everything Is Beautiful" and one for the arrangement of his country and western version of the jazz standard "Misty" (1975). Stevens was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

Other awards and accomplishments[link]

• 1969: Gold Single — "Gitarzan"
• 1970: Gold Single — "Everything Is Beautiful"
• 1970: Grammy — "Everything Is Beautiful" (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance)
• 1974: Gold Single — "The Streak"
• 1975: Grammy — "Misty" (Best Arrangement of the Year)
• 1980: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
• 1980: Georgia Music Hall of Fame
• 1984: Gold Album — "He Thinks He's Ray Stevens"
• 1985: Gold Album — "I Have Returned"
• 1986: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1986: #1 Country Album Plaque from Billboard — "I Have Returned" (week ending March 15, 1986)
• 1987: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1987: Platinum Album — "Greatest Hits"
• 1987: Gold Album — "Greatest Hits, Volume Two"
• 1988: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1989: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1990: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1990: Gold Album — "All-Time Greatest Comic Hits"
• 1991: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1992: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1992: #1 Home Video Plaque from Billboard — "Comedy Video Classics"
• 1992: Ten Times-Platinum Home Video — "Comedy Video Classics"
• 1993: Billboard Home Video of the Year
• 1993: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1993: Platinum Home Video — "Ray Stevens Live!"
• 1994: Music City News Comedian of the Year
• 1995: Platinum Home Video — "Get Serious!"
• 1995: Country Weekly Golden Pick Award "Best Comedian"
• 2001: Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame
• 2002: Gold Single — "Osama Yo' Mama"
• 2009: Christian Music Hall of Fame

Music City News was a monthly subscription magazine which reported on the latest happenings among country music celebrities. The magazine's subscribers for the most part voted in the annual awards. Years later fans from all over the country could call and vote for their favorite acts in addition to the subscribers who used voting ballots. The winners of the fan voted awards were showcased nationally in an awards gala broadcast on CBS and later, The Nashville Network. Stevens won in the Comedian of the Year category nine consecutive years and performed on their awards telecasts on a consistent basis.

Stevens was the recipient of several publisher awards from BMI Music for songs he either wrote, recorded, or published. Some of the recordings that received these citations were Everything Is Beautiful, The Streak, Shriner's Convention, Gitarzan, and several songs recorded by Sammy Kershaw and published by Stevens.

In July 2009 Stevens began uploading music videos onto YouTube for the first time. Many of the uploads were of music videos that were made in the early and mid-1990s. His user name, raystevensmusic, has since released quite a few music videos on YouTube and by late summer of 2010, a combined total of 10,000,000 unique views was obtained.

Discography[link]

• See Ray Stevens discography

References[link]

• Roy, Don (1998). "Ray Stevens." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music, Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 507.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Video magazine and subscriber's website

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968. L-R: Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and John Fogerty
Background information
Origin	El Cerrito, California
Genres	Roots rock, country rock, blues rock, swamp rock, Southern rock, rock and roll
Years active	1967–1972
Labels	Fantasy
Associated acts	The Blue Velvets, The Golliwogs, Creedence Clearwater Revisited
Website	www.creedence-online.net
Past members
John Fogerty Stu Cook Doug Clifford Tom Fogerty

Creedence Clearwater Revival (sometimes shortened to Creedence or CCR) was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums.

The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed country rock and swamp rock genres. Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they positioned themselves as Southern rock stylists, singing about bayous, the Mississippi River, catfish, and other popular elements of Southern iconography.

Creedence Clearwater Revival's music is still a staple of American and worldwide radio airplay^[1] and often figures in various media. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone.^[2] Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.^[3] They were ranked at 82 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest artists of all time.^[4]

History[link]

Before Creedence: 1959–1967[link]

John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook (all born 1945) met at Portola Junior High School in El Cerrito, California and began playing instrumentals and "juke box standards" together under the name The Blue Velvets.^[5] The trio also backed singer Tom Fogerty— John Fogerty's older brother by three years—at live gigs and in the recording studio. By 1964, the band had signed to Fantasy Records, an independent jazz label based in San Francisco at the time. Fantasy had released Cast Your Fate to the Wind, a national hit for jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. The record's success was the subject of a National Educational Television TV special, which prompted budding songwriter John Fogerty to contact the label.^[6] For the band's first release, however, Fantasy co-owner Max Weiss renamed the group the Golliwogs (after the children's literary character, Golliwogg), apparently to cash in on a wave of popular British bands with similar names.^{[citation needed]}

During this period, band roles underwent some changes. Stu Cook had gone from piano to bass guitar and Tom Fogerty became the band's rhythm guitarist. John Fogerty also began to write much of the band's material. Most notably, the young guitarist had taken over lead vocal duty. As Tom Fogerty would later say, "I could sing, but John had a sound!"^{[citation needed]}

Early success: 1967–68[link]

The group had suffered a setback in 1966 when the draft board called up John Fogerty and Doug Clifford for military service. Fogerty managed to enlist in the Army Reserve instead of the regular Army while Clifford did a tenure in the United States Coast Guard Reserve.

In 1967, Saul Zaentz purchased Fantasy Records from Weiss and offered the band a chance to record a full-length album, but only if the group changed its name. Never having liked The Golliwogs, the foursome readily agreed. Zaentz and the band agreed to come up with ten suggestions each, but he enthusiastically agreed to their first: Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band took the three elements from, firstly, Tom Fogerty's friend Credence Newball, (to whose first name Credence they added an extra 'e', making it resemble a faith or creed); secondly, "clear water" from a TV commercial for Olympia beer; and finally "revival", which spoke to 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', but the last was the start that led to their finalized name.^[7]

By 1968, Fogerty and Clifford had been discharged from military service. All four members subsequently quit their jobs and began a heavy schedule of rehearsing and playing area clubs full-time.^{[citation needed]} AM radio programmers around the United States took note when a song from the LP, "Suzie Q", received substantial airplay in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as on Chicago's WLS.^{[citation needed]} A remake of a 1956 song by rockabilly singer Dale Hawkins, "Suzie Q" was the band's second single, and its first to crack the Top 40. Reaching #11 nationally, it would be Creedence's only Top 40 hit not written by John Fogerty. Two other singles from the debut were released: a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You" (which made it to #58) and "Porterville" (released on the Scorpio label with writing credited to "T. Spicebush Swallowtail"), written during John Fogerty's Army Reserve stint.

Peak success: 1969–70[link]

With a string of live dates around the country to capitalize on their breakthrough, Creedence Clearwater Revival was also hard at work on their second album Bayou Country at RCA Studios in Los Angeles. Released in January 1969 and becoming a #7 platinum hit, the record was the first in a string of hit albums and singles which continued uninterrupted for the next three years.

Bayou Country's seven songs were well-honed from Creedence's constant live playing.^{[says who?]} The album showed a distinct evolution in approach, much more simple and direct than the band's first release.^{[says who?]} The single "Proud Mary," backed with "Born on the Bayou," went to Number 2 on the national Billboard chart. The former would eventually become the group's most-covered song, with some 100 cover versions by other artists to date, including a hit version in 1971 by Ike and Tina Turner. Bob Dylan named it his favorite single of 1969^{[citation needed]}. John Fogerty cites this song as being the result of high spirits on gaining his discharge from the Army Reserve.^{[citation needed]} The album also featured a remake of the rock & roll classic "Good Golly Miss Molly" and the band's nine-minute live-show closer, "Keep On Chooglin'", the entire song has only one chord: E7.^{[citation needed]}

Only weeks later, in March 1969, "Bad Moon Rising" backed with "Lodi" was released and peaked at #2 on the charts. The band's third album, Green River, followed in August and went gold along with the single "Green River," which again reached #2 on the Billboard charts. The B-side of "Green River," "Commotion" peaked at #30. The bar-band story of "Lodi" became a popular staple on then-emerging FM radio.^{[citation needed]} The band's emphasis on remakes of their old favorites continued with "Night Time Is the Right Time," which found its way into the band's live set as a crowd sing-along.^{[says who?]}

In 1969, Harry Shearer interviewed Cook and John Fogerty for the Pop Chronicles radio documentary.^[8][9]

Creedence continued to tour heavily including performances at the Atlanta Pop Festival and Woodstock. Their set was not included in the Woodstock film or its original soundtrack because John Fogerty felt the band's performance was subpar. (Several tracks from the event were eventually included in the 1994 commemorative box set.) Stu Cook's view: "The performances are classic CCR and I'm still amazed by the number of people who don't even know we were one of the headliners at Woodstock '69."^{[citation needed]} The band complained that they had to take the stage at three in the morning because the Grateful Dead had jammed far past their scheduled set time, so by the time Creedence began playing many in the audience had gone to sleep.^[7]

After Woodstock, Creedence was busy honing material for a fourth album, Willy and the Poor Boys, released in November 1969. "Down on the Corner", a good-time street-corner number, and "Fortunate Son" climbed to #3 and #14, respectively, by year's end. The album was Creedence in its standard form, featuring Fogerty originals and two reworked Leadbelly covers, "Cotton Fields" and "Midnight Special". Both the latter songs also had been performed by actor Harry Dean Stanton in the movie Cool Hand Luke, suggesting a subtle non-conformist theme to an apparently tradition-oriented album.

1969 had been a remarkable chart year for the band: three Top Ten albums, four hit singles (charting at #2, #2, #2, and #3) with three additional charting B-sides. On November 16, 1969, they performed "Fortunate Son" and "Down on the Corner" on The Ed Sullivan Show.^[10]

Just after the new year, 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival released yet another new double-sided 45, "Travelin' Band"/"Who'll Stop the Rain". John Fogerty has said that the flip side was inspired by the band's experience at Woodstock.^{[citation needed]} The speedy "Travelin' Band", however, bore enough similarities to "Good Golly, Miss Molly" to warrant a lawsuit by the song's publisher;^{[citation needed]} it was eventually settled out of court.^{[citation needed]} In the meantime, the single had topped out at #2. The band also recorded its January 31, 1970, live performance at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California, which would later be marketed as a live album and television special. In February, the Creedence foursome was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, although only John Fogerty was interviewed in the accompanying article.^[11]

In April 1970, Creedence was set to begin its first European tour. To support the upcoming live dates, Fogerty wrote "Up Around the Bend," and "Run Through the Jungle". The single—written, recorded, and shipped in only a few days' time—went to #4 that spring, enjoying enthusiastic response from European live audiences and high commercial success in the U.S. and the rest of the world.^{[citation needed]}

The band returned to Wally Heider's San Francisco studio in June to record what many consider their finest album, Cosmo's Factory.^{[weasel words]} The title was an in-joke about their various rehearsal facilities and factory work ethic over the years.^{[citation needed]} (Drummer Doug Clifford's longtime nickname is "Cosmo," due to his keen interest in nature and all things cosmic.)^{[citation needed]} The album contained the earlier Top 10 hits "Travelin' Band" and "Up Around the Bend" plus highly popular album tracks such as the opener "Ramble Tamble".

Cosmo's was released in July 1970, along with the band's fifth and final #2 national hit, "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See the Light." Though they topped some international charts and local radio countdowns, Creedence Clearwater Revival never had a #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit. Their five #2 singles were exceeded only by Elvis Presley and Madonna with 6 each and tied with The Carpenters. The band has the odd distinction of having the most #2 singles on the Billboard charts without ever having had a #1.^[12] Curiously on WLS the band had three #1, four #3, two #4, but no #2, singles.^[13]

Other cuts on the "Cosmo's Factory" album included an eleven-minute jam of the 1967 and 1968 R&B hit "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" (which would become a minor hit when an edited version was released as a single in the 70s a few years after the group's breakup) and a nearly note-for-note homage to Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby." John Fogerty's musical range clearly had expanded.^{[says who?]} He now wove in slide guitar, keyboards, saxophones, tape effects, and layered vocal harmonies—and pushed himself vocally more than ever on "Long As I Can See the Light." The album, eleven songs in all, was Creedence's best seller and went straight to #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts and #11 on Billboard's Soul Albums chart.

Decline and breakup: late 1970–1972[link]

The Cosmo's Factory sessions had seen the stirrings of tensions within the foursome as the incessant touring and heavy recording schedules took their toll.^{[citation needed]} John Fogerty had taken control of the group in its business matters and its artistic output.^{[citation needed]} The situation began to grate on Tom Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford, who wanted more of a say in the band's workings.^{[citation needed]} Fogerty resisted, feeling that a 'democratic' process would threaten their success.^{[citation needed]} Other issues included Fogerty's decision at a 1970 Nebraska gig that the band would no longer give encores at its live shows.^{[citation needed]}

Pendulum, released in December 1970, was another top seller, spawning a Top 10 hit with "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?". The album marked yet another shift in the band's approach: a more minimal approach to production values, as opposed to the "wall of sound" style of the previous three albums.^{[says who?]} However, John Fogerty included Hammond B3 Organ on many of the Pendulum tracks, notably "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"; a recognition of the deep respect and influence of Booker T and The MG's,^{[says who?]} with whom the members of the band had jammed. The single's flip side, "Hey Tonight," was also a hit.

But even continued musical innovation and success could not resolve the differences between John and Tom Fogerty.^{[says who?]} During the recording of Pendulum Tom Fogerty, who had already quit the band several times in disgust but was always talked into returning, left Creedence Clearwater Revival permanently.^{[citation needed]} His departure was made public in February 1971. The band members considered replacing Tom but never did. Tom Fogerty stated on an Australian TV broadcast that no new member could endure being in Creedence.

In spring 1971, John Fogerty informed a startled Cook and Clifford the band would continue only by adopting a 'democratic' approach: each member would now write and sing his own material. Fogerty also would contribute only rhythm guitar to his bandmates' songs. Cook and Clifford, who had wanted more of a voice in the band's music and business decisions, resisted this arrangement. Fogerty insisted they accept the new arrangement, or he would quit the band.

Despite the dissension, the trio put its new work ethic to the test in the studio, releasing the Top 10 single "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" in July 1971, backed with Stu Cook's "Door to Door." The band toured both the U.S. and Europe that summer and autumn, with Cook's song a part of the live set. In spite of their continuing commercial success, however, relations among the three had become increasingly strained.

The band's final album, Mardi Gras, was released in April 1972, featuring songs written by Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford and a cover of "Hello Mary Lou" (a song Gene Pitney originally wrote for Ricky Nelson.) It received mostly poor, even savage reviews: Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Landau called it "the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band".^[14]

The sales of Mardi Gras were weaker than those of the previous albums, though not a flop commercially. Mardi Gras peaked at #12, perhaps due more to the strength of the Creedence name than to the particular music on the record. This final release had the worst showings of any Creedence album and single since 1968. The 1971 hit single "Sweet Hitch-Hiker"/"Door to Door" was included on the album. Fogerty's "Someday Never Comes," backed with Clifford's "Tearin' Up the Country," also cracked the US Top 40. The album was also notable for featuring songs written by all three members of the band, with the writer also singing their song. Not surprisingly, the LP has a disjointed feel, with only those by Fogerty having the identifiable Creedence sound.

By this point, Fogerty was not only at direct odds with his bandmates, but he had also come to see the group's relationship with Fantasy Records as onerous, feeling that label owner Saul Zaentz had reneged on his promise to give the band a better contract. Cook — who holds a degree in business — claimed that because of poor judgment on Fogerty's part, Creedence Clearwater Revival had to abide by the worst record deal of any major American recording artist.

Despite the relatively poor reception of Mardi Gras and deteriorated relationships among the remaining band members, Creedence immediately embarked upon a two-month, 20-date U.S. tour. However, on October 16, 1972 – less than six months after the tour ended – Fantasy Records and the band officially announced the disbanding of Creedence Clearwater Revival.^[15]

Creedence Clearwater Revival never formally reunited after the break-up, although Cook and Clifford eventually started the band Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

As for John Fogerty's thoughts on the band and its eventual demise, he told a Swedish magazine in 1997: "I was alone when I made that [Creedence] music. I was alone when I made the arrangements, I was alone when I added background vocals, guitars and some other stuff. I was alone when I produced and mixed the albums. The other guys showed up only for rehearsals and the days we made the actual recordings. For me Creedence was like sitting on a time bomb. We'd had decent successes with our cover of 'Suzie Q' and with the first album. When we went into the studio to cut 'Proud Mary,' it was the first time we were in a real Hollywood studio, RCA's Los Angeles studio, and the problems started immediately. The other guys in the band insisted on writing songs for the new album, they had opinions on the arrangements, they wanted to sing. They went as far as adding background vocals to 'Proud Mary,' and it sounded awful. They used tambourines, and it sounded no better.

"That's when I understood I had a choice to make. At that point in time we were just a one hit wonder, and 'Suzie Q' hadn't really been that big a hit. Either this [the new album] would be a success, something really big, or we might as well start working at the car wash again. There was a big row. We went to an Italian restaurant and I remember that I very clearly told the others that I for one didn't want to go back to the car wash again. Now we had to make the best possible album and it wasn't important who did what, as long as the result was the very best we could achieve. And of course I was the one who should do it. I don't think the others really understood what I meant, but at least I could manage the situation the way I wanted. The result was eight million-selling double-sided singles in a row and six albums, who all went platinum. And Melody Maker had us as the best band in the world. That was after the Beatles split, but still... And I was the one who had created all this. Despite that, I don't think they understood what I was talking about....They were obsessed with the idea of more control and more influence. So finally the bomb exploded and we never worked together again."^[16]

After Creedence[link]

John Fogerty[link]

John Fogerty has continued to have a successful solo career for decades after the dissolution of CCR; he is pictured here performing in 2011

In 1973, Fogerty began his solo career with The Blue Ridge Rangers, his one-man band collection of country and gospel songs. Under his old Creedence contract, however, Fogerty owed Fantasy eight more records. In the end, he simply refused to work for the label any longer. The impasse was resolved only when Asylum Records' David Geffen bought Fogerty's contract for $1,000,000. His next major hit was Centerfield, a chart-topping success in 1985. On tour in 1986, however, Fogerty suffered complaints over his steadfast refusal to play Creedence songs live and suffered with recurring vocal problems which he blamed on having to testify in court. Fogerty's explanation for not playing Creedence Clearwater Revival songs was that he would have had to pay performance royalties to copyright holder Saul Zaentz—and that it was "too painful" to revisit the music of his past.

With the Centerfield album, Fogerty also found himself entangled in new, tit-for-tat lawsuits with Zaentz over the song "The Old Man Down the Road" which was, according to Zaentz, a blatant re-write of Fogerty's own 1970 Creedence hit "Run Through the Jungle". Since Fogerty had traded his rights to Creedence's songs in 1980 to cancel his remaining contractual obligations, Fantasy now owned the rights to "Run Through the Jungle" and sued Fogerty essentially for plagiarizing himself. While a jury ruled in Fogerty's favor, he did settle a defamation suit filed by Zaentz over the songs "Mr. Greed" and "Zanz Kant Danz". Fogerty was forced to edit the recording, changing the "Zanz" reference to "Vanz".

On February 19, 1987, at the Palomino Club in Los Angeles, Fogerty broke his self-imposed 1972 ban on performing his Creedence Clearwater Revival hits, on an admonition from Bob Dylan and George Harrison (who both joined him onstage) that "if you don't, the whole world's gonna think 'Proud Mary' is Tina Turner's song." At a Fourth of July benefit for Vietnam veterans in 1987, Fogerty finally ran through the list of Creedence hits—beginning with "Born on the Bayou" and ending with "Proud Mary"—to an ecstatic audience. He retreated from music again in the late 1980s but returned in 1997 with the Grammy-winning Blue Moon Swamp. John Fogerty still tours frequently and plays Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes alongside material from his newer albums.

Tom Fogerty[link]

Tom Fogerty released several solo albums, though none reached the success of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Tom's 1974 solo album Zephyr National was the last to feature the four original band members. A few of the songs sound very much in the Creedence style, particularly the aptly titled "Joyful Resurrection" on which all four members played, even though John Fogerty recorded his part to the mix separately.

In September 1990, Tom Fogerty died of an AIDS complication, which he contracted via a tainted blood transfusion he received while undergoing back surgery.

Stu Cook and Doug Clifford[link]

CCR's rhythm section formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995

Junior high buddies Doug Clifford and Stu Cook continued to work together following the demise of Creedence Clearwater Revival both as session players and members of the Don Harrison Band. They also founded Factory Productions, a mobile recording service in the Bay Area. Clifford released a solo record, Cosmo, in 1972. Cook produced artist Roky Erickson's The Evil One and was bassist with the popular country act Southern Pacific in the 80s.

Doug Clifford also produced "Groovers Paradise" for former Sir Douglas Quintet and Texas Tornados frontman Doug Sahm. Both Clifford and Stu Cook played on the album which was released on Warner Bros. in 1974.

Following a relatively lengthy period of musical inactivity, the two formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995 with several well-known musicians. Revisited toured globally performing the original band's classics. John Fogerty's 1997 injunction forced 'CCRev' to change to 'Cosmo's Factory', but the courts later ruled in Cook's and Clifford's favor.

Fantasy Records[link]

After Creedence, Fantasy Records released several greatest-hits packages and curiosities such as 1975's Pre-Creedence, a compilation album of The Golliwogs' early recordings. Fantasy also released the highly successful Chronicle, Vol. 1, a collection of Creedence's twenty hit singles, in 1976. Several years later, the label released a live recording entitled The Royal Albert Hall Concert. Contrary to its title, the 1970 performance was recorded in Oakland, California, not at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Subsequent issues of the original 1981 album have been retitled simply The Concert.

The success of Creedence Clearwater Revival made Fantasy and Saul Zaentz a great deal of money. Indeed, Fantasy built a new headquarters building in 1971 at 2600 Tenth Street in Berkeley, California.^[17] Zaentz also used his wealth to produce a number of successful films including Best Picture Oscar winners One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The English Patient. In 2004, he sold Fantasy to Concord Records. As a goodwill gesture, Concord honored the unfulfilled contractual promises Fantasy made nearly forty years earlier, finally paying the band a higher royalty rate on their sales.

One decision made by John Fogerty rankled his bandmates and would leave all of them without most of their hard-earned money and facing legal and financial problems for years. Without the other three band members' knowledge, Fogerty agreed to a tax shelter scheme proposed by Saul Zaentz and his lawyers in which most of the bandmembers' assets were transferred to Castle Bank & Trust (Bahamas) of Nassau. Zaentz and his associates withdrew their assets before the bank eventually dissolved — along with the savings of the four Creedence Clearwater Revival band members. A series of lawsuits began in 1978 and eventually ended with a California court awarding $8.6 million to the band members in April 1983. Despite this legal victory, very little of the money was recovered.^{[citation needed]}

John Fogerty, seeing that Zaentz was no longer involved with the company, also signed a new contract with Concord/Fantasy. In 2005, the label released The Long Road Home, a collection of Creedence and Fogerty solo classics. After Revival came out on the Fantasy label in October, 2007 but before his following album Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again was issued in 2009, Fogerty switched from Fantasy to Verve Forecast Records.

Attempts at reuniting[link]

The original Creedence lineup rarely reunited after their breakup, and never professionally. All four members jammed together at Tom Fogerty's wedding on October 19, 1980. John Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford played at their 20th El Cerrito High School reunion in 1983, but they performed as their original incarnation, The Blue Velvets. In the 1980s and 90s, new rounds of lawsuits between the band members, as well as against their former management, deepened their animosities. By the time Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, John Fogerty refused to perform with his surviving bandmates Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. The pair were barred from the stage, while Fogerty played with an all-star band that included Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson. Tom Fogerty's widow Tricia had expected a Creedence reunion, and even brought the urn containing her husband's ashes to the ceremony. Cook and Clifford formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited, a partial reunion group with additional musicians, two years later.

In a July 2011 interview with the Calgary Herald, John Fogerty, for the first time in over 20 years, admitted that he would at least be willing to consider reuniting with Cook and Clifford. "Years ago, I looked at people and I was so full of some sort of emotion and I'd say, 'Absolutely not!' . . . . But I have to admit, people have asked me more recently, and even though I have no idea how such a series of events would come to pass, I can tell that there isn't the bombast in my voice, in the denial, in the refusal. It's more like, 'Well, I dunno.' Never say never is I guess is what people tell you. In this life, all kinds of strange things come to pass," Fogerty said. "Realizing that it doesn't really kick up a big firestorm of emotion, it kind of suggests that at least if someone started talking I'd sit still long enough to listen."^[18] When asked about a potential reunion again in October 2011, Fogerty said: "I'm saying it's possible, yeah. I think the call [laughs] would maybe have to come from outside the realm. Somebody would have to get me to look at things in a fresh way." ^[19]

However, Cook and Clifford both stated in the February 2012 edition of Uncut Magazine that they aren't interested in a CCR reunion. "Leopards don't change their spots. This is just an image-polishing exercise by John. My phone certainly hasn't rung," Cook said. Added Clifford: "It might have been a nice idea 20 years ago, but it's too late."^[18]

Legal rights to music[link]

Creedence Clearwater Revival's catalogue of songs has frequently been used or referenced in popular culture. In part this is because John Fogerty "long ago signed away legal control of his old recordings to Creedence's record label, Fantasy Records."^[20][21] Fogerty objected to what he regarded as a misuse of his music in an NPR interview:

Folks will remember Forrest Gump and that was a great movie, but they don't remember all the really poor movies that Fantasy Records stuck Creedence music into: car commercials, tire commercials. I'm remembering a paint thinner ad at one point, the song "Who'll Stop the Rain". Oh, boy. That's clever, isn't it?^[22]

Of particular interest was the use of his protest song "Fortunate Son" in a blue jean commercial.^[20] In this case, the advertiser eventually stopped using the song, as Fogerty related in a later interview:

Yes, the people that owned Fantasy Records also owned all my early songs, and they would do all kinds of stuff I really hated in a commercial way with my songs. ... Then one day somebody from the L.A. Times actually bothered to call me up and ask me how I felt, and I finally had a chance to talk about it. And I said I'm very much against my song being used to sell pants. ... So my position got stated very well in the newspaper, and lo and behold, Wrangler to their credit said, "Wow, even though we made our agreement with the publisher, the owner of the song, we can see now that John Fogerty really hates the idea," so they stopped doing it.^[23]

Discography[link]

• Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968)
• Bayou Country (1969)
• Green River (1969)
• Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
• Cosmo's Factory (1970)
• Pendulum (1970)
• Mardi Gras (1972)

Members[link]

See also[link]

	Book: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Creedence Clearwater Revisited
• John Fogerty discography
• BlueVelvets/Golliwogs discographies
• Kalamazoo, Michigan

References[link]

External links[link]

• Creedence Clearwater Revisited official site
• Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Ed Sullivan Show
• Creedence Clearwater Revival at WorldMusicDatabase
• Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Internet Movie Database

v t e Creedence Clearwater Revival Doug Clifford Stu Cook John Fogerty Tom Fogerty Studio albums Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) Bayou Country (1969) Green River (1969) Willy and the Poor Boys (1969) Cosmo's Factory (1970) Pendulum (1970) Mardi Gras (1972) Live albums Live in Europe (1973) The Concert (1980) Compilations Creedence Gold (1971) More Creedence Gold (1973) Pre-Creedence (1975) Chronicle, Vol. 1 (1976) The Best of Creedence Clearwater Revival (1977) 20 Golden Greats (1979) Creedence Country (1981) Hits Album (1982) Chronicle, Vol. 2 (1986) Rollin' On the River (1988) Heartland Music Presents Creedence Clearwater Revival (1992) Keep On Chooglin' (1999) At the Movies (2000) Creedence Clearwater Revival: Box Set (2001) Bad Moon Rising: The Best of Creedence Clearwater Revival (2003) Platinum (2004) Creedence Clearwater Revival Covers the Classics (2009) Singles "Walking on the Water" "Porterville" "Suzie Q." "I Put a Spell on You"/"Walk on the Water" "Proud Mary"/"Born on the Bayou" "Bad Moon Rising"/"Lodi" "Green River"/"Commotion" "Down on the Corner"/"Fortunate Son" "Travelin' Band"/"Who'll Stop the Rain" "Run Through the Jungle"/"Up Around the Bend" "Lookin' Out My Back Door"/"Long As I Can See the Light" "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"/"Hey Tonight" "Sweet Hitch-Hiker"/"Door to Door" "Someday Never Comes"/"Tearin' up the Country" "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Related articles Discography The Golliwogs Creedence Clearwater Revisited Recollection Fogerty v. Fantasy Saul Zaentz Fantasy Records Book:Creedence Clearwater Revival