- published: 02 Mar 2009
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, often shortened to Creedence and abbreviated as CCR, was an American rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford. Their musical style encompassed the roots rock,swamp rock, and blues rock genres. Despite their San Francisco Bay Area origins, they portrayed a Southern rock style, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River, and other popular elements of Southern US iconography, as well as political and socially-conscious lyrics about topics including the Vietnam War.
Creedence Clearwater Revival's music is still a staple of US radio airplay; the band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone. Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.Rolling Stone ranked the band 82nd on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Their musical influence can be heard in many genres, including southern rock, grunge, roots rock, and blues.
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).
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".
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.
When I was a little bitty baby
My mama would rock me in the cradle
In them old cotton fields back home
It was down in Louisiana
Just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
Oh when those cotton balls get rotten
You can't pick you very much cotton
In them old cotton fields back home
It was down in Louisiana
Just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields back home
I was over in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for
In them old cotton fields back home
I was over in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for