Post by erik on Oct 30, 2021 17:20:06 GMT -5
A Halloween-appropriate late 1960's FM rock classic is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight, by a Bay Area group that has the influences of the swampland of Louisiana.
BAD MOON RISING (Creedence Clearwater Revival; Fantasy; 1969)—The style of late 1960’s/early 1970’s roots-rock that’s known as “Swamp Rock”, a combination of rock, country, and Cajun influences, was parlayed during that era by a band that was formed nowhere near the Cajun enclaves of Louisiana. That band was Creedence Clearwater Revival, a quartet formed in the Bay Area suburb of El Cerrito, California in 1959 by brothers John and Tom Fogerty; bass played Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. Originally named the Blue Velvets, they were also known as Vision and The Golliwogs, until late 1967, when record producer Saul Zaentz bought them to Fantasy Records; and not long after that, the quartet became Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 1968, they achieved their first large-scale ht with a cover of the 1956 Dale Hawkins hit “Suzie Q”, which hit #11 in the fall. The band’s peak popularity, however, came during the politically and socially turbulent years of 1969 and 1970. With most of their big songs written by John Fogerty, CCR became arguably the most successful American rock band during this particular period, with numerous #1 hit albums, but, oddly, no one single that managed to top the Billboard Hot 100. The first example came in April 1969, when “Proud Mary” was kept out of the #1 slot by the Fifth Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In’ (though Ike and Tina Turner made it a further hit in 1971). Another seminal hit of theirs was “Bad Moon Rising”. Fogerty said that it was inspired by a scene in the 1941 film The Devil And Daniel Webster, specifically a scene involving a hurricane. For him, it conjured up the imagery of “the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us”. With the Vietnam War still very much on everybody’s television sets night after night, “Bad Moon Rising” struck a significant chord with the public, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 for the week ending June 28, 1969; and almost twelve years later, it found a very appropriate place in director John Landis’ 1981 horror film classic An American Werewolf In London. But after 1972, conflicts between John Fogerty, his brother Tom, Clifford, and Cook went DefCon 3; and by the time CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John refused to perform with his former band members.
BAD MOON RISING (Creedence Clearwater Revival; Fantasy; 1969)—The style of late 1960’s/early 1970’s roots-rock that’s known as “Swamp Rock”, a combination of rock, country, and Cajun influences, was parlayed during that era by a band that was formed nowhere near the Cajun enclaves of Louisiana. That band was Creedence Clearwater Revival, a quartet formed in the Bay Area suburb of El Cerrito, California in 1959 by brothers John and Tom Fogerty; bass played Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. Originally named the Blue Velvets, they were also known as Vision and The Golliwogs, until late 1967, when record producer Saul Zaentz bought them to Fantasy Records; and not long after that, the quartet became Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 1968, they achieved their first large-scale ht with a cover of the 1956 Dale Hawkins hit “Suzie Q”, which hit #11 in the fall. The band’s peak popularity, however, came during the politically and socially turbulent years of 1969 and 1970. With most of their big songs written by John Fogerty, CCR became arguably the most successful American rock band during this particular period, with numerous #1 hit albums, but, oddly, no one single that managed to top the Billboard Hot 100. The first example came in April 1969, when “Proud Mary” was kept out of the #1 slot by the Fifth Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In’ (though Ike and Tina Turner made it a further hit in 1971). Another seminal hit of theirs was “Bad Moon Rising”. Fogerty said that it was inspired by a scene in the 1941 film The Devil And Daniel Webster, specifically a scene involving a hurricane. For him, it conjured up the imagery of “the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us”. With the Vietnam War still very much on everybody’s television sets night after night, “Bad Moon Rising” struck a significant chord with the public, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 for the week ending June 28, 1969; and almost twelve years later, it found a very appropriate place in director John Landis’ 1981 horror film classic An American Werewolf In London. But after 1972, conflicts between John Fogerty, his brother Tom, Clifford, and Cook went DefCon 3; and by the time CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John refused to perform with his former band members.