April 28, 2020 —– Chart #16
Hello Musical Friends,
There is stormy weather in the Dallas forecast tonight, so we are going to 1969 and a song that references some rough weather. “Bad Moon Rising” is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 on 28 June 1969, blocked by “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” by Henry Mancini, and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September 1969. It was CCR’s second gold single.
Fogerty reportedly wrote “Bad Moon Rising” after watching The Devil and Daniel Webster. Inspired by a scene in the film involving a hurricane, Fogerty claims the song is about “the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us”.
Creedence Clearwater Revival , also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band which recorded and performed from 1968 to 1972. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; bassist Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs.
Their musical style encompassed roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock. They played in a Southern rock style, despite their San Francisco Bay Area origin, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River and other popular elements of Southern United States iconography. Their songs rarely dealt with romantic love, concentrating instead on political and socially-conscious lyrics about topics such as the Vietnam War. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival in Upstate New York.
The group disbanded acrimoniously in late 1972 after four years of chart-topping success. Tom Fogerty had officially left the previous year, and John was at odds with the remaining members over matters of business and artistic control, all of which resulted in subsequent lawsuits among the former bandmates. Fogerty’s ongoing disagreements with Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz created further protracted court battles, and John Fogerty refused to perform with the two other surviving members at CCR’s 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s music is still a staple of U.S. classic rock radio airplay. Twenty-eight million CCR records have been sold in the United States alone. Rolling Stone ranked them 82nd on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
A fun 1989 live performance in Oakland: https://youtu.be/RMQyv5q9bT4
And if that wasn’t enough, here is a 2018 show with Fogerty and Brad Paisley (with cool lead): https://youtu.be/hMC32tcH9AU
Keep Rockin’,
Stan