January 20, 2023 —– Chart #179
Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. We are going to the 60’s this week with a song everyone knows. “Proud Mary” is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band’s second studio album, Bayou Country, which was issued by the same record company and was released in early January 1969. The song became a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969, the first of five singles to peak at No. 2 for the group.
A cover version by Ike and Tina Turner, released two years later in 1971, did nearly as well, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy Award.
In a 1969 interview, Fogerty said that he wrote it in the two days after he was discharged from the National Guard. In the liner notes for the 2008 expanded reissue of Bayou Country, Joel Selvin explained that the songs for the album started when Fogerty was in the National Guard, that the riffs for “Proud Mary”, “Born on the Bayou”, and “Keep on Chooglin'” were conceived by Fogerty at a concert in the Avalon Ballroom, and “Proud Mary” was arranged from parts of different songs, one of which was about a washerwoman named Mary. The line “Left a good job in the city” was written following Fogerty’s discharge from the National Guard, and the line “rollin’ on the river” was from a movie by Will Rogers.
Proud Mary’s singer, a low-wage earner, leaves what he considers a “good job,” which he might define as steady work, even though for long hours under a dictatorial boss. He decides to follow his impulse and imagination and hitches a ride on a riverboat queen, bidding farewell to the city. Only when the boat pulls out does he see the “good side of the city”—which, for him, is one in the distance, far removed from his life. Down by the river and on the boat, the singer finds protection from “the man” and salvation from his working-class pains in the nurturing spirit and generosity of simple people who “are happy to give” even “if you have no money.” The river in Fogerty and traditionally in literature and song is a place holding biblical and epical implications. … Indeed, the river in “Proud Mary” offers not only escape but also rebirth to the singer.
Checkmates, Ltd. released a cover of Proud Mary Featuring Sonny Charles in 1969. The song peaked at No. 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of November 1, 1969.
Checkmates Ltd version: https://youtu.be/2atgibMcgSA
Ike & Tina Turner released “Proud Mary” In January 1971 as the second single from their 1970 album Workin’ Together. Their rendition differs greatly from the structure of the original, but is also well-known and has become one of Tina Turner’s most recognizable signature songs.
Ike & Tina: https://youtu.be/hzQnPz6TpGc
According to Tina, Ike was not keen on the original version, but the cover of “Proud Mary” by the Checkmates, Ltd. piqued his interest. Ike and Tina’s version was substantially rearranged by Ike Turner and Soko Richardson. The song starts off with a slow, sultry soulful tone in which Tina introduces the song and warns the audience that she and the band are gonna start it off “nice and easy” as “we never do nothing nice and easy” but say they would finish it “nice and rough”. After the lyrics are first sung softly by the Turners, the song is then turned into a funk rock vamp with Tina and the Ikettes delivering gospel-influenced vocals.
Keep rockin my friends,
Stan Bradshaw