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On October 16th, 1972, the legendary rock and roll band Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up for good. The writing had been on the wall for a while but it was on this date in history 50 years ago today on October 16th, 1972 that the band’s record company Fantasy Records and the band itself announced that it was all over. The band’s final studio album Mardi Gras had been released about six months earlier in April of 1972. The band had also just completed a two-month tour promoting the album. The band’s final album had received poor reviews. It would also not sell as many copies as the band’s previous albums. John Fogerty was not happy with the recording deal that the band had with Fantasy Records. There were also many issues inside the band. The group that had become one of the most loved bands in the world would come to end as the sound of the 1960s and the protest era was beginning to wind down with them.
Creedence Clearwater Revival released their first album entitled Creedence Clearwater Revival on July 15, 1968. The band found themselves with a hit with their cover version of “Suzie Q,” which was written by Dale Hawkins, Eleanor Broadwater, and Stan Lewis. In 1960 the group would release their second album entitled Bayou Country on January 5, 1969. That album would feature their hit “Proud Mary,” and “Born on the Bayou” which was the flip side of the “Proud Mary,” single. The band’s Bayou Country album would be the first of three studio albums the band would release in 1969. The other two albums entitled Green River released on August 3, 1969 and Willy and the Poor Boys released on November 2, 1969 would define the band as one of the most popular groups in the United States during the turbulent year of 1969.
In 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival would release what many believe was the best album of their career in the record Cosmo’s Factory. Released on July 16th, 1970 the album would feature seven single releases while hitting number one on the Billboard Top 200 Album charts and staying in that position for over two months. Even with an album full of non-stop hits and classic songs, the group would follow up with another album six months later called Pendulum. That album would feature songs like “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” and Hey Tonight. The band’s final album Mardi Gras would be released two years later after Tom Fogerty had left the band. By that time it was pretty much over for the group.
After Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up, John Fogerty would embark on a very successful solo career. Fogerty’s first solo album would be released a year after the band broke up in 1973 entitled The Blue Ridge Rangers. In the mid-1980s John Fogerty would experience a career resurgence when his Centerfield album released in 1985 would become a major hit album. Almost fifteen years after the breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival, the bad blood between John Fogerty and his old Fansaty label began to boil again when Saul Zaentz, who owned Fantasy Records sued John Fogerty for stealing the music from one of his old songs called “Run Through the Jungle,” that John Fogertywrote for his new song “The Old Man Down the Road.” In the end, John Fogerty won the case after appeal which also set further legal precedents.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up. Yet for a very short period of time, the band’s sound defined the turbulence of the late 1960s. A sound that continues to echo in this day.
article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022
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