Stu Cook Basses

[uwe]

He's been at war with Fantasy Records since the late 60ies. That is why you will never get a greatest hits album from CCR endorsed by him, much less with liner notes or an interview. The other (surviving) two, sans songwriter credits from the bulk of CCR's work, simply could not afford and sustain that type of longliving hatred for their former record company.

Fogerty seems to believe that he is the only person on earth that got an unfavourable record and publishing deal in the 60ies. He's manic about it.

[Dave W]

He didn't treat them like hired guns back in the day. He wasn't even the original frontman when they formed as the Golliwogs, brother Tom was. But in recent years he's revised the band's history in his own mind so now he believes that they were just trained monkeys following his orders. It's sad, really. He's still consumed by bitterness.

IIRC Fantasy was a struggling jazz label, Zaentz was a sales rep for them and knew Fogerty who worked in the shipping department. Zaentz wound up buying the label and gave the Golliwogs a chance b/c of his friendship with Fogerty even though it wasn't the label's usual fare. Turned out to be an unexpectedly brilliant move.

Sure, the recording contract benefitted the label over the artist, that's what recording contracts do, but it was just a standard contract for an unknown band. Yet Fogerty resented being bound by it so much that he gave up all his rights to CCR songs just to get out of it, and then publicly trashed Zaentz for years even though it was his own choice. He even refused to play any CCR songs at gigs for years. Then when Cook and Clifford started touring as Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Fogerty really upped the acrimony.

See this. I don't know the current status.

[westen44]

I used to be in a band that did lots of CCR covers.  They were real crowd pleasers.  But you can get weary doing stuff like that too much.  Also, I can't name any singer that's easier to sound like than John Fogerty.  Depending on a person's taste, you can get praised or cursed for singing his songs.  I've experienced both.   

My sister probably hated CCR more than any band on earth.  Even though I think we covered their songs pretty well, I think she had nothing but utter contempt for our CCR covers.  Frankly, she was probably pretty much sick of hearing us play anything, though.  Relatives can be your worst critics.  But I remember an outstanding lead guitarist from another band who really complimented us on our CCR covers. 

As for John Fogerty, I haven't kept up with him much through the years.  But from reading all this stuff here I'm not too impressed with his attitude. 

[uwe]

A CCR reunion world tour would make bucketloads of money (I'd go) - those songs and their original sound have become ingrained in our collective consciousness. And though the lines between John Fogerty and CCR blur just as much as those between Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, Rod Stewart and The Faces, Paul Weller and The Jam, Sting and The Police or Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople, the CCR brand would still be a huge draw.

Always liked CCR, never belittled them. Like Bad Company or ZZ Top, there is nothing superfluous in their arrangements which gives them a timeless quality. I always thought that John Mellencamp, when at his best, owed more than a nod to John Fogerty.

[westen44]

I have been around people who actually did belittle CCR, though.  I never did that.  I did kind of get tired of some of their songs.  To this day, however, I still like songs such as "Bad Moon Rising" and "Who'll Stop the Rain."  Songs like that were gems, IMO, and also very fun to do. 

[Dave W]

I did get tired of CCR a few albums in. That doesn't diminish their earlier work, though. Green River (the album) really made me sit up and take notice, I still enjoy listening to it. Uwe is right, nothing superfluous.

[westen44]

Come to think of it "Proud Mary" wasn't as easy to sing as the other CCR songs.  It would help to be John Fogerty on that one.  I thought the melody was really interesting on "Who'll Stop the Rain."  We never did "Lodi" but I really like that CCR song, too.  I think my sister disliked their music so much because she was a Motown fanatic.  She would barely even listen to any rock (with a few exceptions of course.)  It reminds me of a co-worker who told me he once had to take a long trip with his sister.  He carefully chose the music for the trip.  But his sister's response was so negative he actually seemed shocked by it.  I think the only two bands my sister and I both liked were the Beatles and Deep Purple. 

[Pilgrim]

Some of CCR's stuff still ranks among my favorites, but I didn't play it in bands so I haven't suffered the repetition fatigue some of you have. 

Born on the Bayou and Bad Moon Rising are still good...and my band does play Fortunate Son, and i enjoy it. I like Willie and the Poor Boys, too.

[westen44]

Some of CCR's stuff still ranks among my favorites, but I didn't play it in bands so I haven't suffered the repetition fatigue some of you have. 

Born on the Bayou and Bad Moon Rising are still good...and my band does play Fortunate Son, and i enjoy it. I like Willie and the Poor Boys, too.

We also played Fortunate Son, but not Born on the Bayou.  I have a feeling that that one would have been one of the more difficult CCR songs to play. 

[gearHed289]

When I was younger, I kind of thought of CCR as a little hillbilly band. My bro-in-law's white trash neighbors used to crank them all the time, and we would poke fun at them. So I didn't really give them a chance. Fast forward to 2010 - I got tapped to play bass with a CCR tribute band for a one-off gig. Pop star P!nk threw a surprise birthday party for her dad in Philly, and he and his Vietnam vet buddies are big CCR fans. Once I sat down to learn the material (LOTS of songs), my mind changed completely. There's some beautiful songs in that catalog. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" is a favorite. Fogerty has an amazing voice and soul. I did one more gig with those guys. Fun stuff.

[westen44]

When I was younger, I kind of thought of CCR as a little hillbilly band. My bro-in-law's white trash neighbors used to crank them all the time, and we would poke fun at them. So I didn't really give them a chance. Fast forward to 2010 - I got tapped to play bass with a CCR tribute band for a one-off gig. Pop star P!nk threw a surprise birthday party for her dad in Philly, and he and his Vietnam vet buddies are big CCR fans. Once I sat down to learn the material (LOTS of songs), my mind changed completely. There's some beautiful songs in that catalog. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" is a favorite. Fogerty has an amazing voice and soul. I did one more gig with those guys. Fun stuff.

It sounds like you really did get immersed in CCR's music.  I agree there are some beautiful CCR songs.  I think John Fogerty's voice somewhat takes away from how melodic some of those songs are.  But I suppose that's the way it's supposed to be. 

[Pilgrim]

To me, the distinctive quality of John's voice is one of the most compelling aspects of CCR's music.  I have his Blue Moon Swamp CD and I like the stuff on it very well.

[westen44]

To me, the distinctive quality of John's voice is one of the most compelling aspects of CCR's music.  I have his Blue Moon Swamp CD and I like the stuff on it very well.

As someone who got into bands in the early days more for my singing than my bass playing, this kind of thing is something I really had to focus on.  I stated in an earlier post that it was easier to sound like John Fogerty than anyone else.  But I think as humans there is a natural tendency to want what we can't have.  I wanted to sound, for instance, more like Peter Cetera and Terry Kath on vocals.  But it was way harder to sound like Chicago than CCR (for several reasons I might add.)

[mc2NY]

I don't think it's easy to sound like John Fogerty's vocals. He has a very distinct sound and odd pronunciation of words....almost like a fake Southen accent under his California accent. I used to say Kurt Cobain would have sounded good covering Creedence songs.

But CCR was ranked among the TopTen American bands in its heyday, with John Fogerty writing most of the songs and singing all the leads.  The band had at least a dozen hits and still gets major rdio airplay with a fair number of those hits.

You'd be bitter and pissed off too if you weren't making a cent off those songs if you're were Fogerty.
That is easily $Millions$ in royalties he never received.

[TBird1958]

I've always really liked CCR, what you saw was what you got, no BS.

This is probably my fave of theirs with "Run through the Jungle" not too far behind.