DAILY DIRT: Swamp rock was a big thing, thanks to Creedence Clearwater Revival

Daily Dirt for Wednesday, May 7, 2025

CCR made the most of its relatively brief, but impactful stay near the top of the charts … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,277 of The Daily Dirt.

1. We’ve reached the halfway mark in our countdown of the best American rock bands and groups from the 1960s.

I had a friend way back in my teen years named Jeff who shared a lot of the same interests I did, such as love for all sports teams in Cleveland and rock music. One day in school, Jeff came up to me and handed over a .45 (yes, that was when we all played .45s and LPs) and asked if I had ever heard much about this group.

I looked at the record and it was one of the early releases by a band called Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Take it home and listen to it,” Jeff said.

I did, and was blown away by “Fortunate Son”. Next day at school, I returned the record and told Jeff, “These guys are going to be huge.”

I pretty much nailed that forecast. Well, me and about 10 million other music lovers.

Yes, CCR quickly carved out its niche in the world of rock music. The band, in its true form, was around less than 10 years but left quite a mark. Creedence is No. 4 in our ongoing countdown of the top American rock bands/groups of the 1960s: 

No. 5 Creedence Clearwater Revival

The band’s music was labeled “swamp rock”. I always found that an entertaining twist, largely because Creedence Clearwater Revival members hailed from California. 

The swamp rock genre normally incorporated themes tied to southern life, specifically in, around and across the Louisiana bayou region. CCR’s music brought that lifestyle to the forefront of the pop music sound in the latter stages of the 1960s and early 1970s with a long list of hit songs.

In the rock record books, Creedence is arguably most famous for having FIVE singles peak at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 rankings, plus having the most songs (9) reach the top 10 without a No. 1. The band secured the majority of its ratings success in the early 1970s, but with its roots in the 1960s (in addition to a series of its first major hits) we included CCR in our ’60s rankings.

The band enjoyed monstrous success stories in both single and album sales, not to mention overall popularity, but internal squabbling eventually led to its premature demise in the 1970s. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist and primary songwriter John Fogerty, plus his brother and rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford. Much of the discord was between the Fogerty brothers, which was a shame. 

CCR had the opportunity to become legendary with its distinct style and sound, not to mention John Fogerty’s tremendous vocals. Instead, the band and its contributions will always be remembered as outstanding, but not legendary.

My favorite CCR offerings rom the 1960s were:

“Fortunate Son”: This 1969 release was written by John Fogerty and was one of the protest songs of the Vietnam era. 

“Bad Moon Rising”: Another 1969 protest song. Those were quite popular at that time.  

tie-“Proud Mary”: This was the group’s first of five No. 2 singles, and one of four major hits in 1969 alone.

tie-“Down On The Corner”: CCR sang this hit on “The Ed Sullivan Show”.

Other memorable songs from both the late ’60s and early ’70s included “Travelin’ Band,” “Sweet Hitchhiker,” “Up Around The Bend,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” “Who’ll Stop The Rain” and “Lodi”.

The American band/group countdown so far:

5. Creedence Clearwater Revival

6. Grass Roots

7. Beach Boys

2. Did you know (Part 356)

• That CCR brothers John and Tom Fogerty never reconciled before Tom’s 1990 death due to tuberculosis. 
• That Ike and Tina Turner had a No. 1 hit song in 1971 with CCR’s “Proud Mary”.
• That prior to adopting the CCR name, the group was called the Blue Velvets, followed by the Golliwogs.
• That CCR’s only top-40 hit not written by John Fogerty was “Susie Q”.
• That CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

3. There are no new license plate spottings on this week’s Great Plate Debate IV medal stand, but still some entertaining finds.

As always, thanks for all the contributions via text and email. This week’s top plates:

• I DRUM
• 3 EGGY
• AGATOR
• 21 BEEF
• HWAI GRL
• 4 KAREN
• EM-IT
• BOZ 54
• SCHMTYS
• KIWI 37
• HIKE CO 3
• SCRIBE 5
• BACKUP 9
• WARD 7
• NAVAJO 3
• PAM
• MAR 1
• 74 IPP
• LIL MAE 2
• R TOY 35 

The medal stand remains:

Gold medal: ITS MINE

Silver medal: SPOKEN 4

Bronze medal: MILK DUD

Steve Thought O’ The Day — If you ever saw the movie “Remember the Titans,” you may remember CCR’s “Up Around The Bend” song being featured quite prominently.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He was quite the hippie protestor back in the day.