Before Creedence: 1959–1967 John Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook (all born in 1945) met at Portola Junior High School in El Cerrito, California. They began playing instrumentals and juke box standards under the name The Blue Velvets,[5] also backing singer Tom Fogerty at live gigs and in the recording studio. Tom joined the band, and in 1964 they signed with Fantasy Records, an independent jazz label in San Francisco that had released Cast Your Fate to the Wind, a national hit for jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. The records success was the subject of a National Educational Television special, which prompted budding songwriter John Fogerty to contact the label.[6] For the bands first release, Fantasy co-owner Max Weiss renamed the group the Golliwogs (after the childrens literary character, Golliwogg), apparently because a wave of popular British bands had similar names.[citation needed] Band roles changed during this period. Stu Cook switched from piano to bass guitar and Tom Fogerty from lead vocals to rhythm guitar; John became the bands lead vocalist and primary songwriter. In Tom Fogertys words: I could sing, but John had a sound![7] In March 1969, Bad Moon Rising backed with Lodi was released and peaked at No. 2. In the United Kingdom, Bad Moon Rising spent three weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart during September and October 1969, becoming the bands only number one single in the UK.[citation needed] The bands third album, Green River, followed in August 1969 and went gold along with the single Green River, which again reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts. The B-side of Green River, Commotion, peaked at No. 30 and the bands emphasis on remakes of their old favorites continued with Night Time Is the Right Time.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 13:15:16 +0000