James Beaty: OPINION: 'Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall'

Dec. 18—It's something I still have a hard time comprehending, given that this group has so many songs that have stood the test of time.

How can it be that Creedence Clearwater Revival never scored a #1 hit single in the U.S. at the height of the band's popularity, from 1969 until the group broke up in 1972?

That's going by the Billboard Hot 100 U.S. charts at the time. CCR finally scored a #1 hit in 2021 on Billboard's Rock Digital Sales Chart, with their song "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"

Still, it seems remarkable that such a popular group never achieved that #1 record during its musical heyday, when the band churned out hit records at an amazing rate. They produced three albums in 1969 alone — their second album, "Bayou Country," followed by "Green River" and "Willy and the Poor Boys."

Although none of Creedence Clearwater Revival's singles hit #1 on the U.S. hit singles charts, the album, "Green River" did hit the top spot on the U.S. albums chart — and the single "Green River" hit #1 in Canada — which could have helped sooth having those five near-misses which peaked at #2 in the U.S.

What's brought on this bit of reverie regarding CCR is the recent release of the band's new album "Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall." It's a live set from April 14, 1970, when the group flexed its rock muscles across the pond at London's vaunted concert venue. It also helps rectify an earlier album release, originally purported to be at the Royal Albert Hall — but later found to have been recorded instead outside CCR's back door in Oakland. That prompted renaming the earlier release simply "The Concert."

So now, the original "Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall" concert is finally available, showcasing the band in all of its gritty glory.

From the sound of the album, CCR must have recorded many of the band's hits live in the studio, since these live performances from the Royal Albert Hall stage sound so close to the hits the band originally recorded in San Francisco.

On "Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall," CCR tears through 12 songs, rocking it up and ripping it up, led by John Fogerty on lead guitar and vocals, with his older brother Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, along with bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford.

"CCR At the Royal Albert Hall" opens with one of the band's best-loved album tracks, "Born on the Bayou," which no doubt had a lot to do with CCR being labeled a swamp-rock band. John Fogerty begins the song, playing the strings on the opening chord one by one, until Clifford kick-starts in the rest of the band, followed by the bass and rhythm guitar.

With that, CCR propels into gear, with Fogerty's intentionally raspy vocals spinning his spooky tale of running through the backwoods bare on the Fourth of July, while his hound dog is barking "chasing down a hoodoo there."

He follows that by kicking off that opening electric guitar riff to "Green River," a perennial fan-favorite that gives Fogerty an opportunity to sing about those bullfrogs calling him and those dancing girls in the moonlight, telling his British audience "And If you get lost, come on home to Green River."

Those who may have wondered what CCR sounds like playing down and dirty blues can find out when the band goes into "Tombstone Shadow," with Fogerty shooting a series of searing lead guitar solos, while wailing about that shadow across his path, giving those British blues bands a lesson in the American art form.

CCR then launches into Fogerty's tribute to Little Richard, "Travelin' Band," with those opening lyrics about a 737 coming out of the sky that he wants to take him to Memphis on a midnight ride. It's two minutes and 11 seconds of rock 'n' roll glory, of the kind at which Creedence excelled so well.

All of which had the audience ready for the still ever-present "Fortunate Son" — Fogerty's jab at "senator's sons" who were never drafted into military service, while others — including Fogerty and Stu Cook in 1966 — received their summons from Uncle Sam. When Fogerty sings of those who are born with silver spoons in-hand, he adds "It ain't me; It ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one."

CCR next whips up a "Commotion," another favored album track, then slides into "Midnight Special," beginning slowly with Fogerty singing and playing the first verse solo before the rest of the band kicks in again, the mid-tempo song giving the audience — and the band — a chance to catch their collective breath following the frantic pace of "Commotion."

Then it's time for one of the greatest one-two hits ever, starting with "Bad Moon Risin' " — that warning against going out at night when the hurricane's blowing and the river's overflowing.

That only whips up the anticipation for "Proud Mary," Fogerty's ode about a steamship rollin' on a river, where people are happy to give. Both renditions at the Royal Albert Hall sound remarkably like their studio recordings — showing just how tight a band CCR was in-concert.

CCR then segues into the bluesy "The Night Time is the Right Time" — with the song featuring some backing vocals from the other band members — and Fogerty again showing his mastery of the blues guitar.

CCR next delivers the band's version of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly" — slowing the song somewhat from Richard's original and featuring a funky guitar riff no doubt devised by Fogerty.

One of the few songs on the album with a stretched-out jam is "Keep On Chooglin' " — once again used as a CCR concert-closer — and what a closer it is.

Though many of Fogerty's lead guitar solos on their hit singles were purposefully simple —such as on "Proud Mary" and "Bad Moon Rising" — with "Keep On Chooglin'," Fogerty kicks out the jams, shooting off a series of lead guitar runs that shows he can unleash those musical weapons at will.

Following his dazzling lead-guitar showcase, Fogerty pulls out a harmonica and blows it hard, churning up a series of blues-based riffs on the instrument. I think I even heard a quick nod to John Lennon's harmonica solo on The Beatles' "Love Me Do" at one point, perhaps as a wink to the British audience.

"Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall" has a relatively clear sound for a live album recorded in 1970, with much of the credit going to restoration of the original master tapes by Giles Martin, the son of legendary Beatles' producer, George Martin, with engineering by Sam Okell.

For such a prolific songwriter as John Fogerty, "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" contains three covers — but excellent covers they are: CCR takes on Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly," Roosevelt Skyes' "The Night Time Is the Right Time" and Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" — the song about a railroad train that ran close to a prison in the south, sometimes identified as the Sugar Land prison in Texas and at other times as the Parchman prison in Mississippi.

"Creedence Clearwater Revival At the Royal Albert Hall" gives the band's fans and newcomers alike a chance to head the group at its best, flexing those mighty swamp rock muscles for the band's British audience.

While the album is indeed a rock-fest, it would have been nice for the band to slow down a bit for a few songs and to hear Fogerty sing some lines such as "Oh Lord, stuck in old Lodi again" or "I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?"

Although CCR broke up in 1972, the band has never really gone away — even if Fogerty remains estranged from Cook and Clifford — whose drumming is a key component of "Live At the Royal Albert Hall" and other CCR albums.

Today, CCR's songs are heard in multiple formats, gracing everything from streaming files to movie soundtracks.

Many music fans identify CCR primarily with John Fogerty — understandably since he sang lead vocals, played lead guitar wrote all of the band's songs up until the group's final album, "Mardi Gras," when Cook and Clifford's each sang on several cuts. It became CCR's last studio album.

By that time, Fogerty's older brother Tom Fogerty, had already quit the band because he wanted more of a singing and songwriting role than he was getting in CCR, which led to a broken relationship that never was never fully mended. CCR's album "Live in Europe" features the power trio version of CCR — since the band performed the concert recorded for the album after Tom Fogerty had already left the group.

With the new album release, Creedence Clearwater Revival fans can soak up the sound of the band live in concert when it still ruled with all four members as one of the greatest live bands ever.

Although I would have liked to have heard a few of Creedence's slower cuts, including the aforementioned "Lodi" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," reports at the time indicate CCR's set at the Royal Albert Hall concert left their British fans enthralled — not bad for that "Travelin' Band."

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.