7/6 Creedence Clearwater Revival

The key elements of Creedence had been woodshedding in bar bands for about a decade before their breakthrough to national success in the late ’60s. John‘s older brother Tom formed the Blue Velvets in the late ’50s in El Cerrito, California, a tiny suburb across the bay from San Francisco. By the mid-’60s, with a few hopelessly obscure recordings under their belt, the band — including Tom and John with two high-school friends, drummer Doug Clifford and bassist Stu Cook — signed to Fantasy, releasing several singles as the Golliwogs that went nowhere. In fact, there’s little promise to be found on those early efforts; they were extremely derivative of the British Invasion and other R&B and rock trends of the day, with few hints of the swampy roots rock that would characterize CCR. The group only found themselves when John took firm reins over the band’s direction, singing and writing virtually all of their material.

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