Creedence Clearwater Revival Albums Ranked
Creedence Clearwater Revival (often referred to as Creedence or CCR) was an American rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s which consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; bassist Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as The Blue Velvets and later as The Golliwogs. Their musical style encompassed roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock. They played in a Southern rock style, despite their San Francisco Bay Area origin, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River, and other popular elements of Southern United States iconography, as well as political and socially conscious lyrics about topics including the Vietnam War. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival in Upstate New York. Here are all of the Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s albums ranked.
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7. Mardi Gras (1972)
“This is definitely one of the worse albums compared to the other Creedence albums. Some song are pretty good even with other band members singing. I liked the song “Need Someone to Hold” but clearly the decision to not have John sing all the song was a bad decision like having Yoko Ono sing on John Lennon’s albums. Anytime you change a working formula it falls apart. This is still worth a listen the other band members are talented and this might have worked if we weren’t used to John’s lead vocals.”
6. Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968)
“First album with John C Fogerty at the helm. From the opening track, you know he meant business. Underground covers of Susie Q, the full version here, and his own contributions, remastered and expanded with bonus tracks, which is a special feature on all 6 studio albums re released since Fantasy records was finally sold., ending the constant repackaging of the hits throughout the 70’s. 80’s and 90’s.
It may sound tepid now, but at the time of it’s release, it caused a minor earthquake, quickly followed by the 2nd release, Bayou Country. which created an all out Tsunami. There are no ‘hits’ per se, but alot of now classics. To me, hearing this when it came out, it is still an unpretentious classic, as are all of the albums in the CCr cannon, save for Mardi Gras……more on that later.”
5. Bayou Country (1969)
“I still remember when my sister took this classic from California to our home in Guatemala City, that was November of 69, it was new and as it started spinning in our stereo took me in a fantastic trip that I won’t ever forget. Now, 45 years later I acquired my vinyl copy from the recently remastered version and the trip continues. This version reproduces the bass excellently and is what you are looking forward to playing in your turntable and listening in your system. The hit from this album still remembered today is certainly proud mary.”
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4. Pendulum (1970)
“Ahh, great sounds from the early 1970’s. The songs are jumbled up on their listing on the back of the CD case, but in correct order in the insert, small amount of confusion. This is a fantastic representation of early 70’s classic rock. The musicianship is really good. John Fogerty plays some fine Hammond B3 organ here as well as really nice lead guitar. The other guys do a fine job as well. The hits “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” and “Hey Tonight” are here as is the great “Molina.” I particularly like the song “Pagan Baby” which to me is an underrated song by CCR. The third longest tune on this recording is “Rude Awakening #2” is an interesting track, kind of trippy in a way. This disc includes three bonus tracks two of which are songs which are also a little trippy. These tunes consist of music as well as band “interviews.” The disc concludes with a live version of “Hey Tonight” recorded in Hamburg, Germany in 1971. Certainly not the band’s best but still a worthy addition to any music collection.”
3. Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
“Another great album from one of the best rock bands ever. The album features the two classic hits “Down On The Corner” and “Fortunate Son”. The album has quite a country feel on many of the tracks, and contains a bluesy classic called “Feelin’ Blue”, which in my opinion is a track that doesn’t get the attention that it should.
Once again the extra tracks are not real interesting, but who cares?
2. Cosmo’s Factory (1970)
“This has all their classics from the 1970’s but is the best album they ever made! Listening to this, you may feel like you’re back in the seventies again. It really took me back. The songs they do best are on it, As long as I can see the light, Born on the Bayou, Traveling Band, I heard it on the grapevine, and Looking out my back door just to name a few! It truly is one of the best CCR albums EVER made!!!
1. Green River (1969)
“This is a coherent album as far as the first nine songs from the original album are concerned. There are a variety of different sounds, a couple hits, a couple of very meaningful songs, a traditional blues form song, and some other songs that are just fun. The whole package ties together very nicely from the first strains of Green River to the last strains of Night Time. The bonus tracks feature two instrumentals, and some live versions of songs from the album, they are interesting, although not part of the original theme. The late 60’s was a time of important theme albums and this one belongs among them.”