Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cajun Rockers (1970)

 (U.S 1967 - 1972)

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 played together since 1959, first as The Blue Velvets, then as The Golliwogs. Their musical style encompassed the roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock genres. 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.

The group disbanded acrimoniously in late 1972 after four years of chart-topping success. Tom Fogerty had officially left the previous year, and his brother John was at odds with the remaining members over matters of business and artistic control, all of which resulted in subsequent lawsuits among the former bandmates. Fogerty's ongoing disagreements with Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz created further protracted court battles, and John Fogerty refused to perform with the two other surviving members at CCR's 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Concert

Originally released as "The Royal Albert Hall Concert", it was later discovered that it was actually a performance given at the Oakland Coliseum in California on 31st January, 1970. Subsequent releases of this concert simply titled "The Concert".

The preparations began weeks before the C-Day. The underground rock radio station of the Bay Area KSAN-FM promised to record the concert in stereo and broadcast it live. The boss of the station Tom Donahue also announced the band to stage. Robert Abel's National General Televison crew was called to film the show. Furthermore, Creedence Clearwater invited Booker T. and the MGs to kick off the evening and join a jam session at the Factory on previous night.

The Oakland concert presented the band at their peak. Everything worked fine: vocals, guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums. John Fogerty provided killer vocals. Fogerty brothers with John on vocals, lead guitar and harmonica and Tom with rhythm guitar also shined in the closing jam "Keep on Chooglin'". The effortless version of "Bad Moon Rising" was one of the finest hours of drummer Doug Clifford. Stu Cook provided reliable bass lines all the way, particularly in "Commotion." All numbers were well rehearsed at the Factory. They were almost as great or sometimes even a bit better than the original studio versions. The foursome formed a positively primitive mix that was and is still greater than the sum of its parts.

Everybody in the crowd wasn't completely happy with their experience. Some people who saw the concert on spot back then have recalled they heard the band twice: once from the stage and once echoing from the back wall of Oakland Arena. 

On the set list, the band blasted their way through most of their hits this far. They delivered both sides of their latest single cuts: "Green River," "Commotion," "Down on the Corner," and "Fortunate Son." The crowd was also privileged to hear the new 45 rpm "Travelin' Band" backed with "Who'll Stop the Rain" which was released on the same day. It's possible that the world premiere of the live versions of both cuts took place at Oakland Arena. The concert was also one of the few occasions the ticket owners heard "Don't Look Now" live.

"Lodi" was missing in the set list. It was dropped from the band's repertoire in summer 1969 and remained absent until the summer of 1971 when it was reincarnated by the CCR trio.

The live versions were very true to the original studio cuts. The few occasions the band stretched out a bit were the blistering "Keep on Chooglin´" and "Green River" which featured an extended guitar solo by John. 

The Oakland show provides the one and only documented set list of the band's concerts from the period that started from the release of Willy & the Poor Boys in fall 1969 and ended up to their first Euro tour in April 1970.

The 56-minute film of the concert and documentary featured "Travelin' Band," "Born on the Bayou," "Tombstone Shadow," "Bad Moon Rising," "Time Is Tight" (by Booker T. and the MGs), "Proud Mary," "Don't Look Now," "Fortunate Son," "Commotion," and "Keep On Chooglin'." It was first exposed in Berkeley cinemas during the band press party at the Factory in December 1970.

Due to lack of sponsors the premiere for the large audience delayed seriously. Legal problems also emerged on the eve of screening. National General was sold to Freeways which wanted to show the movie but the band wasn't thrilled anymore in summer 1971. A certain clause in the agreement allowed a limited number of showings. After that, the master was supposed to be destroyed. It seems it didn't happen. 

In Concert went first on the air on WNEW-TV in New York on June 20, 1971. Reviews were positive. It was also screened on various European TV channels during the forthcoming months. The TV show is currently available on several poor-quality bootleg DVDs but the official, restored and remastered Deluxe laser disc is still waiting for legal release.

The audio of the concerts was available on several bootlegs in the 70's. It was officially released in autumn 1980. The Creedence Clearwater Revival live album was originally titled The Royal Albert Hall Concert.  Shortly after the set came out somebody discovered that the tapes were actually from the concert at the Oakland Arena. The LP was silently renamed 'The Concert'. 

The general public doesn't usually rank The Concert album very high - mainly for the lack of variation from the studio versions. However, there's a small number of devoted fans who regard The Concert almost as the greatest live album of all-time. [extract from the electric bayou/concerts/1968-1972]

This post consists of  FLACs ripped from an Australian (AMCOS) budget release CD (probably from the 90's - no release dates given) and contains full album artwork, including the official vinyl release by Fantasy Records from 1980. 

This show is probably the best quality CCR bootleg show available, and features CCR in their full glory. Just a great, classic show, including many of their all-time classic songs.

Tracklist

01 Born On The Bayou    5:12

02 Green River 3:03

03 Tombstone Shadow 4:05

04 Don't Look Now 2:25

05 Travelin' Band 2:07

06 Who'll Stop The Rain 2:38

07 Bad Moon Rising 2:22

08 Proud Mary 3:29

09 Fortunate Son 2:25

10 Commotion 2:35

11 The Midnight Special 3:47

12 Night Time Is The Right Time 3:24

13 Down On The Corner 2:49

14 Keep On Chooglin' 9:04

CCR were:

Bass, Backing Vocals – Stu Cook

Drums – Doug Clifford

Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Harp – John Fogerty

Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tom Fogerty

CCR Cajun Rockers Link (255Mb) 

New Link 01/06/2021

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary / On Stage (1991) Bootleg

(U.S 1967 - 1972)
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Creedence Clearwater Revival, though one of the most commercially and artistically successful acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, failed to release a live album during its initial four-piece run from 1968 to 1970. However dominated in the studio by John Fogerty’s near-unparalleled songwriting prowess and efficiency, CCR ultimately distinguished itself as a disciplined live act that saw solid input from each member. Propelled by a vastly underrated and contributing rhythm section in Stu Cook (bass) and Doug Clifford (drums), the group shed its undeniable three-minute AM appeal in the live setting with a willingness to venture off into surging jams. Aided by Fogerty’s infamously meticulous approach to rehearsals, the band maintained greater focus and momentum than its Bay Area contemporaries in this regard and provided the guitarist with ample opportunity for improvisational lead work.

Original CCR

The songs in this post come from the very limited Radioshow LP called "Retrorock" A radioshow is a show placed onto LP (or CD now) for use in radio stations. They play it on the radio and afterwards they (normally) must destroy the record. This concert recording is average quality and only very limited quantities exist. This radioshow had songs on it from the Fillmore West concert and songs live from Oakland, CA. January 31, 1970. The full radioshow is copied on this bootleg, without the commercials which are on every radioshow [extract from River Rising]

Although the cover artwork associated with this On Stage release indicates that the recordings were made at the Fillmore East, in March 1970, these recordings actually come from the final closing show at the Fillmore West, held on the 4th July, 1971. [ as reported at the Electric Bayou website]

Fillmore West

Fillmore West
One day after he closed New York's Fillmore East, promoter Bill Graham announced the lineup for the final week of San Francisco's Fillmore West. Graham would end three years of historic shows with five nights of music billed as "the bands that built the Fillmore." The final night, July 4, 1971, featured Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Tower of Power. Camera crews recorded the week's events for the documentary Last Days of the Fillmore.

In 1968, Graham moved from the original Fillmore Auditorium to the Carousel Ballroom, a former dance hall. Graham opened the venue as the Fillmore West on July 5, 1968.

The Sunday night finale was an invitation-only event that was broadcast live on KSAN and KSFX in quadraphonic FM. "This is going to be the greatest mother---ing evening of our lives," Graham promised as he opened the show. "And now, a bitch of a band from the East Bay – Tower of Power."

The funk-rock horn band was a tough act to follow but the audience was bowled over by surprise guests Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band, fronted by John Fogerty wearing a turquoise cowboy suit with matching boots, was now a trio. It was their first performance since Tom Fogerty quit back in January. The band opened with "Born on the Bayou" and the hour-long set of their hits ended with "Keep On Chooglin'."

The headliners of the evening were Santana, who took the stage just before 1AM. Santana's classic sextet was joined by guitarist Neil Schon and percussionist Coke Escovedo. The 90-minute set opened with "Incident at Neshabur" and included the hits "Black Magic Woman," Oye Como Va" and "Soul Sacrifice." The closing number was Miles Davis' "In a Silent Way."

Drummer Michael Shrieve explained that choice in the book Live at the Fillmore East and West. "We wanted to come off as a little more progressive, as we felt that it would represent us at the given time when the Fillmore closed. We were sort of transformed as a band and that's why we chose to do the Miles Davis tune … and have our kind of groove to it. That was really important to us."

The night ended as Van Morrison, Mike Bloomfield, Sam Andrew of Big Brother & the Holding Company, the Tower of Power horn section and others joined Santana for a jam session.

"The music was terrible (at one point Van Morrison insisted they all stop and try something else) but the show was great," wrote David Felton in Rolling Stone. "Graham and his staff pelted the audience with gifts – paper plates, beer, champagne and ice cubes. Sometime between 4 and 5AM, everyone gave up and went home. About 40 fans stuck around to shake hands with Graham, then left him to wander alone among the amps and debris."

"I'm closing the Fillmores for a combination of reasons," Graham told UPI. "They've been a 52-week a year operation and I'm tired of the anguish and lack of time for myself and for other activities as a result of having to work that way. You become a victim of your own creation. I want to get out of the grasp of the monster I created."

But Graham was soon back in the concert business, promoting huge outdoor concerts with performers that included Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band. Graham was killed in a helicopter crash on Oct. 25, 1991 while returning to his California home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert. [extract from Ultimate Classic Rock]
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This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from my CD 'On Stage' Bootleg and includes full artwork along with alternative covers for other bootleg releases for the same concert.
Note that the Back Tray song listing incorrectly states the title for Track 14 as "Up Around The Band" when in fact it should read "Up Around The Bend".  The quality of the recording is a little disappointing (6/10), however this famous recording belongs in everyone's collection as it represents an important part in the closing of the Fillmore West.

Alt Release

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Track Listing
01 Bad Moon Rising 1:59
02 Green River 3:01
03 Hey Tonight 2:17
04 Keep On Chooglin' 8:19
05 Proud Mary 2:40
06 Travelling Band 2:02
07 Commotion 2:25
08 Born On The Bayou 4:38
09 It Came Out Of The Sky 2:58
10 Lodi' 3:01
11 Who'll Stop The Rain 2:15
12 Fortunate Son 2:15
13 Down On The Corner 2:32
14 Up Around The Band 2:34

CCR band:
John Fogerty - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Stu Cook - Bass
Doug Clifford - Drums
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Creedence Clearwater Revival Link (100Mb) New Link 18/12/2023
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