Original subtitles

in just three years credence clearwater

revival

led by singer john fogerty released a

slew of memorable rock and roll hits

behind the scenes however the band's

surge to the top was marred by

infighting and lawsuits this is the

tragic real-life story of ccr

creedence clearwater revival's famous

anti-war tuned fortunate sun

is sung from the perspective of a less

privileged youth

who cannot afford to evade the u.s draft

the song has become synonymous with the

era to the point of parody

songwriter john fogarty and drummer doug

clifford who formed a high school band

called the blue velvet along with john's

brother tom

and bassist stu cook lived this reality

when john and doug

were drafted bogerty knew that his draft

number was coming up

so he immediately signed on to the us

army reserves

where he worked as a supply clerk while

only on active duty for six

months fogarty traveled to fort bragg in

north carolina

underwent advanced individual training

at the quartermaster school in fort lee

virginia

and between those periods was stationed

at fort knox

despite living among fellow soldiers

fogarty told the military times that the

vietnam war was still

unpopular with his fellow countrymen

bogarty told the outlet

the war was very unpopular even with us

in the military

we weren't in love with that war nobody

really wanted to go fight in the jungle

fogerty's time in the military gave him

the perspective that eventually led him

to write many of his famous songs over

the rest of the decade

by 1968 as the war was still raging on

bogarde's and clifford's stints in the

army had concluded

by the time creedence clearwater revival

performed at woodstock in the summer of

1969

the band was at their zenith having just

released their third album

the critically acclaimed green river two

weeks prior

ccr came into woodstock as arguably the

top act

john fogerty had this to say about

walking onto the stage that night

by the time we got to woodstock i felt

we were the number one band

assuming that the beatles were god i

thought

that we were the next thing under them

however

as reported by the chicago tribune

fogarty was so disappointed in ccr's

performance that he refused to allow

their music to be part of the

documentary and live album released the

next year

the band's performance because of

technical difficulties and weather

delays

was pushed past midnight on sunday

august 17th

as ccr performed to the 500 000 strong

audience bogarty said the concert goers

were quote

all intertwined and asleep covered with

mud

in an interview with the la times

fogarty looked back on the festival and

partially blamed their performance on

the grateful dead playing too long

before

well we were promised at prime time on a

saturday night like nine o'clock

yeah uh what they didn't tell me is

you're gonna follow

the grateful dead live for live music

says

rain badly damaged the dead's equipment

and the band only played five

songs during their hour and a half set

whether it was the beatles in the 1960s

fleetwood mac in the 1970s

or guns and roses in the 1980s bands

tend to hit snags

once they've reached the top of the

mountain creedence clearwater revival

is only unique in this perspective in

terms of how much contempt the band

mates felt for each other

or to be honest toward their leader john

fogerty

following the release of their debut

album and the success of the single suzy

q

the band entered their first hollywood

studio to work on proud mary

fogarty told sweden's pop magazine that

during the session

the three other members became

interested in having more of a say in

the band's songwriting and recording

process

bogerty who aside from rehearsals and

live recordings

worked alone on the band's music sat

down at dinner with the band and plainly

told them that his direction could keep

them from returning to washing cars

despite being the youngest member of ccr

and the younger sibling to bandmate tom

fogerty

john was in charge and under his strong

and uncompromising leadership

the band was the hottest group in

america between 1969

and 1971. the group was a regular at

summer festivals

and on the pop charts however they were

also a ticking time bomb

with tom threatening multiple times to

leave because of john

despite overthrowing the beatles by 1969

as the highest selling band in the world

credence clearwater revival could not

sustain itself

john fogerty was described as an

autocrat by

uncut and even admitted later in life

that he held quote

maniacal control over the band per the

vh1 documentary legends

john fogerty and creedence clearwater

revival the group had reached a boiling

point by 1970.

doug clifford had this to say things

were getting very difficult in the

business arena

it was taking a toll on john it was

taking a toll on us because we weren't

involved in these meetings and we

weren't getting information back from

jon

a meeting was called on the eve of

recording their seventh album

and the three other members of ccr

demanded more say in the band

rising pressure within the band his

failing marriage to his wife martha

and the desire to remain on top of the

music scene eventually led john to

concede to their demands

as much as we hated each other it all

came back like we liked each other more

than anybody else

soon after the meeting that was supposed

to ease the tension between john and the

rest of the members of creedence

clearwater revival

the first shoe fell tom announced he was

leaving ccr

in january 1971. in an interview with

uncut

drummer doug clifford tom's closest ally

in the band

said of the anger between the two

brothers tom had put up with a lot of

stuff from john

he didn't want tom to succeed tom tried

to downplay his accent

saying it wasn't planned that there was

no bad blood

and that he needed to develop his own

talent doug and stew

now had more power in ccr with fewer

members and john loosening the reigns

still tom left the biggest band in the

world at their peak with tom gone

and the quartet down to a power trio it

was time for creedence clearwater

revival to return to the studio and bump

out another classic album

1972's mardi gras that was the plan at

least

with the continued tension and anger in

the band toward leader john fogarty the

three split the songwriting and singing

responsibilities between them

and ccr's seventh studio album became

their final

and most disappointing rolling stones

john landau even called mardi gras

the worst album released by a major rock

group

however the album was boosted to number

12 on the billboard album chart

thanks to the john fogerty penned tune

sweet hitchhiker

john only wrote three songs for the

album though and sang a cover

of ricky nelson's hello mary lou stu

cook

and doug clifford took the new freedom

fogerty gave them and penned and sang

their own songs

the album failed to generate the same

critical and commercial success as ccr's

previous efforts

songs by both stu cook and john fogerty

seem to describe their strained

relationship and the band's inevitable

demise

such as take it like a friend by cook

and looking for a reason by fogarty

according to the daily review fogarty

told john landau that he allowed the

members to sing their songs to

illustrate how much better he was by

comparison

unsurprisingly mardi gras was the last

straw for credence clearwater revival

and the group dissolved shortly after

however this wasn't the end of conflicts

between

ccr and john fogerty fogarty fought

everyone connected to ccr's music

and in the years after the band's

breakup that included the label that

owned the songs he wrote and sang

for decades bogarty refused to perform

his old ccr songs

blaming the bad deal he made with

fantasy records in his early days for

his boycott

per the deal fantasy had the exclusive

publishing rights to fogarty's music

fogarty and fantasy records head saul

zens grew to hate each other during and

after ccr

when the group broke up in 1972 saul

refused to let john out of his contract

something he did for the other members

until he fulfilled the agreement as a

result fogarty refused to work with

zentz

when zens sold off his interest in

fantasy records

fogarty returned to the label released

the album revival in 2007

and became more comfortable performing

his old songs again

tom and john fogerty's story

unfortunately does not have a happy

ending

after leaving creedence clearwater

revival tom firmly put himself in saul

sense's camp

in john's legal battles against saul and

fantasy records

john said he attempted to mend fences

with his brother for the sake of their

mother

the pair talked on the phone and agreed

to write down the grievances they had

with each other

so they could work them out however

after jon accused his brother of suing

him

and tom denied it the pair split again

tom had filed suit against john in 1978

though tom dropped the suit five years

later tragically

in the 1980s tom went to the hospital

for back surgery

he received a blood transfusion and

became infected with the hiv

virus from tainted blood i love classic

rock reports that the pair never

reconciled before tom's death

leaving john to move forward regretting

his fallout with his brother

john had this to say about forgiving his

brother at some point i made a point to

myself

of forgiving my brother i just felt like

i had to do that because he wasn't

around for me to get to work it out with

him

the only positive aspect of credence

clearwater revival's rock and roll hall

of fame induction ceremony was that it

didn't turn into a riot

aside from that the ceremony was racked

with bitter emotions between the three

surviving members

following the presentation given by

bruce springsteen and speeches from the

three living members

a reunion performance was expected but

john fogerty refused to share

the stage with stu cook and doug

clifford and instead gave a performance

with a band of other rock musicians

leaving two ccr members to watch others

play their songs

the reason for the snub was fogarty's

bitterness over the continued lawsuits

against him by fantasy

which the two surviving members had a

role in in his autobiography

fogarty wrote about the bad blood

between himself and clifford that led to

the difficult induction ceremony

in 1985 fogarty released a song called

the old man down the road

saul zentz ultimately sued fogarty over

the song because it sounded too similar

to the ccr tune

run through the jungle which was also

written by fogerty

i've written a new song and they want to

contend that the new song

plagiarizes their song writing in his

autobiography

fogarty revealed that his lawyers had

asked saul zens

why he sued john for the old man down

the road and zentz told him that

clifford had played the song in his

office

and pushed the record executive to sue

bogarty felt betrayed

and after learning of ccr's induction he

originally didn't even want to stand

next to his former bandmates

while a true credence clearwater revival

reunion is impossible without tom

fogerty

there have still been rumors and hopes

that the three surviving members will

put aside their differences and perform

under the ccr name this has largely been

wishful thinking

as the band remains extremely angry at

each other

in 1995 following the rock and roll hall

of fame snub

doug clifford and stu cook began touring

as credence clearwater revisited

the group announced their retirement

following their 2019 tour

which irked john fogerty as the

announcement came right at the beginning

of his residency in las vegas

fogarty had sued the duo in the past

challenging the use of a similar name to

the original band

and forcing them to change it until an

appellate court ruled in their favor

in 2014 the two members and the estate

of tom fogarty

sued john for trademark infringement

over a series of

album length performance concerts

bogarde countersued

so while it seems that ccr's days of

performing are long over

their short time in the spotlight left

the world a collection of classic rock

anthems

and an even bigger collection of messy

lawsuits and broken relationships

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