Creedence Clearwater Revival

小簡介
Creedence Clearwater Revival(克里登斯清水復(fù)興合唱團(tuán)，簡稱CCR)，是20世紀(jì)60年代到70年代最受喜愛的一支超級搖滾樂隊。他們的音樂植根于美國南方的民間音樂，早年的歌曲帶有強(qiáng)烈的布魯斯色彩，對Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sea Level, Dixie Chicken, ZZ Top等樂隊有重要影響。
CCR的靈魂人物是John Fogerty，1959年,還是高中生的John與兩個朋友Doug Clifford和Stu Cook一起組建了名為The Blue Velvets（藍(lán)色絲絨）的樂隊并開始在學(xué)生舞會中演出。后來John Fogerty的堂兄Tom Fogerty加入樂隊，樂隊改名為Tom Fogerty and the Blue Velvets并錄制了一些單曲，逐漸有了些名氣。
1963年，樂隊簽約Fantasy唱片公司并改名為The Golliwogs（丑玩偶），但是唱片公司為迎合當(dāng)時披頭士帶來的英倫入侵熱潮（British Invasion），要求樂隊模仿英國樂隊的風(fēng)格。John在回憶那段日子時說：“The Golliwogs的每一首歌都顯得那么不自然，我總是要考慮公司的意見，我覺得像是被捆綁住了。”
1967年底，樂隊的機(jī)遇終于到了。Fantasy唱片公司易主，被John的好朋友，原公司的業(yè)務(wù)主任Saul Zaentz所收購。自此樂隊與公司簽訂了新的唱片合約并改名為“Creedence Clearwater Revival（克理登斯清水復(fù)興樂隊）”。對此解釋為：“Clearwater”符合當(dāng)時提倡“回歸自然”的社會潮流，“Revival（復(fù)興）”表示樂隊的決心和勇氣，而“Creedence”則是取自樂隊成員Tom一個朋友的教名。Saul告訴John，他要把樂隊培養(yǎng)成和The Grateful Dead一樣成功的樂隊。
1968年樂隊發(fā)行了第一張同名專輯《Creedence Clearwater Revival》, 專輯中一首改編自Dale Hawkins的經(jīng)典老歌《Suzie Q》為小伙子們奏響了成功的序曲。John將這首歌重新編曲，改編后全曲長達(dá)9分鐘，后半段近4分鐘的器樂演奏融入了舊金山當(dāng)?shù)負(fù)u滾樂的迷幻風(fēng)格，John賦予這首老歌新的生命。這首歌率先在KWBR電臺播出后，得到了當(dāng)?shù)谼J們的肯定，并將這首歌在加州的許多電臺音樂節(jié)目中播出，很快就傳遍了整個西海岸地區(qū)。樂隊的現(xiàn)場演出也人滿為患，俱樂部里擠滿了歌迷。這張專輯進(jìn)入了排行榜第52位，并取得了金唱片的銷量，不久又躥生到了第11位。樂隊在1969年先后發(fā)行了三張專輯，專輯的創(chuàng)作和制作的大部分工作都是John一個人完成的，他卓越的音樂天分和創(chuàng)作才華得到了充分的體現(xiàn)，也進(jìn)一步鞏固了他在樂隊的核心地位。樂隊第二張專輯《Bayou Country》剛發(fā)行不久就創(chuàng)下了百萬銷量，成為白金唱盤。這張融合了節(jié)奏布魯斯、鄉(xiāng)村搖滾、西海岸搖滾風(fēng)格的專輯了沖入排行榜的第7位，其中單曲《 Proud Mary 》位列單曲榜第2名。樂隊從第三張專輯《 Green River 》開始在音樂上逐漸擺脫了當(dāng)?shù)氐拿曰脫u滾樂的影響，John似乎對鄉(xiāng)村音樂、傳統(tǒng)布魯斯音樂等美國南部地區(qū)的音樂風(fēng)格情有獨鐘，這使得樂隊在當(dāng)?shù)兀ㄅf金山地區(qū)）顯得尤為不同，更像是一支南方樂隊，他們的音樂充滿了密西西比州的田園氣息?！?Green River 》同上一張專輯一樣取得了排行榜第7位的成績。
CCR在短短的一年時間里迅速走紅，1969年8月他們受邀參加了盛大的Woodstock音樂節(jié)。當(dāng)時他們可能還不敢相信，很多樂迷都是特意為看他們演出而來的，但是樂隊謝絕了在音樂節(jié)的記錄片中出現(xiàn)。年底樂隊延續(xù)他們的強(qiáng)勁勢頭，第四張專輯《Willy and the poor boys》排在專輯榜第3位并在歌詞方面有所突破。單曲《Down on the corner》和Fortunate Son 》樂隊第一次涉及了政治問題，表達(dá)了對越戰(zhàn)的不滿，這也順應(yīng)了當(dāng)時的反戰(zhàn)潮流，這兩首單曲分列單曲榜No.3、No.14。而在歌曲《It Came Out Of the Sky》中樂隊則公開抨擊了總統(tǒng)Richard Nixon。John 和他的伙伴們近十年的努力換來了現(xiàn)在的成績，但成功似乎來得太過突然，這時John與樂隊其他成員之間逐漸出現(xiàn)了一些分歧。在錄制單曲《Down on the corner》時樂隊其他成員就認(rèn)為這首歌根本就不是搖滾樂。
CCR在1970年4月份開始了第一次歐洲巡演。9月，樂隊在巡演結(jié)束后發(fā)行了被認(rèn)為最優(yōu)秀的一張專輯《Cosmo’s factory》，上市三周就取得了300萬張的白金銷量，該專輯成為了英、美兩地排行榜的雙料冠軍。其中單曲《Travelin’ band》和《Who will stop the rain》分別位列單曲榜NO.2和NO.13。樂隊此時已到達(dá)了事業(yè)的頂峰，隨著披頭士樂隊的解散CCR成為了當(dāng)時最為炙手可熱的明星樂隊之一。同年底樂隊又發(fā)行第6張專輯《Pendulum》同樣取得了白金銷量。盡管如此，樂隊成員的內(nèi)部關(guān)系卻急劇惡化。Tom并不想待在弟弟的光環(huán)下，因此一直悶悶不樂。而另一成員Stu也聽到了關(guān)于“他不過是John的累贅”之類的傳言，同時隊員們也因為收入的分配不公對John有所抱怨。樂隊在推出了《Have you ever seen the rain》和 《Hey Tonight》兩首單曲后，Tom Fogerty終于對外宣布離隊單飛的消息，理由是音樂理想不合，其實大家都知道Tom不甘心在樂隊中配角的位置。接下來，樂隊就以三人組合的形式展開貫穿全美、歐洲、新西蘭、澳洲及日本的巡回演出。
CCR的歌迷們?nèi)匀唤o予樂隊足夠的支持，漫長的全球巡演圓滿收場。樂隊開始了新專輯的籌備，實際上此前的6張專輯完全是由John一人負(fù)責(zé)創(chuàng)作并制作完成的，這時Stu和Doug都要求在新專輯中加入自己的作品并參與制作部分，他們認(rèn)為在樂隊里一直沒有得到足夠的尊重。于是1972年樂隊發(fā)行了他們的第7張專輯，專輯名字很耐人尋味 ——《Mardi Gras》（《狂歡節(jié)的最后一天》），這張樂隊史上最差的專輯也成為了CCR的最后一張專輯。最終，樂隊在完成了7月份的歐洲巡演后，于1972年10月16日正式對外宣布了解散的消息。
Tom Fogerty在離開樂隊后的個人事業(yè)很平淡，他曾經(jīng)加入過Jerry Garcia的個人樂隊，之后又組建了一支名位“Ruby”的樂隊并發(fā)行了三張專輯，1990年9月6日Tom Fogerty死于艾滋病。Stu Cook 和 Doug Clifford先后加入過“The Don Harrison Band”和“Southern Pacific”兩支樂隊。1995年，兩人聯(lián)合幾位樂手重組了CCR樂隊，他們在美國各地的演出中演唱CCR的老歌并發(fā)行過一張演唱會專輯。
樂隊的提前解散使之與公司簽定的唱片合約無法完成，因此作為CCR樂隊的經(jīng)理人John Fogerty陷入了與Fantasy唱片公司的合同糾紛中。直到80年代初John轉(zhuǎn)投Warner Brothers旗下后才再次迎來輝煌，憑借專輯《Blue Moon Swamp》獲得了第40界葛萊美最佳搖滾專輯。
1993年Creedence Clearwater Revival樂隊入選搖滾名人堂。
At a time when rock was evolving further and further away from the forces that had made the music possible in the first place, Creedence Clearwater Revival brought things back to their roots with their concise synthesis of rockabilly, swamp pop, R&B, and country. Though CCR was very much a group in their tight, punchy arrangements, their vision was very much singer, songwriter, guitarist, and leader John Fogerty's. Fogerty's classic compositions for Creedence both evoked enduring images of Americana and reflected burning social issues of the day. The band's genius was their ability to accomplish this with the economic, primal power of a classic rockabilly ensemble.
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, CA, a tiny suburb across the bay from San Francisco. By the mid-'60s, with a few hopelessly obscure recordings under their belt, they'd 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, primarily because Tom, not John, was doing most of the singing. The group only found themselves when John took firm reigns over the band's direction, singing and writing virtually all of their material.
On their first album as Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1968, the group played it both ways, offering extended, quasi-psychedelic workouts of the '50s classics "I Put a Spell on You" and "Suzie Q." The latter song became their first big hit, but the band didn't really bloom until "Proud Mary," a number-two single in early 1969 that demonstrated John's talent at tapping into Southern roots music and imagery with a natural ease. It was the start of a torrent of classic hits from the gritty, Little Richard-inspired singer over the next two years, including "Bad Moon Rising," "Green River," "Down on the Corner," "Travelin' Band," "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Up Around the Bend," and "Lookin' Out My Back Door."
Creedence also made good albums, but their true forte was as a singles band — their LPs contained some filler, both in the forms of average original material and straightforward covers of rock & roll chestnuts. When the Beatles broke up in early 1970, CCR was the only other act that provided any competition in the fine art of crafting bold, super-catchy artistic statements that soared to the upper reaches of the charts every three or four months. Although they hailed from the San Francisco area, they rarely succumbed to the psychedelic indulgences of the era. John Fogerty also proved adept at voicing the concerns of the working class in songs like "Fortunate Son," as well as partying with as much funk as any white rock band would muster on "Travelin' Band" and "Down on the Corner."
With John Fogerty holding such a strong upper hand, Creedence couldn't be said to have been a democratic unit, and Fogerty's dominance was to sow the seeds of the group's quick dissolution. Tom Fogerty left in 1971 (recording a few unremarkable solo albums of his own), reducing the band to a trio. John allowed drummer Doug Clifford and bassist Stu Cook equal shares of songwriting and vocal time on the group's final album, Mardi Gras (1972), which proved conclusively that Fogerty's songs and singing were necessary to raise CCR above journeyman status.
It was John Fogerty, of course, who produced the only notable work after the quartet broke up. Even his solo outings, though, were erratic and, for nearly ten years, nonexistent as he became embroiled in a web of business disputes with Fantasy Records. His 1984 album Centerfield proved he could still rock in the vintage Creedence mode when the spirit moved him, but Tom Fogerty's death in 1990 ended any hopes of a CCR reunion with the original members intact.