The short-lived wonder of Creedence Clearwater Revival

Million-selling rock bands are rarely happy families. They are an uneasy combination of a creative alliance and a business partnership, which is frequently thrown together on an ad hoc basis by people barely out of their teens. They are tested to destruction by long hours, minimal sleep, deafening noise, international travel, a bedroom schedule that would have made Caligula blush and a seemingly unending cocktail of legal and illegal stimulants. As the old joke goes, there is also a downside.

This is the accepted pattern. But Creedence Clearwater Revival – who enjoyed a spectacular worldwide run of hits during the brief period between their first great success in 1969 and their 1971 implosion – did not conform to it, rehearsing every day, performing sober at shows and consisting of the same four people who first began playing together in 1958. The undisputed band leader, John Fogerty, who wrote and sang all their hits, was asked by Bob Dawbarn of Melody Maker in April 1970 how they had stayed together for so long when so many other bands split acrimoniously after a year or two.