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A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival
The definitive biography of Creedence Clearwater Revival, exploring the band's legendary rise to fame and how their music embodied the cultural landscape of the late '60s and early '70s
From 1969 to 1971, as the United States convulsed with political upheaval and transformative social movements, no band was bigger than Creedence Clearwater Revival. They managed a two-year barrage of top-10 singles and LPs that doubled as an ubiquitous soundtrack to one of the most volatile periods in modern American history, and they remain a staple of classic rock radio and films about the era. Yet despite their enduring popularity, no book has ever sought to understand Creedence in conversation with their time.
A Song for Everyone finally tells that the thirteen-year saga of an unassuming suburban quartet's journey through the wilds of 1960s pop, and their slow accrual of a sound and ethos that were almost mystically aligned with the concerns of decade's end. Starting in middle school, these Californian friends and brothers cut a working-class path through the most expansive decade in American music, playing R&B, country, and rock 'n' roll under a variety of names as each of those genres expanded and evolved. When they finally synthesized those styles under a new name in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival became instantly epochal, then fell apart under the weight of personal grievances that dated back to adolescence. As musicians and as men, they embodied the contradictions and difficulties of their time, and those dimensions of their career have never been explored until now.
Drawing on wide-ranging research into the social and musical developments of 1959-1972, extensive original interviews with surviving Creedence members and associates, and unpublished memoirs from people who knew the group closely, A Song for Everyone is the definitive account of a legendary and still-beloved American band. At the same time, it is also a cultural history of those same years—from Elvis to Altamont, Eisenhower to Watergate—seen through the eyes of four men who encapsulated them in song for all time, told by one of the rising figures in contemporary music writing.
From 1969 to 1971, as the United States convulsed with political upheaval and transformative social movements, no band was bigger than Creedence Clearwater Revival. They managed a two-year barrage of top-10 singles and LPs that doubled as an ubiquitous soundtrack to one of the most volatile periods in modern American history, and they remain a staple of classic rock radio and films about the era. Yet despite their enduring popularity, no book has ever sought to understand Creedence in conversation with their time.
A Song for Everyone finally tells that the thirteen-year saga of an unassuming suburban quartet's journey through the wilds of 1960s pop, and their slow accrual of a sound and ethos that were almost mystically aligned with the concerns of decade's end. Starting in middle school, these Californian friends and brothers cut a working-class path through the most expansive decade in American music, playing R&B, country, and rock 'n' roll under a variety of names as each of those genres expanded and evolved. When they finally synthesized those styles under a new name in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival became instantly epochal, then fell apart under the weight of personal grievances that dated back to adolescence. As musicians and as men, they embodied the contradictions and difficulties of their time, and those dimensions of their career have never been explored until now.
Drawing on wide-ranging research into the social and musical developments of 1959-1972, extensive original interviews with surviving Creedence members and associates, and unpublished memoirs from people who knew the group closely, A Song for Everyone is the definitive account of a legendary and still-beloved American band. At the same time, it is also a cultural history of those same years—from Elvis to Altamont, Eisenhower to Watergate—seen through the eyes of four men who encapsulated them in song for all time, told by one of the rising figures in contemporary music writing.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published August 9, 2022
23 people are currently reading
2208 people want to read
About the author
John Lingan
4 books39 followersI'm a writer and author who lives in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. I have written for The New York Times Magazine, The Oxford American, Washington Post, The Ringer, Pitchfork, and many other publications.
In 2022 my book "A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival" was published by Hachette Books. It's a biography of a great American rock band, from their inception as junior high students in 1958 through their enormous global fame in the late 1960s and their stunning, sudden dissolution in 1972. Based on interview with band members and compatriots, as well as unpublished and rare memoirs from their inner circle, it has been praised in the New Yorker and Wall St. Journal among other places.
My first book, "Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk," was published in 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It tells the story of Joltin' Jim McCoy, a country music impresario from West Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, and the relationship between his work and his community, which included a pre-fame Patsy Cline.
In 2022 my book "A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival" was published by Hachette Books. It's a biography of a great American rock band, from their inception as junior high students in 1958 through their enormous global fame in the late 1960s and their stunning, sudden dissolution in 1972. Based on interview with band members and compatriots, as well as unpublished and rare memoirs from their inner circle, it has been praised in the New Yorker and Wall St. Journal among other places.
My first book, "Homeplace: A Southern Town, a Country Legend, and the Last Days of a Mountaintop Honky-Tonk," was published in 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It tells the story of Joltin' Jim McCoy, a country music impresario from West Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, and the relationship between his work and his community, which included a pre-fame Patsy Cline.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 19, 2022
3.5 Stars
As a child of the sixties and seventies I was drawn to read this book about the rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival, "CCR" for short. I'm pretty sure I have a greatest hits LP in storage from decades ago! Sometimes you forget just how many infectious hits they had on the radio that defined its cultural era. Well here are a bunch of them:
Susie Q
Proud Mary
Bad Moon Rising
Green River
Down On the Corner
Travelin' Band
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Up Around the Bend
The last two are my favorites. My son has an indie band but they also do covers and currently perform 3 songs out of the list above. The lead guitarist is a huge John Fogerty fan and keeps bringing his songs in to cover, which has also piqued my interest in CCR. I love to read rock biographies so when I saw this new biographical offering I seized upon it. CCR was comprised of John Fogerty on lead guitar, his older brother Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, Stu Cook on bass guitar and Doug Clifford on drums. Tom passed away in 1990, but Stu and Doug consented to be interviewed for this book, while John declined. The author utilized various John Fogerty interviews published over the years as well as information culled from John Fogerty's own autobiography "Fortunate Son" to flesh out the book.
The book began with the band members meeting each other in a school environment in El Cerrito, California. They came from different economic, religious and familial backgrounds, but stood firmly united in their love of music. Their tastes were rooted in soulful, black music. I thought about my trip to Memphis in 2019 when I visited Stax Records with my family, because this historical gem had a huge impact on CCR. They loved Booker T and the MGs who recorded an infectious, pulsating instrumental tune there called "Green Onions" (my son's band performs that song also!). I loved reading about the ingenuity of Doug cobbling together a homemade drum set because he couldn't afford to buy one. The Fogerty brothers were an interesting pair because Tom was the older brother who already had a little experience with other bands in the recording studio. He also had a naturally great singing voice that people took notice of. At first they were happy to have Tom sit in on gigs and handle the singing. But, at a certain point John Fogerty took over not just ALL the singing but the writing and management of the band as well. He sounded like a control freak, but you couldn't argue that his efforts culminated in hit after hit. His business deals for the band didn't fare as well, where they lost millions and ownership of their songs. John Fogerty also had a ridiculous rule about never performing an encore. This caused a lot of heated resentment with band members who would have been quite happy to perform these encores for lingering fans. One time they performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and some Beatles and Eric Clapton were present. They wanted to go backstage after the gig, but because the fans were fired up and calling out for an encore, they had to stay put.
The time period covered is from the band's youth and meeting each other until the band's demise. After years of threatening to do so, Tom finally left the band. He and the other band members felt so stifled by John's total control of the content, from insisting on recording all the vocals (including any harmonies) and writing all the music. After Tom left they continued on for awhile as just a threesome, and ironically enough, John Fogerty finally allowed more involvement with writing and singing. But it seemed they lost the high standards / quality output from the original lineup. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, where to Doug and Stu's surprise (and simmering anger) John performed with other famous band members like Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson of The Band- instead of them.
The writing style was fine, but I think this band as far as people were just kind of boring to read about. The author also included what was going on at the time as far as the Vietnam War, protests, and the political climate. I didn't enjoy those passages as much, but they informed John Fogerty's writing. John Fogerty wasn't such a likeable character to me, so perhaps that put me off a bit. Overall, this was a quality book and I'm glad I learned something more in the rock realm of my nostalgia.
Thank you to the publisher Hachette Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
As a child of the sixties and seventies I was drawn to read this book about the rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival, "CCR" for short. I'm pretty sure I have a greatest hits LP in storage from decades ago! Sometimes you forget just how many infectious hits they had on the radio that defined its cultural era. Well here are a bunch of them:
Susie Q
Proud Mary
Bad Moon Rising
Green River
Down On the Corner
Travelin' Band
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Up Around the Bend
The last two are my favorites. My son has an indie band but they also do covers and currently perform 3 songs out of the list above. The lead guitarist is a huge John Fogerty fan and keeps bringing his songs in to cover, which has also piqued my interest in CCR. I love to read rock biographies so when I saw this new biographical offering I seized upon it. CCR was comprised of John Fogerty on lead guitar, his older brother Tom Fogerty on rhythm guitar, Stu Cook on bass guitar and Doug Clifford on drums. Tom passed away in 1990, but Stu and Doug consented to be interviewed for this book, while John declined. The author utilized various John Fogerty interviews published over the years as well as information culled from John Fogerty's own autobiography "Fortunate Son" to flesh out the book.
The book began with the band members meeting each other in a school environment in El Cerrito, California. They came from different economic, religious and familial backgrounds, but stood firmly united in their love of music. Their tastes were rooted in soulful, black music. I thought about my trip to Memphis in 2019 when I visited Stax Records with my family, because this historical gem had a huge impact on CCR. They loved Booker T and the MGs who recorded an infectious, pulsating instrumental tune there called "Green Onions" (my son's band performs that song also!). I loved reading about the ingenuity of Doug cobbling together a homemade drum set because he couldn't afford to buy one. The Fogerty brothers were an interesting pair because Tom was the older brother who already had a little experience with other bands in the recording studio. He also had a naturally great singing voice that people took notice of. At first they were happy to have Tom sit in on gigs and handle the singing. But, at a certain point John Fogerty took over not just ALL the singing but the writing and management of the band as well. He sounded like a control freak, but you couldn't argue that his efforts culminated in hit after hit. His business deals for the band didn't fare as well, where they lost millions and ownership of their songs. John Fogerty also had a ridiculous rule about never performing an encore. This caused a lot of heated resentment with band members who would have been quite happy to perform these encores for lingering fans. One time they performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and some Beatles and Eric Clapton were present. They wanted to go backstage after the gig, but because the fans were fired up and calling out for an encore, they had to stay put.
The time period covered is from the band's youth and meeting each other until the band's demise. After years of threatening to do so, Tom finally left the band. He and the other band members felt so stifled by John's total control of the content, from insisting on recording all the vocals (including any harmonies) and writing all the music. After Tom left they continued on for awhile as just a threesome, and ironically enough, John Fogerty finally allowed more involvement with writing and singing. But it seemed they lost the high standards / quality output from the original lineup. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, where to Doug and Stu's surprise (and simmering anger) John performed with other famous band members like Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson of The Band- instead of them.
The writing style was fine, but I think this band as far as people were just kind of boring to read about. The author also included what was going on at the time as far as the Vietnam War, protests, and the political climate. I didn't enjoy those passages as much, but they informed John Fogerty's writing. John Fogerty wasn't such a likeable character to me, so perhaps that put me off a bit. Overall, this was a quality book and I'm glad I learned something more in the rock realm of my nostalgia.
Thank you to the publisher Hachette Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
November 30, 2024
"[Creedence Clearwater Revival] had played for sock hoppers during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They entertained UC Berkeley's drunkest during the Free Speech Movement. They played for older teenagers flying out to war. They stayed up all night at Woodstock with a half a million people who believed they could building a better world than the one they had inherited, if only for a weekend. CCR were not strangers to the task of making people dance while the walls burned around them." -- on page 223
Creedence Clearwater Revival is an interesting rock 'n roll outfit. Comprised of a quartet of northern California working-/middle-class guys from the 'war baby' (the 1941-1945 birth years) generation, they toiled for nearly a decade before becoming that 'only in America overnight success' with a brief but decent five-year (1968-1972) stretch in the American pop-cultural consciousness. Their unique brand of 'swamp rock' yielded six songs - 'Proud Mary,' 'Bad Moon Rising,' 'Green River,' 'Travelin' Band,' 'Who'll Stop the Rain?,' and ''Lookin' Out My Back Door' - to reach #2 on the U.S. charts, plus a host of others that still receive heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations and/or usage on film soundtracks. (Can we imagine a world without 'Born on the Bayou' or 'Fortunate Son'? I don't want to!) But does this make for a good book? Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed by author Lingan's A Song for Everyone. It's apparent that singing/songwriting front man John Fogerty was not involved in this project (no new or direct interviews), and the author's repeated and tiresome political views were a little divisive, if not downright bordering on contempt for institutions such as police, military, and state / federal government. I think THAT was a stumbling block - he even points out in his narrative that CCR was a rare group, then and now, to amazingly reach across political / sociological / generational divides with their music - as not all of the potential readers are simply just former hippies from the era. I suppose it's possible the author flexed said opinions because the straight-laced group itself did not have ANY sort of scandalous reputation and/or activity, otherwise having a good work ethic and churning out agreeable music for the masses. If nothing else, I was at least inspired to break out my two-volume CD copies of Chronicle for a few hours of listening enjoyment.
Creedence Clearwater Revival is an interesting rock 'n roll outfit. Comprised of a quartet of northern California working-/middle-class guys from the 'war baby' (the 1941-1945 birth years) generation, they toiled for nearly a decade before becoming that 'only in America overnight success' with a brief but decent five-year (1968-1972) stretch in the American pop-cultural consciousness. Their unique brand of 'swamp rock' yielded six songs - 'Proud Mary,' 'Bad Moon Rising,' 'Green River,' 'Travelin' Band,' 'Who'll Stop the Rain?,' and ''Lookin' Out My Back Door' - to reach #2 on the U.S. charts, plus a host of others that still receive heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations and/or usage on film soundtracks. (Can we imagine a world without 'Born on the Bayou' or 'Fortunate Son'? I don't want to!) But does this make for a good book? Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed by author Lingan's A Song for Everyone. It's apparent that singing/songwriting front man John Fogerty was not involved in this project (no new or direct interviews), and the author's repeated and tiresome political views were a little divisive, if not downright bordering on contempt for institutions such as police, military, and state / federal government. I think THAT was a stumbling block - he even points out in his narrative that CCR was a rare group, then and now, to amazingly reach across political / sociological / generational divides with their music - as not all of the potential readers are simply just former hippies from the era. I suppose it's possible the author flexed said opinions because the straight-laced group itself did not have ANY sort of scandalous reputation and/or activity, otherwise having a good work ethic and churning out agreeable music for the masses. If nothing else, I was at least inspired to break out my two-volume CD copies of Chronicle for a few hours of listening enjoyment.
October 7, 2022
I'm in a tricky position with this one since my oral history of CCR is one of the basic sources (fully acknowledged and with my approval.). I like the way Lingan puts the story in historical context and he's got a bit of detail neither I nor Hank Bordowitze (Bad Moon Rising) located, but the contours of the story are what they are. There are some minor, but intrusive details of historical fact (the racial identity of the murdered civil rights workers, the timing of some of the movements) that an editor should have spotted. But it's a good enough read and if it brings readers back, or introduces them to, the music, it's done it's job.
May 9, 2022
“A Song for Everyone” is a biography about the 1960s American rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival. Like most people, I can name at least 5 of their songs, yet I knew nothing at all about them and their story.
The author spoke with two of the band’s surviving members, which means the book has a lot of interesting details that many music biographies lack. If you hate dry non-fiction, fear not. The author’s writing style is engaging and never drags. I also liked that the book includes a lot of 1960s history for context.
The author spoke with two of the band’s surviving members, which means the book has a lot of interesting details that many music biographies lack. If you hate dry non-fiction, fear not. The author’s writing style is engaging and never drags. I also liked that the book includes a lot of 1960s history for context.
September 20, 2022
While the book includes some interesting details about the earliest days of the band before they became Creedence Clearwater Revival, overall the book just scratches the surface of what should’ve been a much more interesting story. Important details around the business dealings of the band and their infamously horrible deal with the record label are glossed over or omitted entirely. The author attempts to supplement the band’s history by wrapping it up with political events and social movements of the time but that amounts to little more than a high school history class version of the era. I went into this wanting to love the book but it came up short. The fact that John Fogerty would not cooperate in the research and creation of this book obviously was a hindrance.
October 1, 2022
*Rounding up from 3.5 stars*
This biography carves out plenty of space to place CCR within the specific time during which the band was making hits. It also doesn't shy away from the issues amongst the bandmates and how many of them stemmed from John Fogerty's strict control of the music. I have greatly enjoyed listening to their albums along with the book and maintain that Chronicle is one of the greatest greatest hits collections out there.
This biography carves out plenty of space to place CCR within the specific time during which the band was making hits. It also doesn't shy away from the issues amongst the bandmates and how many of them stemmed from John Fogerty's strict control of the music. I have greatly enjoyed listening to their albums along with the book and maintain that Chronicle is one of the greatest greatest hits collections out there.
August 23, 2022
I expected that a new book billed as the 'definitive biography' of Creedence Clearwater Revival would include more and better information found in previous group biographies (e.g., "Bad Moon Rising," "Up Around the Bend"), particularly about aspects such as the interpersonal relationships between the CCR members and their multitudinous legal wrangles. Instead, I found a rather superficial work that added little or nothing new to the story and instead substituted lengthy (often uninteresting) passages about the zeitgeist of CCR's formative years. It was also quite obvious the author had obtained input from Doug and Stu but none whatsoever from either of the Fogerty brothers. Obviously Tom is unavailable to anyone (having died 30+ years ago), but how can one claim to write a 'definitive biography' of CCR with no input whatsoever from John Fogerty? I would stick with "Bad Moon Rising" and/or "Up Around the Bend," both of which are far superior histories of CCR.
August 21, 2022
the banality of the creedence lore/fame/flameout is exquisite and poignant. they are simultaneously just some guys and also all of us everywhere. truly if you do not like credence (sic) you do not like chooglin, taking a dump with no shirt on, punching your old man, etc. as a meme once said. really solid culture writing that does more than you expect while also not doing anything unnecessary. kinda like creedence
September 24, 2022
Loved this well-researched and entertainingly written biography of Sixties R&B band Creedence Clearwater Revival. While I of course knew most of their songs (play them, you will realize you do too, no matter your age) I really knew nothing else about them. This is the perfect type of music biography- focuses on the music without overdoing it (though occasionally we get a couple of pages breaking down a song) and not on scandal, gossip, and personal lives. It was astonishing to learn that the band's long string of classic hit songs came in a short 4 year period when its frontman John Fogerty, still only in his early 20s, wrote all of them in a blue streak of inspiration. It's a shame that his desperate need for control meant he quickly alienated the rest of the band (including his own brother, who died tragically young), but who knows if we would have this music if he hadn't insisted on doing everything himself (including backing vocals when his brother was the original singer of the band). The book also follows the band in context with the turbulent (understatement) sixties when young men were being shoveled into their premature deaths in Vietnam.
There was one portion of the book that left me confused and that was a detour into Vietnam with a young soldier named Stu. As there is a Stu in CCR, I kept thinking it was THAT Stu, however, it was pretty clear that while their music became the soundtrack for the war, none of them fought in it. Maybe I missed something but I wasn't sure why this person's experience was in the book - and felt there should have been made more clear that this person wasn't CCR's Stu.
If you're a CCR fan or just a fan of music, history, the sixties, etc, pick up this book.
NOTE: I wrote this review without knowing any history of CCR. I've since watched several interviews with John Fogarty and also realized this book was written in cooperation from the other remaining two members of the band. I had no idea that, according to Fogarty, the other members never even wrote one riff to a song. I'm not saying their particular talents didn't contribute but it's become much, much more clear to me how little the other members contributed, yet then wanted to have equal say and pay. It's also become clear the other two did not have much songwriting talent as proven by the fact that they went on to have no solo careers, while JF had a very successful one.
There was one portion of the book that left me confused and that was a detour into Vietnam with a young soldier named Stu. As there is a Stu in CCR, I kept thinking it was THAT Stu, however, it was pretty clear that while their music became the soundtrack for the war, none of them fought in it. Maybe I missed something but I wasn't sure why this person's experience was in the book - and felt there should have been made more clear that this person wasn't CCR's Stu.
If you're a CCR fan or just a fan of music, history, the sixties, etc, pick up this book.
NOTE: I wrote this review without knowing any history of CCR. I've since watched several interviews with John Fogarty and also realized this book was written in cooperation from the other remaining two members of the band. I had no idea that, according to Fogarty, the other members never even wrote one riff to a song. I'm not saying their particular talents didn't contribute but it's become much, much more clear to me how little the other members contributed, yet then wanted to have equal say and pay. It's also become clear the other two did not have much songwriting talent as proven by the fact that they went on to have no solo careers, while JF had a very successful one.
August 26, 2022
Creedence Clearwater Revival was the sort of "overnight sensation" that actually had an epic history long before they became superstars at the twilight end of the Sixties, storming onto the charts with instantly lovable songs that spoke to everyone no matter what their political hang-ups. Beginning as a group of friends coming together at the end of the Fifties and then bringing in an older sibling of one band member, they struggled under different names and gimmicks to find a toe-hold on the charts during the immediate aftermath of the British Invasion. That CCR became a huge band was not really a given; that they imploded almost as soon as they had risen to the top was predictable, if the stories in this book are to be believed. And considering which side of the divide they're coming from, I'd proceed with caution.
Full disclosure: I think John Fogerty is a jerk, a supremely talented jerk but a jerk nonetheless. I first learned about how he treated his former bandmates many years ago, and it colored my appreciation for the work of CCR, I have to be honest. I know no band is a true democracy, but CCR was, by all accounts, a dictatorship, with John imposing his will on Stu Cook, Doug Clifford, and John's older brother Tom. When Tom was dying of AIDS-related illnesses in 1990, John didn't visit. And when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John refused to do the customary "reunion" performance of bands reconvening after years apart, opting instead to play with legends onstage while Doug and Stu had to look on from the wings. The guy just oozed asshole-ness, as far as I was concerned. But there are two sides to every story, and "A Song for Everyone" by John Lingan does a pretty good job of trying to be fair and balanced (though there is a lot of input from Cook and Clifford, with John being unwilling to be interviewed and thus leaving Lingan to rely on other interviews and Fogerty's memoir).
"A Song for Everyone" gets something essentially right about the story of CCR, and that is how the music came to such prominence at a moment when the country was coming apart. The band, growing up across the bay from San Francisco, were never of the psychedelic scene, but they weren't opposed to the politics of the left, either. CCR may have never let their freak flag fly, but they did speak for the working man and the ways in which the poor were mere play-things of the rich to be disposed of willy-nilly (especially when it came to the unfair draft laws of the Vietnam era). "Fortunate Son" was born of that anger, and John and the band, as highlighted throughout the book, were never shy about speaking up when they felt the urge to. But the band was essentially John's vehicle, for in order to achieve the success that all four men craved, he took on the role of leader, manager, songwriter, producer, and vocalist (he sang all parts on the recordings, at least). This did not go over well with the others, but once the results of John's dictatorship began to add up to fame and success, Doug and Stu went along for the ride and Tom pledged loyalty to his brother above all else (he had been the band's original vocalist when they all came together in the early Sixties).
"A Song for Everyone" does a pretty good job of highlighting the society that was changing around CCR as they began their climb to the top, with the Vietnam War of course but also the Civil Rights Movement, new-wave feminism, rock culture and its dependence on substance abuse, and the machinations of their record label to get the most profit out of the group without necessarily sharing the wealth with CCR. While I occasionally wondered if the version of events rendered by Doug or Stu's perspective was the correct one, I think the book as a whole is probably the most complete look at the way that CCR, for a brief moment, had the spotlight all to themselves and why it all went awry so soon after they became household names. CCR are still huge, of course, a profound influence on countless artists and a legacy band of the era that can still be used as aural shorthand for what "the Sixties" were like. And this book gives them the retrospective that they deserve, a great look at their era and their rise and fall that contains elements of tragedy, hubris, and dissension as well as some of the best music ever made in so short a span of time.
Full disclosure: I think John Fogerty is a jerk, a supremely talented jerk but a jerk nonetheless. I first learned about how he treated his former bandmates many years ago, and it colored my appreciation for the work of CCR, I have to be honest. I know no band is a true democracy, but CCR was, by all accounts, a dictatorship, with John imposing his will on Stu Cook, Doug Clifford, and John's older brother Tom. When Tom was dying of AIDS-related illnesses in 1990, John didn't visit. And when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John refused to do the customary "reunion" performance of bands reconvening after years apart, opting instead to play with legends onstage while Doug and Stu had to look on from the wings. The guy just oozed asshole-ness, as far as I was concerned. But there are two sides to every story, and "A Song for Everyone" by John Lingan does a pretty good job of trying to be fair and balanced (though there is a lot of input from Cook and Clifford, with John being unwilling to be interviewed and thus leaving Lingan to rely on other interviews and Fogerty's memoir).
"A Song for Everyone" gets something essentially right about the story of CCR, and that is how the music came to such prominence at a moment when the country was coming apart. The band, growing up across the bay from San Francisco, were never of the psychedelic scene, but they weren't opposed to the politics of the left, either. CCR may have never let their freak flag fly, but they did speak for the working man and the ways in which the poor were mere play-things of the rich to be disposed of willy-nilly (especially when it came to the unfair draft laws of the Vietnam era). "Fortunate Son" was born of that anger, and John and the band, as highlighted throughout the book, were never shy about speaking up when they felt the urge to. But the band was essentially John's vehicle, for in order to achieve the success that all four men craved, he took on the role of leader, manager, songwriter, producer, and vocalist (he sang all parts on the recordings, at least). This did not go over well with the others, but once the results of John's dictatorship began to add up to fame and success, Doug and Stu went along for the ride and Tom pledged loyalty to his brother above all else (he had been the band's original vocalist when they all came together in the early Sixties).
"A Song for Everyone" does a pretty good job of highlighting the society that was changing around CCR as they began their climb to the top, with the Vietnam War of course but also the Civil Rights Movement, new-wave feminism, rock culture and its dependence on substance abuse, and the machinations of their record label to get the most profit out of the group without necessarily sharing the wealth with CCR. While I occasionally wondered if the version of events rendered by Doug or Stu's perspective was the correct one, I think the book as a whole is probably the most complete look at the way that CCR, for a brief moment, had the spotlight all to themselves and why it all went awry so soon after they became household names. CCR are still huge, of course, a profound influence on countless artists and a legacy band of the era that can still be used as aural shorthand for what "the Sixties" were like. And this book gives them the retrospective that they deserve, a great look at their era and their rise and fall that contains elements of tragedy, hubris, and dissension as well as some of the best music ever made in so short a span of time.
August 2, 2022
A Song For Everyone: The Story Of Creedence Clearwater Revival (2022) by John Lingan. I’ve managed to read a large assortment of books by or about rock stars or their bands. All have left me with both a greater insight as to the workings of the band, and a fog of insight as to the actual people involved in the bands. This is a well written, well researched book that leaves me with only a few things to take away.
First and foremost, CCR never was and never will be from the swamps of America’s south lands. They came together as four teens living outside San Francisco. It seems the swamper affectation came about due to John’s writing and his singing style. After all, they sounded like one teen’s idea of what a swamp band might sound like, especially if you didn’t listen to country music and have the opportunity to hear the real thing.
Second is that the music wasn’t new, it was a throwback to the 50’s and 60’s sound coming from the studios of Stax, Sun, Motown and many other studios, translating that sound through a suburban white mind. The were not stealing the sound or the concepts, merely transforming them into something more homogenous for a hoped for audience.
Then comes the niche they found for themselves. They were industrious young men who spent far more time honing their craft than going to parties. It seems, when they did go to parties, they were the entertainment and they acted like hired workers. Show up on time, be prepared, play their agreed to set, and leave. They might have drinks after the show, but not before or during.
The fourth thing, but probably the greatest thing, was John’s abilities. A master writer, producer, singer, player of multiple instruments, it seemed like he knew no boundaries John was unstoppable on stage or off. From being asked to join the original members to taking complete control, he was responsible for the rise of CCR.
But that was also the worst thing. John’s need to do it all managed to cut out and ostracize his band mates. They could add nothing to the recordings and only managed to get into the act when they were on-stage. But it didn’t stop there. John dealt with all aspects of the band’s touring and booking. But the worst was in his need to deal with the record company, Fantasy, And by Fantasy we are talking Saul Zaentz. John Fogerty has been ranting on about his relationship with Zaentz for decades, but John only need look to the mirror to see who is at fault. If John had managed to reign in his ego long enough to ask Stu Cook’s father, a well respected West Coast lawyer, to either step in or refer the boys to another lawyer, everyone would probably have been far happier. It is a sign that when you go in to contract negotiations and come out worse then you were, you should have gone to a professional.
All he had to do was ask Stu to talk to his father.
This book does not harp on any of these things, merely points to them in passing. This is the story of a band that shot to the top, had a long list of hit singles that still populate the Rock airwaves and crop up in film after film, and then fell apart. There are many to blame for this, but instead of dwelling on that, Mr. Lingan paints the backdrop to this combo’s story. San Francisco during the rising of the hippies and drop-outs. Psychedelia in all its many forms, from music to clothing to drugs and attitudes about the world. Riots and sit-in, protests both peaceful and violent, Vietnam and horrible politicians. Somehow CCR managed to sound like they were involved with it all yet stayed aloof from what was happening all around them. After all, their music was rehashed sounds and feelings set to a guttural growl and a bashing percussion sound, a sound that managed to speak to all strata of people about the world and music that allowed the average person to feel that CCR was speaking for them..
Their songs will last long after they are gone.
One or two more things to add. John Fogerty, although he was asked, did not allow himself to be interviewed for this book, while Doug Clifford and Stu Cook did. Tom Fogerty had passed on in 1990.
His brother John did not see him in the hospital.
First and foremost, CCR never was and never will be from the swamps of America’s south lands. They came together as four teens living outside San Francisco. It seems the swamper affectation came about due to John’s writing and his singing style. After all, they sounded like one teen’s idea of what a swamp band might sound like, especially if you didn’t listen to country music and have the opportunity to hear the real thing.
Second is that the music wasn’t new, it was a throwback to the 50’s and 60’s sound coming from the studios of Stax, Sun, Motown and many other studios, translating that sound through a suburban white mind. The were not stealing the sound or the concepts, merely transforming them into something more homogenous for a hoped for audience.
Then comes the niche they found for themselves. They were industrious young men who spent far more time honing their craft than going to parties. It seems, when they did go to parties, they were the entertainment and they acted like hired workers. Show up on time, be prepared, play their agreed to set, and leave. They might have drinks after the show, but not before or during.
The fourth thing, but probably the greatest thing, was John’s abilities. A master writer, producer, singer, player of multiple instruments, it seemed like he knew no boundaries John was unstoppable on stage or off. From being asked to join the original members to taking complete control, he was responsible for the rise of CCR.
But that was also the worst thing. John’s need to do it all managed to cut out and ostracize his band mates. They could add nothing to the recordings and only managed to get into the act when they were on-stage. But it didn’t stop there. John dealt with all aspects of the band’s touring and booking. But the worst was in his need to deal with the record company, Fantasy, And by Fantasy we are talking Saul Zaentz. John Fogerty has been ranting on about his relationship with Zaentz for decades, but John only need look to the mirror to see who is at fault. If John had managed to reign in his ego long enough to ask Stu Cook’s father, a well respected West Coast lawyer, to either step in or refer the boys to another lawyer, everyone would probably have been far happier. It is a sign that when you go in to contract negotiations and come out worse then you were, you should have gone to a professional.
All he had to do was ask Stu to talk to his father.
This book does not harp on any of these things, merely points to them in passing. This is the story of a band that shot to the top, had a long list of hit singles that still populate the Rock airwaves and crop up in film after film, and then fell apart. There are many to blame for this, but instead of dwelling on that, Mr. Lingan paints the backdrop to this combo’s story. San Francisco during the rising of the hippies and drop-outs. Psychedelia in all its many forms, from music to clothing to drugs and attitudes about the world. Riots and sit-in, protests both peaceful and violent, Vietnam and horrible politicians. Somehow CCR managed to sound like they were involved with it all yet stayed aloof from what was happening all around them. After all, their music was rehashed sounds and feelings set to a guttural growl and a bashing percussion sound, a sound that managed to speak to all strata of people about the world and music that allowed the average person to feel that CCR was speaking for them..
Their songs will last long after they are gone.
One or two more things to add. John Fogerty, although he was asked, did not allow himself to be interviewed for this book, while Doug Clifford and Stu Cook did. Tom Fogerty had passed on in 1990.
His brother John did not see him in the hospital.
October 12, 2022
This is not a good book. I was tempted, for the first time in my Goodreads years, to give it 1 star, but I did learn a few tidbits about the band I didn't know. If you've read any other book about Creedence, you don't need this one. Lingan pads the book out unmercifully with long paragraphs of social and cultural context which very rarely do anything to aid our understanding of CCR, their career, or their songs (which for the most part he is surprisingly stingy about discussing at any length). Bizarrely he harps on throughout the book about The Velvet Underground and the rock critic Ellen Willis whose connections to Creedence are tenuous at best. He often writes as though he is in the head of band members, but though he did interview 2 of the surviving members, he never talked to John Fogarty, instead using Fogarty's memoir and some published interviews for information, and it's never clear when he's using info he got from Doug and Stu and when he's just guessing or relying on previously published material.
A couple of examples of mistakes and bad writing: Lingan says that the Vaughn Meader album The First Family debuted on the charts literally between The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" and Ray Charles' "You Are My Sunshine," which is impossible because First Family is an album and the other 2 are songs on 45s, so they could not be on the same chart. In talking about young Doug's family situation, he refers to things coming to a "violent head," but nothing at all violent is mentioned, just that the father grew distant. He says by 1964, "every white kid in the country felt part Black," which is possibly the stupidest sentence of cultural critique I've ever read. I'd better stop or I'll be tempted to drop the rating. Read literally anything else about Creedence. Thankfully I read a library copy and didn't pay for it.
A couple of examples of mistakes and bad writing: Lingan says that the Vaughn Meader album The First Family debuted on the charts literally between The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" and Ray Charles' "You Are My Sunshine," which is impossible because First Family is an album and the other 2 are songs on 45s, so they could not be on the same chart. In talking about young Doug's family situation, he refers to things coming to a "violent head," but nothing at all violent is mentioned, just that the father grew distant. He says by 1964, "every white kid in the country felt part Black," which is possibly the stupidest sentence of cultural critique I've ever read. I'd better stop or I'll be tempted to drop the rating. Read literally anything else about Creedence. Thankfully I read a library copy and didn't pay for it.
November 25, 2022
lingan does an excellent job chronicling creedence's rise and fall while couching it in essential historical context of the vietnam war and the progressive movements of the late 60s. john fogerty was and is an absolute workhorse, and the music speaks for itself still. the ending is slightly drawn-out, as the author takes the last chapter to detail creedence's various licensing deals (which john hates) and legal battles (individually and together). but it's reflective of the sad reality of how that band ended up - completely overcommodified and with little to show for it.
May 12, 2024
A page-turner: this sends me back to the music. The strength of this band biography is interviews with bass and drum players Stu and Doug.
There is a lot of short-cut political and cultural history, here, of an eventful time, but the references here are good.
I'll check on this fine book again after some listening and comparison to Fogerty's memoir.
Recommended.
There is a lot of short-cut political and cultural history, here, of an eventful time, but the references here are good.
I'll check on this fine book again after some listening and comparison to Fogerty's memoir.
Recommended.
February 19, 2023
Loved this book. Bonus surprise, my dad’s band, Plasmatic Conception was mentioned in this book…totally caught me off guard.
May 3, 2023
I really enjoyed this one. Very well put together. Every mention of each song brought back memories of the day ✨ ❤. I forgot just how many songs came out of the four of them!
July 9, 2024
Although their music is pretty ubiquitous, I knew literally nothing about CCR. I had wanted to start going through their albums, and A Song for Everyone was a pretty recent release, so I thought they'd pair together nicely.
The book provides plenty of context about what was going on politically and socially during the time CCR was active. I liked the idea of including this, because their music - while still so appealing today - is rooted in this period. It could, however, be overkill. When there was more of a direct link to the band and their music it was fine. But sometimes it seemed like there wasn't much of a real connection, so the book loses its footing a bit from time to time.
It's incredible how much great music the band churned out in such a short period. Yes, they had been together since they were young teenagers, and then worked under different names and different gimmicks while trying to make it. But CCR as CCR was only together a fairly short time in the late '60s and early '70s. They might not have been the most versatile band, but they were sure good at what they did. Their singles are just like knock-out song after knock-out song; even their albums are generally all killer no filler.
Underlying everything Lingan writes about, though, is the takeover of the band by John Fogerty to where it essentially became John Fogerty and The Other Three. They couldn't bring in song ideas. They couldn't record backing vocals. John told them to play what he wanted them to play. This slowly alienated the others until brother Tom Fogerty left, and they later went on to release their last album - the one where John decided Stu and Doug were to write a third of the album each, even though they only ever wanted collaboration.
The post-CCR years are covered extremely briefly, and I really wish this had been expanded on. There's so much that came after that is integral to the story and the members' relationships with each other, but it just doesn't get fleshed out here. The photo section, unfortunately, totally blows.
In the end, I'm not sure what I make of the whole thing. I spent most of the book thinking that John was an asshole; and maybe he is regardless. Watching them live, Stu, Doug and Tom certainly don't look or sound like they're incompetent. But great songwriters and gifted instrumentalists perhaps they were not. The CCR we got, I guess, wouldn't have been the same had John not been so controlling. He was really an amazing talent, from songwriting to singing to guitar playing.
I had a good time reading A Song for Everyone, though it's not a perfect book. It was fun to watch the Albert Hall documentary/concert on Netflix as I read; it's a killer performance. And going through all their albums made me realize that I like this band way, way more than I thought I did. Unfortunately the CCR story does not end as a happy one, but at least we have their tunes.
The book provides plenty of context about what was going on politically and socially during the time CCR was active. I liked the idea of including this, because their music - while still so appealing today - is rooted in this period. It could, however, be overkill. When there was more of a direct link to the band and their music it was fine. But sometimes it seemed like there wasn't much of a real connection, so the book loses its footing a bit from time to time.
It's incredible how much great music the band churned out in such a short period. Yes, they had been together since they were young teenagers, and then worked under different names and different gimmicks while trying to make it. But CCR as CCR was only together a fairly short time in the late '60s and early '70s. They might not have been the most versatile band, but they were sure good at what they did. Their singles are just like knock-out song after knock-out song; even their albums are generally all killer no filler.
Underlying everything Lingan writes about, though, is the takeover of the band by John Fogerty to where it essentially became John Fogerty and The Other Three. They couldn't bring in song ideas. They couldn't record backing vocals. John told them to play what he wanted them to play. This slowly alienated the others until brother Tom Fogerty left, and they later went on to release their last album - the one where John decided Stu and Doug were to write a third of the album each, even though they only ever wanted collaboration.
The post-CCR years are covered extremely briefly, and I really wish this had been expanded on. There's so much that came after that is integral to the story and the members' relationships with each other, but it just doesn't get fleshed out here. The photo section, unfortunately, totally blows.
In the end, I'm not sure what I make of the whole thing. I spent most of the book thinking that John was an asshole; and maybe he is regardless. Watching them live, Stu, Doug and Tom certainly don't look or sound like they're incompetent. But great songwriters and gifted instrumentalists perhaps they were not. The CCR we got, I guess, wouldn't have been the same had John not been so controlling. He was really an amazing talent, from songwriting to singing to guitar playing.
I had a good time reading A Song for Everyone, though it's not a perfect book. It was fun to watch the Albert Hall documentary/concert on Netflix as I read; it's a killer performance. And going through all their albums made me realize that I like this band way, way more than I thought I did. Unfortunately the CCR story does not end as a happy one, but at least we have their tunes.
June 20, 2022
My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hachette Books for an advanced copy of this biography and cultural study of this American Travlin' Band.
Some bands seem to have that spark, when the road is rough, the times are tough, but hard work, perseverance, musical chops and killer songwriting gets them to the top, like holding lightning in a bottle. And just as quick that bottle is empty and the band is no more with only greatest hits to remember them by. Creedence Clearwater Revival was one of those bands. Able to ride the times and turmoil of the sixties with musical skill, drive, and songs that that not just touched a generation, but became a soundtrack to the era, even now in movies, the band seemed unstoppable. Until they did. John Lingan in his book A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival is a biography of both the band and the times they grew up in their influences, and the undercurrents that made them come together and work so hard, and yet splinter so easily.
Doug Clifford, drummer. Stu Cook, bassist. Tom Fogerty rhythm guitarist and older brother to John Fogerty lead vocalist, lead guitarist, principal songwriter and spine of the group Creedence Clearwater Revival. No movie of the sixties is complete without a song from this band on their soundtrack. For a band that lasted a short period of time, the band had a tremendous amount of hit records. Bonding over a love of music especially blues and early rock songs by black artists Doug and Stu met in school, later to be joined by John who they heard playing songs that he had learned from listening to the radio on a school piano. Later Tom, John's older brother joined and the band began to practice and take the idea of music seriously, practicing up to eight hours a day to get their sets tight, and perfect. John was the songwriter, a machine who write a tune, figure out a hook and add in song lyrics that he kept in a book that he always wrote in. Soon they gained a reputation that slowly expanded, even as the world around them was changing. However with success came more pressure, mostly in bad business deals, and John keeping a tight control on the band, as he didn't want to mess up and loose what they had. Only John wrote the songs, only John sang the songs, John controlled the deals, again which were awful, and the band stopped being fun. One member left, the band went on as a combo until one day they decided not to. With animosity among the surviving members to this day.
An extremely well written book about a band that I knew, but did not. I knew about the bad music deals, but until I read the book I never put all the songs that John Fogerty wrote together. The band had an incredible string of hits. That is again a soundtrack to the 1960's. To read how the songs came together so quickly, and how they practiced so much is astonishing as from the pictures this doesn't seem like the band that would be that driven to succeed. Boy were they driven. The writing is very good never losing sight of the story, calling on many sources, band members, histories, other interviews to tell a story of the band and an era. The want, the need, and after a while the greed and the anger among the band is all captured, and while it doesn't make sense, from the tale that is told readers understand why the band feels the way it does. But still there is a lot of anger. And a lot of great music.
A great book about a band that readers can hear everyday on classic radio, but not really know much about. A book with no axe to grind and no scores to settle, which can be rare in entertainment books. It's not Hammer of the Gods, no stories of excess or black magic, but it is an American story, work hard, make bad business deals, get famous, hate each other break up, and the record label makes money, and the band never really talks again. Recommended for music fans, people interested in the California music scene and for creative types to learn to read about business, don't sign contracts without a lawyer, and to work hard for your art.
Some bands seem to have that spark, when the road is rough, the times are tough, but hard work, perseverance, musical chops and killer songwriting gets them to the top, like holding lightning in a bottle. And just as quick that bottle is empty and the band is no more with only greatest hits to remember them by. Creedence Clearwater Revival was one of those bands. Able to ride the times and turmoil of the sixties with musical skill, drive, and songs that that not just touched a generation, but became a soundtrack to the era, even now in movies, the band seemed unstoppable. Until they did. John Lingan in his book A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival is a biography of both the band and the times they grew up in their influences, and the undercurrents that made them come together and work so hard, and yet splinter so easily.
Doug Clifford, drummer. Stu Cook, bassist. Tom Fogerty rhythm guitarist and older brother to John Fogerty lead vocalist, lead guitarist, principal songwriter and spine of the group Creedence Clearwater Revival. No movie of the sixties is complete without a song from this band on their soundtrack. For a band that lasted a short period of time, the band had a tremendous amount of hit records. Bonding over a love of music especially blues and early rock songs by black artists Doug and Stu met in school, later to be joined by John who they heard playing songs that he had learned from listening to the radio on a school piano. Later Tom, John's older brother joined and the band began to practice and take the idea of music seriously, practicing up to eight hours a day to get their sets tight, and perfect. John was the songwriter, a machine who write a tune, figure out a hook and add in song lyrics that he kept in a book that he always wrote in. Soon they gained a reputation that slowly expanded, even as the world around them was changing. However with success came more pressure, mostly in bad business deals, and John keeping a tight control on the band, as he didn't want to mess up and loose what they had. Only John wrote the songs, only John sang the songs, John controlled the deals, again which were awful, and the band stopped being fun. One member left, the band went on as a combo until one day they decided not to. With animosity among the surviving members to this day.
An extremely well written book about a band that I knew, but did not. I knew about the bad music deals, but until I read the book I never put all the songs that John Fogerty wrote together. The band had an incredible string of hits. That is again a soundtrack to the 1960's. To read how the songs came together so quickly, and how they practiced so much is astonishing as from the pictures this doesn't seem like the band that would be that driven to succeed. Boy were they driven. The writing is very good never losing sight of the story, calling on many sources, band members, histories, other interviews to tell a story of the band and an era. The want, the need, and after a while the greed and the anger among the band is all captured, and while it doesn't make sense, from the tale that is told readers understand why the band feels the way it does. But still there is a lot of anger. And a lot of great music.
A great book about a band that readers can hear everyday on classic radio, but not really know much about. A book with no axe to grind and no scores to settle, which can be rare in entertainment books. It's not Hammer of the Gods, no stories of excess or black magic, but it is an American story, work hard, make bad business deals, get famous, hate each other break up, and the record label makes money, and the band never really talks again. Recommended for music fans, people interested in the California music scene and for creative types to learn to read about business, don't sign contracts without a lawyer, and to work hard for your art.
July 10, 2023
A Song for Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival by John Lingan is a 2022 Hachette Books publication.
CCR- this is a band I’ve listened to nearly my whole life- and sadly, they are a band that I kind of took for granted a lot.
I added this book to my TBR list about a year ago, and of course it slid down the list- but I was reminded of it when my DH and I were scrolling through Netflix and happened across a documentary of CCR, narrated by….
Wait for it…
Jeff Bridges! 🤣🤣🤣
If you get a chance, check it out. The second half of the show is basically a full set performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London- in 1970, I think. It’s worth checking out, and this book would make a nice companion piece for it, I think.
This is a nice bit of history of how the band formed, and how John came to pretty much own it. The focus is more on the early history of the band, most of which I had not been familiar with before reading this book- which goes into much more detail than the documentary on that front.
There’s a history lesson here, in more ways than one. CCR was a working-man’s band- which came out in their stage appearance and performances as much as it did with their music and lyrics. There was a strong work ethic, a no-frills, no nonsense stage show, with the band dressed casually- looking like any other guy on the street. They may not have been ‘sexy’ so to speak, but they were solid and dependable- if a bit one dimensional with their signature sound- but they sold lots and lots and lots of records.
The author did a great job with his research and organization- and though he didn’t get a great deal of feedback from the living members of the band while writing the book, he still managed to capture the spirit of the band and its members. For the most part, he was very neutral, with only an occasional slip- which in this case I can’t say as I blame him.
Because CCR was not a flashy group by any stretch of the imagination, the information here is also a bit low-key and occasionally, my mind did wander off. I don’t blame the author- but I suppose some parts could have been a bit shorter or edited down for the sake of pacing- but he did the best he could with what he had to work with.
As with any biography or memoir there can be a risk of discovering that the subjects are not very likeable, etc., or maybe you might regret reading a book that tarnished your image of them. I don’t regret reading the book. I still like CCR- but I did come away with some mixed feelings about the band members- especially when it came to how they treated their own family and some of the dogmatic rules set for the group- which also included no encores- ever. Sometimes maybe musicians can take themselves a little too seriously...
But, other than that- the group has established a long-lasting legacy. Most of us of a certain age know all their hits by heart and I did enjoy learning about their journey from the beginning to the end- and a little beyond. The group’s songs captured a time and place, a balanced sentiment woven through them that spoke to a generation of people in a plain, open way that everyone could relate to and that’s what I’ll always remember about them…
Overall, a solid, informative biography.
3.5 stars
CCR- this is a band I’ve listened to nearly my whole life- and sadly, they are a band that I kind of took for granted a lot.
I added this book to my TBR list about a year ago, and of course it slid down the list- but I was reminded of it when my DH and I were scrolling through Netflix and happened across a documentary of CCR, narrated by….
Wait for it…
Jeff Bridges! 🤣🤣🤣
If you get a chance, check it out. The second half of the show is basically a full set performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London- in 1970, I think. It’s worth checking out, and this book would make a nice companion piece for it, I think.
This is a nice bit of history of how the band formed, and how John came to pretty much own it. The focus is more on the early history of the band, most of which I had not been familiar with before reading this book- which goes into much more detail than the documentary on that front.
There’s a history lesson here, in more ways than one. CCR was a working-man’s band- which came out in their stage appearance and performances as much as it did with their music and lyrics. There was a strong work ethic, a no-frills, no nonsense stage show, with the band dressed casually- looking like any other guy on the street. They may not have been ‘sexy’ so to speak, but they were solid and dependable- if a bit one dimensional with their signature sound- but they sold lots and lots and lots of records.
The author did a great job with his research and organization- and though he didn’t get a great deal of feedback from the living members of the band while writing the book, he still managed to capture the spirit of the band and its members. For the most part, he was very neutral, with only an occasional slip- which in this case I can’t say as I blame him.
Because CCR was not a flashy group by any stretch of the imagination, the information here is also a bit low-key and occasionally, my mind did wander off. I don’t blame the author- but I suppose some parts could have been a bit shorter or edited down for the sake of pacing- but he did the best he could with what he had to work with.
As with any biography or memoir there can be a risk of discovering that the subjects are not very likeable, etc., or maybe you might regret reading a book that tarnished your image of them. I don’t regret reading the book. I still like CCR- but I did come away with some mixed feelings about the band members- especially when it came to how they treated their own family and some of the dogmatic rules set for the group- which also included no encores- ever. Sometimes maybe musicians can take themselves a little too seriously...
But, other than that- the group has established a long-lasting legacy. Most of us of a certain age know all their hits by heart and I did enjoy learning about their journey from the beginning to the end- and a little beyond. The group’s songs captured a time and place, a balanced sentiment woven through them that spoke to a generation of people in a plain, open way that everyone could relate to and that’s what I’ll always remember about them…
Overall, a solid, informative biography.
3.5 stars
April 12, 2022
A Song For Everyone by John Lingan exceeded my expectations on several levels. Informative, wonderful reading, and for those who bought the CCR records as they were released quite nostalgic.
Probably the biggest factor that will draw in many readers, aside from CCR fans, is the engaging quality of the writing. It is not quite conversational but as close as it probably should be for a cultural history told through the story of a classic band. Each chapter feels self-contained at the same time that it propels you into the next chapter.
The story of the individuals that made up the band is woven into the story of the band itself. The backgrounds are explored enough to illustrate how they contributed to the dynamics of the group without trying to be four complete biographies. To the extent possible I think Lingan tried, and mostly succeeded, to present a balanced view of the people in the band. When a group has as acrimonious a breakup as they had, and for the surviving members still have, it is hard to not be biased a little toward some side(s) even if you understand the other sides. I think keeping this book focused primarily on the thirteen year history of the band helps with that.
Of particular interest for those who might not be big CCR fans is how the period of the late fifties through the early seventies is presented. The story of Creedence Clearwater Revival shouldn't be told in a vacuum, and Lingan doesn't do so. From simply offering context about what was happening in the wider world while they were getting started to how the events of the day began to influence them, this is a nice cultural history of the period.
I would recommend this to anyone with either an interest in the music (of CCR or of the period) or an interest in the social and cultural history of that time. For those of us who remember all or most of those events, this is a fascinating trip back to that time from a different perspective than most of us had.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Probably the biggest factor that will draw in many readers, aside from CCR fans, is the engaging quality of the writing. It is not quite conversational but as close as it probably should be for a cultural history told through the story of a classic band. Each chapter feels self-contained at the same time that it propels you into the next chapter.
The story of the individuals that made up the band is woven into the story of the band itself. The backgrounds are explored enough to illustrate how they contributed to the dynamics of the group without trying to be four complete biographies. To the extent possible I think Lingan tried, and mostly succeeded, to present a balanced view of the people in the band. When a group has as acrimonious a breakup as they had, and for the surviving members still have, it is hard to not be biased a little toward some side(s) even if you understand the other sides. I think keeping this book focused primarily on the thirteen year history of the band helps with that.
Of particular interest for those who might not be big CCR fans is how the period of the late fifties through the early seventies is presented. The story of Creedence Clearwater Revival shouldn't be told in a vacuum, and Lingan doesn't do so. From simply offering context about what was happening in the wider world while they were getting started to how the events of the day began to influence them, this is a nice cultural history of the period.
I would recommend this to anyone with either an interest in the music (of CCR or of the period) or an interest in the social and cultural history of that time. For those of us who remember all or most of those events, this is a fascinating trip back to that time from a different perspective than most of us had.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 5, 2022
A book about one of the top bands from the late sixties and early seventies. Most people have heard of Creedence Clearwater Revival or the songs. I have been bought their albums back in the late sixties and seventies only to be disappointed when they broke up. Always wondered what the reason was and felt it had to do with the owner of Fantasy Records and his not paying out royalties which were part of it, but it seems a lot of it was from John Fogerty's controlling of the band. It went so far that he even had them not do encores no matter the venue. Which seemed like the pushing point.
The author takes you back to how each began to get interested in music and then how they would end up meeting. Of course, John’s brother Tom was also in the band and the oldest age-wise and was really leading everything at first, but things change after their first hit and John took over singing writing, and how it was to be recorded. He even would do the contract negotiation with Fantasy records thinking that the guy would not screw with him because at one time they actually worked together on the loading dock when in fact he did just that twice. His wanting to be in control and not having a lawyer, manager, agent or anyone older than him looking over things really was the downfall and the problems. This would eventually lead to him not talking to his own brother or even before he passed or the other two members. This really was a sad book when I think of all of the music that could have been made. Overall a good book and worth the read.
The author takes you back to how each began to get interested in music and then how they would end up meeting. Of course, John’s brother Tom was also in the band and the oldest age-wise and was really leading everything at first, but things change after their first hit and John took over singing writing, and how it was to be recorded. He even would do the contract negotiation with Fantasy records thinking that the guy would not screw with him because at one time they actually worked together on the loading dock when in fact he did just that twice. His wanting to be in control and not having a lawyer, manager, agent or anyone older than him looking over things really was the downfall and the problems. This would eventually lead to him not talking to his own brother or even before he passed or the other two members. This really was a sad book when I think of all of the music that could have been made. Overall a good book and worth the read.
December 4, 2023
This book gave a good overview of CCR's career. It provided me with more of an insight into how the band members interacted than I've had before. I did at times find the constant updating on what was going on in the country a little much - I realize it helped to put their music in context, but at times, I did find myself wondering "do I need to know about this?" The whole Five Easy Pieces thing seemed a little extraneous.
Overall though, I found it to be a well-written, well-researched account of CCR's career, and provided a lot of insight into their rise and eventual dissolution. I could have used a little more information on the years after the band broke up. I know it's hard with John Fogerty not participating, but the last few chapters just seemed to bring everything to a close very abruptly. What happened to Lucy, his Danish girlfriend? All of a sudden he's married to someone named Julie. If Lucy was just a passing girlfriend, why was she considered important enough to mention? Why were the other members of the band not invited/allowed to perform at their hall of fame induction? It's a big jump from the band's breakup to the "what are they doing now?"
Overall though, I found it to be a well-written, well-researched account of CCR's career, and provided a lot of insight into their rise and eventual dissolution. I could have used a little more information on the years after the band broke up. I know it's hard with John Fogerty not participating, but the last few chapters just seemed to bring everything to a close very abruptly. What happened to Lucy, his Danish girlfriend? All of a sudden he's married to someone named Julie. If Lucy was just a passing girlfriend, why was she considered important enough to mention? Why were the other members of the band not invited/allowed to perform at their hall of fame induction? It's a big jump from the band's breakup to the "what are they doing now?"
January 13, 2023
I didn't know a lot about CCR (turns out, not a lot of people did, they didn't do publicity so well back in the day), so this was an interesting read from that perspective. I felt like it maybe dwelled a little bit too much on the very early days...I was halfway through the book before John Fogerty even wrote "Proud Mary." And then it was still 1972 with 10 pages left to go; the last 50 years were written about in a bit of a rush. I feel like there was more to the story about John Fogerty's loss of publishing rights....which, coincidentally, he got back the very day I finished this book (January 12, 2023).
I think the author did a nice job with telling what was happening in the greater culture at the time, and how CCR managed to both capture the zeitgeist in song, and yet still be seen as somewhat square. There was a thread of Monkees references--interesting to me, as a fan; I think the author was trying to show the progress of Bob Rafaelson and Bert Schneider from bubblegum pop purveyors to the production of movies like "Easy Rider" as a way to define the changing times.
I think the author did a nice job with telling what was happening in the greater culture at the time, and how CCR managed to both capture the zeitgeist in song, and yet still be seen as somewhat square. There was a thread of Monkees references--interesting to me, as a fan; I think the author was trying to show the progress of Bob Rafaelson and Bert Schneider from bubblegum pop purveyors to the production of movies like "Easy Rider" as a way to define the changing times.
March 2, 2023
Best I can say is that I now have a balanced perspective. I didn't think much of John Fogerty's memoir, and now I didn't really enjoy a CCR bio with which his surviving band members (but not Fogerty) cooperated.
A lot of the "behind the music"-like stuff is pretty well-known, and not all that uncommon or unpredictable -- corporate suits take advantage of naive young musicians with no professional representation when it comes to contracts; artistic geniuses can be tough people with whom to live or collaborate; conventional success is a two-edged sword etc. etc.
Much better use of my time to fire up their music from BITD than to read all about their lives, lawsuits, etc.
Some of the "came at a time when" writing was, i think unintentionally, funny to me. To be sure, it's valid and meaningful to allude to the Vietnam War when writing about "Fortunate Son" and a few others, but "Green River was released in August, just after the moon landing" (p. 192)? Sure, those were two things that happened in 1969, but I don't how compelling a connection it is.
A lot of the "behind the music"-like stuff is pretty well-known, and not all that uncommon or unpredictable -- corporate suits take advantage of naive young musicians with no professional representation when it comes to contracts; artistic geniuses can be tough people with whom to live or collaborate; conventional success is a two-edged sword etc. etc.
Much better use of my time to fire up their music from BITD than to read all about their lives, lawsuits, etc.
Some of the "came at a time when" writing was, i think unintentionally, funny to me. To be sure, it's valid and meaningful to allude to the Vietnam War when writing about "Fortunate Son" and a few others, but "Green River was released in August, just after the moon landing" (p. 192)? Sure, those were two things that happened in 1969, but I don't how compelling a connection it is.
March 24, 2023
"Feel-good tunes for feel-bad times"
The rating for this book should realistically be three and a half stars but Goodreads doesn't allow half star ratings. This book is a by-the-numbers factual history of Creedence Clearwater Revival but heavily influenced by the points of view of the bass player, Stu Cook, and the drummer, Doug Clifford, with some quotes from John Fogerty's late brother, Tom, the rhythm guitarist of the band. Lingan says that every effort had been made to reach out to John Fogerty, but John never responded. Lingan mentions John's autobiography, 'Fortunate Son', so to my mind John probably thought he'd said all he had to say about the matter in that book so he didn't need to reiterate the story to a writer who was collecting information from the band mates that betrayed him by selling their votes in the uses of Creedence Clearwater to the treacherous record company owner Saul Zaentz.
When reading this account, their argument didn't really carry much weight. John Fogerty wrote all the music and when they were given the opportunity to release their songs on the last Creedence album, they rendered lackluster product. They acted like ex-Beatles but they never possessed the talents of ex-Beatles.
So for a slightly better-than-average account of the history of this band, 'Wrote a Song For Everyone' is worth reading. However, for a more complete and accurate account, I would steer the reader toward 'Fortunate Son', the account written by the creative mind behind the band.
The rating for this book should realistically be three and a half stars but Goodreads doesn't allow half star ratings. This book is a by-the-numbers factual history of Creedence Clearwater Revival but heavily influenced by the points of view of the bass player, Stu Cook, and the drummer, Doug Clifford, with some quotes from John Fogerty's late brother, Tom, the rhythm guitarist of the band. Lingan says that every effort had been made to reach out to John Fogerty, but John never responded. Lingan mentions John's autobiography, 'Fortunate Son', so to my mind John probably thought he'd said all he had to say about the matter in that book so he didn't need to reiterate the story to a writer who was collecting information from the band mates that betrayed him by selling their votes in the uses of Creedence Clearwater to the treacherous record company owner Saul Zaentz.
When reading this account, their argument didn't really carry much weight. John Fogerty wrote all the music and when they were given the opportunity to release their songs on the last Creedence album, they rendered lackluster product. They acted like ex-Beatles but they never possessed the talents of ex-Beatles.
So for a slightly better-than-average account of the history of this band, 'Wrote a Song For Everyone' is worth reading. However, for a more complete and accurate account, I would steer the reader toward 'Fortunate Son', the account written by the creative mind behind the band.
July 28, 2022
Readers should realize that this book relied heavily on the input of Stu Cook and Doug Clifford which the author augmented with well researched past interviews and comments by John Fogerty. John Fogerty, the very talented, narcissistic front man, songwriter, producer and architect of the Creedence Clearwater Revival sound was not involved with this book. That said, it presents a good overview of the band's career, interspersed with contemporary social commentary. It seemed like a stretch at times to link Creedence Clearwater Revival to the political upheaval of the late sixties and early seventies This was a great singles band that had cross demographic appeal specifically because they were intentionally apolitical. I enjoyed the book, and recommend it but wish it would have stayed more focused on the individuals in the band and their music.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an advanced reader copy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an advanced reader copy.
January 8, 2023
Creedence was a good portion of the soundtrack of my high school years, and I owned every one of their albums (even the disappointing "Mardi Gras"). So I began this latest bio of the band with some enthusiasm. And for the most part, I enjoyed re-living those years while reading this book. Lingan works hard to tie CCR to what was going on in the culture of the late-'60s, and correctly notes that after the band broke up, they were connected to the Vietnam War era in ways they perhaps never intended. John Fogerty was a musical genius, although a prickly one at that. He didn't cooperate with the author. On the other hand, Lingan states that he interviewed Stu Cook and Doug Clifford for 10 hours but curiously includes few direct quotes from either of them. All in all, a mixed bag, but I sure enough pulled out the Creedence box set after reading this book.
November 27, 2023
I bought this because I was on vacation and had already finished the books I brought with me, and found this marked down. You get what you pay for.
Since only half of the original band were interviewed, I can't comment on whether it sticks to facts. But the writing is hardly objective. In particular, the author's characterizations - without citation - rankle. When John Fogerty's marriage founders, his wife is "Poor, sweet Martha." Doug Clifford "continued to whine." etc. We have no idea what John Fogerty's side of the entire saga is, but he doesn't come off favorably.
There was a great deal of filler re current events, presumably to give perspective on... something? Because the majority of their songs were not political, I'm uncertain why so much world history was necessary.
Only for diehard fans.
Since only half of the original band were interviewed, I can't comment on whether it sticks to facts. But the writing is hardly objective. In particular, the author's characterizations - without citation - rankle. When John Fogerty's marriage founders, his wife is "Poor, sweet Martha." Doug Clifford "continued to whine." etc. We have no idea what John Fogerty's side of the entire saga is, but he doesn't come off favorably.
There was a great deal of filler re current events, presumably to give perspective on... something? Because the majority of their songs were not political, I'm uncertain why so much world history was necessary.
Only for diehard fans.
March 31, 2023
This book is closer to 3.5 stars. It isn't bad, just feels rushed at times. I think this book goes through their career too fast, and some things I wanted to know a little bit more about, including their break up and why they didn't really get along too much, are barely talked about. I get the feeling John Fogerty is kind of an asshole. Yes he's probably the most talented musician in the group, but that doesn't mean he was the only talented person in the group. The book kind of makes him out to be a little too much of a control freak. Still, there are good stories about every single album and big song in this book.
April 1, 2024
Having grown up on CCR (and still love to play on guitar), I have never read much about them. I didn’t even know Fogerty’s older brother, Tom, was in the band! That’s how dominating John Fogerty was. And this book describes in depth how overbearing he was. A cautionary tale for excessive control and ego, perhaps, it is at times sad, insightful and a bit overstated (or perhaps apologetic) about his and their greatness. With little to no mention of their family lives beyond their earliest years, the focus is on their music. While I would have been interested in that personal side, it’s the music that drew me to the book and what keeps me coming back to them.
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