Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin’ Out My Back Door

Given that it’s been half a century since Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded and the band as we knew them best were only together for five years, from 1967 to 1972, the absolutely indelible mark that they have left on rock and roll since they were crushing it with every album still feels as clear and fresh as it likely did way back then. Which is, to put it scientifically, absolutely mental.

1959 was the year people got to see the very first iteration of the legendary blues rockers (which is closer to the 1890s than it is to today, in case you needed to feel awful about time first thing on a Friday). Initially known as The Blue Velvets when they formed in El Cerrito, California the band went through two additional name changes (only one of them catastrophically offensive) before settling on Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967. From there, the gang – made up of brothers John and Tom Fogerty plus Stu Cook and Doug Clifford – went on a rampage of critically acclaimed and publicly lauded albums and performances that has to be seen to be believed. In 1969 alone they released three top ten albums, two of them platinum hits, put out four singles that hit number two in the American charts and performed at the very first Woodstock festival, plus more absolute barn burners in the two years after that. You’d be hard pressed to find a band with that sort of hit ratio in such a short space of time.

All good things must come to a messy end, however, and CCR are no exception; lawsuits, falling outs and altercations saw the band officially end in 1972. Their legacy is nearly unsurpassed, however – their entire back catalogue are classic rock necessities, you’ll never see a Vietnam movie ever again without one of their songs showing up when someone is in a helicopter, and their greatest hits album has been on the Billboard Top 200 for nearly fifty consecutive years now. Just another achievement to add to the pile, I suppose!

With all that said, we’re going to leave you with our pick for the week in Lookin’ Out My Back Door, a toe-tapping good time that will hopefully leave everyone in your house or place of work with a big ol’ smile on their ears. It’s a bona fide, certified classic and it’ll leave your Friday in a better place in as little as three minutes – that’s our non-enforceable guarantee!