A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Downloads：8352
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-21 17:21:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：John Lingan
- ISBN：B09N3FJMRC
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Joe Titone
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@HachetteBooks What memories this terrific book brought back from my younger days！ A terrific book about one of the top rock groups of all time。 If you remember them， you'll love this book as did many of my friends。 We then donated it to the local VA so our former men and women in uniform could enjoy it also。 @HachetteBooks What memories this terrific book brought back from my younger days！ A terrific book about one of the top rock groups of all time。 If you remember them， you'll love this book as did many of my friends。 We then donated it to the local VA so our former men and women in uniform could enjoy it also。 。。。more
Rhonda
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What a great way to time travel。 Took me back to high school。 Of course all the fans see are the music and glamorous lifestyle they assume is being lived。 Do many thought provoking facts。 Nicely written and easy to read。
Tom Donaghey
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tA 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。tFirst and foremost， CCR never was and never will be from the swamps of America’s so tA 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。tFirst 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。tSecond 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。tThen 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。tThe 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。tBut 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。tAll he had to do was ask Stu to talk to his father。tThis 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。。tTheir songs will last long after they are gone。tOne 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。tHis brother John did not see him in the hospital。 。。。more
Bruce Raterink
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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 time 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。 。。。more
*TUDOR^QUEEN* （on hiatus）
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3。5 StarsAs 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 QProud MaryBad Moon RisingGreen RiverDown On the CornerTravelin' BandHave You Ever Seen the RainUp Around the BendThe last two are my favorite 3。5 StarsAs 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 QProud MaryBad Moon RisingGreen RiverDown On the CornerTravelin' BandHave You Ever Seen the RainUp Around the BendThe 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。 。。。more
Dan
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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 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。 。。。more
Colleen
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“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 “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。 。。。more
J Earl
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