UNFORTUNATE SON
How the CIA stole $5 million from Creedence Clearwater Revival to bust commies.
As John Fogerty worked on Green River, the second of three studio albums his band Creedence Clearwater Revival would release in 1969, the rock singer felt a twinge of doubt. CCR’s first two records were hits on college radio, and a single, “Proud Mary,” had peaked at No. 2 on the charts. But as the band’s bassist Stu Cook would later recall in an interview with Goldmine magazine, Fogerty had an “almost morbid fear of being off the charts.”
So, as Fogerty prepped the new album, he took a moment to reflect. Just about a year ago, I set out on the road... A thought popped into his head. “I sat down and wrote about being on the road, being a musician—not the happy, glamorous part,” he explained to a CCR fansite in the 2000s. “Rather, I projected myself ahead maybe 10 years, as a country musician singing that minor hit I had 10 years ago.”
