YEAR
1993
INDUCTED BY
Bruce Springsteen
CATEGORY
Performers
Creedence Clearwater Revival cranked out hit after hit, proving themselves to be a timeless talent with enduring popularity.
At a time when prog rock dominated the San Francisco music scene, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s roots rock was an offbeat standout. Their country sensibility made them possibly the most popular band in America, with nine Top Ten singles in three years.
Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford
John Fogerty
Stu Cook
Tom Fogerty
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Bob Merlis
The origin of America’s greatest authentic rock & roll band begins in 1959, the penultimate year of the Eisenhower era. In El Cerrito, California, a lower middle-class suburb in San Francisco’s East Bay, eighth-graders John Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, like so many other rock & roll crazed kids, took matters into their own hands and did the natural thing: they formed a band.
The repertoire of these 13-year-old rockers, the Blue Velvets, was virtually pre-ordained — with nobody willing to handle vocals, guitarist Fogerty, drummer Clifford and bassman Cook covered the instrumental sounds of Sandy Nelson, Duane Eddy, Bill Doggett and, of course, the Ventures.
