# Creedence Clearwater Revival: Why the dislike? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743 "2015-09-02T20:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/61 "2015-09-04T16:15:13Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > To use one example… back in the Seventies, people who didn’t really pay much attention to the country or folk music scenes probably didn’t bat an eyelash at the proposition that John Denver was a country artist. Top 40 listeners probably heard songs like “Back Home Again” and thought, “Yeah, sounds kinda country to me.” But within Nashville, a lot of people hated John Denver, because he wasn’t part of the Nashville scene at all! When Charlie Rich opened the envelope at the CMA awards, and saw that John Denver was the winner of the artist of the year award, Charlie took out a cigarette lighter and burned the envelope. I had to see if this was viewable online, [and it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXgiCr-V9HM). Wow. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/62 "2015-09-04T20:55:14Z")
Wow, is Charlie drunk off his ass, there. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/63 "2015-09-04T21:03:39Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I had to see if this was viewable online, [and it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXgiCr-V9HM). Wow. :eek: Wow is right. I wasn’t aware of that before now. Charlie seems pretty damn drunk, there. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/64 "2015-09-04T23:39:28Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Wow is right. I wasn’t aware of that before now. Charlie seems pretty damn drunk, there. Upon a second viewing, I must agree. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/65 "2015-09-05T00:23:27Z")
So let’s salute the great Johnny Cash. Whose TV show ran 1969 through 1971 & included an extremely wide range of American music. He was there at the birth of Rockabilly, married into Country Royalty, hit the Folk Festivals when most Country Artists hated those beatnik weirdos & put that pinko Pete Seeger on national TV. [This _partial_ list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Johnny_Cash_Show_(TV_series)) of his guests includes Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joe Tex, Homer & Jethro, Derek & the Dominos–and so many more. He & Louis Armstrong sang “Blue Yodel”–by Jimmie Rodgers, who’d had Armstrong on his records back in the 30’s. \*Rod McKuen? \* And a raft of Canadians: Ian & Sylvia, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young & Gordon Lightfoot. What is hip? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/66 "2015-09-05T00:29:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Upon a second viewing, I must agree. He is tanked! Drunk off his ass. ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/67 "2015-09-05T02:45:37Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > To use one example… back in the Seventies, people who didn’t really pay much attention to the country or folk music scenes probably didn’t bat an eyelash at the proposition that John Denver was a country artist. Top 40 listeners probably heard songs like “Back Home Again” and thought, “Yeah, sounds kinda country to me.” But within Nashville, a lot of people hated John Denver, because he wasn’t part of the Nashville scene at all! When Charlie Rich opened the envelope at the CMA awards, and saw that John Denver was the winner of the artist of the year award, Charlie took out a cigarette lighter and burned the envelope. You’ve heard of chic flicks and chic cars, well John Denver was chic singer. No red blooded male would admit to liking John Denver, unless his woman was standing beside him, threatening to cut him off. Most chics loved John Denver, so that’s a good percentage of the listening audience. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/68 "2015-09-05T03:52:09Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I had to see if this was viewable online, [and it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXgiCr-V9HM). Wow. :eek: I like Glen Campbell’s facial expression when they cut to him. An early “WTF?” > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > So let’s salute the great Johnny Cash. > > What is hip? John Cash is Hip. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/69 "2015-09-05T11:19:21Z")
> [@bb49](#): > > You’ve heard of chic flicks and chic cars, well John Denver was chic singer. No red blooded male would admit to liking John Denver, unless his woman was standing beside him, threatening to cut him off. Most chics loved John Denver, so that’s a good percentage of the listening audience. That’s one perspective. I can report that on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, a predominantly male population, John Denver is revered. When someone starts a John Denver thread, folks pile in and describe him as an influence and know his stuff in detail. That doesn’t sound “chick singer” to me. As a kid I enjoyed his songs, but never really associated him with guitar when I started getting into it. By then it was Van Halen and yes, Ted Nugent :o ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/70 "2015-09-05T11:29:26Z")
For me, it was simply because they were overplayed on the radio. Every other song was CCR, and if I never hear “Bad Moon Rising” again it will be too soon. Their own success ruined them for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/71 "2015-09-05T11:54:01Z")
> [@bb49](#): > > You’ve heard of chic flicks and chic cars, well John Denver was chic singer. No red blooded male would admit to liking John Denver, unless his woman was standing beside him, threatening to cut him off. Most chics loved John Denver, so that’s a good percentage of the listening audience. Language note: The word you want is “chick.” “Chic” is from the French & relates to personal style–describing a woman who adapts fashions that suit her without becoming a fashion victim. “Chick” comes from the Spanish _chica_–meaning a somewhat lightweight young woman. It’s informal but not seriously insulting. _Chico_ means a somewhat lightweight young man–alas, English has the rarely used “male chick” but it’s not a good equivalent. I respected Denver’s early work as sideman with the Chad Mitchell Trio–a folk group with a more satirical edge than the frat boys in madras shirts. The sunny & somewhat saccharine image of his solo career obscured the fact that he wrote some excellent songs. Nashville attitudes to the young folky/longhairs playing country rock? [Let Roger McGuinn (who also backed Chad Mitchell early on) explain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4nKmpWUCw). Except for Johnny Cash–early & late. (And the old guys recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band–California hippies who made [May the Circle Be Unbroken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_the_Circle_be_Unbroken_(Nitty_Gritty_Dirt_Band_album)) with pioneers neglected by the Nashville Establishment.) Have we drifted from CCR? Well, that’s the folk process… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/72 "2015-09-06T21:36:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are plenty of great songs longer than four minutes in the rock era, including things like…“Hey Jude,” “Hey Jude” was about a 3-minute song followed by half an hour of _"Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude_ ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/73 "2017-01-08T05:21:52Z")
Some don’t like the sound of Fogerty’s singing voice. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/74 "2017-01-08T05:56:44Z")
Having a bad voice doesn’t make one unhip. Quite the opposite, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/75 "2017-01-08T07:32:36Z")
I always thought John Fogerty was to CCR what John Sebastian was to the Lovin’ Spoonful. I always thought in the back of my head that they weren’t really “bands”, rather the head guy and his employees. Why that would make a diff I don’t know. I felt they were a bit manufactured. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/76 "2017-01-08T07:55:34Z")
I like Fogerty’s voice. I think it’s very distinctive. His _Centerfield_ album is one of my favorite ones of all time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/77 "2017-01-08T08:02:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I like Fogerty’s voice. I think it’s very distinctive. His _Centerfield_ album is one of my favorite ones of all time. I like Fogerty’s voice, too. But I can only take CCR in small doses. I do enjoy them, but I can’t listen to more than one or two songs of theirs in a session–it just all ends up sounding so samey to me. “Down on the Corner” will always have a special place in my heart, though. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/78 "2017-01-08T14:19:35Z")
Cosmo’s Factory is my fav album. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/79 "2017-01-08T19:21:28Z")
To belatedly actually address the subject of the thread: I have known folks who hated Creedence, but I neglected to ask them why they hated them. Creedence never really clicked with me as a band. I can happily listen to some of their songs, but others will set me spinning the dial. My displeasure is generally that there’s not really much risk-taking in their songs lyrically or musically. The long jammy songs seem pretty well orchestrated (yes, you can plan out a jam using cues), and Fogerty is perfectly happy to write songs about rural America and eventually baseball. Even when he did delve into controversial topics, it’s so whimsical it might as well be a Disney short. “Fortunate Son” was released in '69, so they were after Cronkite in coming out against the Vietnam War. Not a bad band at all, but not a really adventurous one, either. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743/80 "2017-01-08T19:32:02Z")
Probably because of the way John Fogerty pronounced the word “heard”. Like a cross between a Brooklyn mafioso and a Alabama moonshiner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creedence-clearwater-revival-why-the-dislike/729743.md?page=5)