In a span of just 4 years, between 1968 and 1972, Creedence Clearwater Revival released an impressive string of 7 studio albums and 29 singles. Their penultimate album, Pendulum, featured the hit single “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”. The song was written by bandleader John Fogerty and is seen as one of CCR’s finest compositions. In this article, we’ll dive into the story, meaning, and legacy behind the iconic song.
The Story Behind the Song
By the end of 1970, CRR was at the peak of its commercial success. The band performed at the iconic Woodstock festival a year earlier, and had a hit with “Fortunate Son” at the end of 1969. In mid-1970, CCR released their fifth studio album Cosmo’s Factory. The album was a commercial hit, topped the album charts in the US and the UK, and had an impressive 6 top-5 singles.
Despite the success, the band was slowly falling apart. John Fogerty was the sole songwriter of the group, and other band members – especially John’s brother Tom Fogerty – felt he was too controlling over CCR’s artistic decisions.
John Fogerty on the other hand, disagreed with the complaints of his bandmates. CCR had finally achieved musical success, mostly as the result of his efforts, and they were still complaining.
“I was alone when I made that [CCR] music,” John Fogerty reflected in Pop magazine. “I was alone when I made the arrangements, I was alone when I added background vocals, guitars and some other stuff. I was alone when I produced and mixed the albums. The other guys showed up only for rehearsals and the days we made the actual recordings.”
The friction within the band led Fogerty to write “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”. He later wrote in his biography Fortunate Son: “Man, we achieved all our dreams. And you guys are only talking about negative stuff.’ By your own volition, you bring in a huge rain cloud and cause it to rain. On your own perfect dream. That’s the way I saw it. I was watching the band disintegrate right in front of my eyes.”
The Meaning of the Song
“Have You Ever Seen The Rain” is a song about the friction within CCR despite the band’s commercial success. The song sketches the image of rain (friction within the band) falling down on a sunny day (CCR’s success).
“The imagery is, you can have a bright, beautiful, sunny day, and it can be raining at the same time,” Fogerty told Rolling Stone in 1993. “The band was breaking up. I was reacting: ‘Geez, this is all getting serious right at the time when we should be having a sunny day.”
The Legacy of Have You Ever Seen The Rain
In January 1971, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” was released as a single. It became a worldwide top-10 hit and reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Nowadays, “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” is seen as one of CCR’s most iconic songs.
The album “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” appears on, Pendulum, would eventually be the last album with Tom Fogerty as a band member. In February 1971, CCR announced that he left the band. CCR continued as a trio, and as a result of the complaints, John Fogerty informed the remaining members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford they could have more artistic involvement.
It resulted in Mardi Gras, which was the first CCR album that featured songs from other band members than John Fogerty. The album was considered weak in comparison to CCR’s earlier material and music critic Jon Landau even called it ‘the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band’.
Despite the permission of more artistic involvement, the friction between John Fogerty and band members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford never disappeared. Just 6 months after the release of Mardi Gras, Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded permanently.
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