Classic rock band Creedence Clearwater Revisited, which features Creedence Clearwater Revival (notice the difference) original members Doug “Cosmo” Clifford (drums) and Stu Cook (bass), is scheduled to perform CCR hits at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 at Spirit Mountain Casino The band also features former “People!” drummer and singer John “Bulldog” Tristao on lead vocals, Steve “the Captain” Gunner on guitar, harmonica and keyboard, and Kurt Griffey on lead guitar.
Tickets start at $15, and the concert is for those 16 and older with adult, or 21 and over.
“Fans are going to get Creedence,” said Clifford in a phone interview earlier this month. “We have 20 hits, so it makes for a really good show. People are going to hear songs everybody knows, like Proud Mary, but also songs they may not have heard in a while, like Lodi.”
CCR has its roots at Portola Junior High School in El Cerrito, California where Clifford, Cook, and John Fogerty were all friends and creative collaborators, and played gigs backing John’s older brother Tom at local watering holes. The band evolved over the next decade to become one of the most important bands of its era, and biggest rock acts in American history.
“Revival” was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and was voted the 82nd best artist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. The band had several hits in the late 60’s and early 70’s, including originals like Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Down on The Corner, and Fortunate Son and memorable covers like Suzie Q, I Put a Spell on You and Good Golly, Miss Molly.
Clifford said his favorite song to perform is the Motown staple I Heard It Through The Grapevine, which CCR had success with, from 1970’s “Cosmo’s Factory”.
“I’d have to say that my favorite CCR album is one of our earlier ones, ‘Bayou Country’,” added Clifford, who earned the nickname “Cosmo” after a hippie hanging around Clifford’s fraternity mentioned he was “cosmic” for controlling the building’s insect infestation with his expertise in entomology.
“The (album) wasn’t expected to be popular,” added Clifford. “Proud Mary (a single off of Bayou Country) ended up being really successful, which surprised us. We were lucky … we were really fortunate overall.”
Despite the absence of singer/songwriter John Fogerty, who has been estranged from the band since CCR’s breakup in 1973, and John’s brother Tom, who died in 1990 after contracting HIV from a blood transfusion during a routine surgery, Clifford says the band has maintained a rigorous tour schedule since forming as “Revisited” 18 years ago.
“We started out playing 100 or more shows a year, but we had to scale that back to about 75 a year lately,” said Clifford, who now resides near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. “My wife had a problem with [touring that much]. I was spending more time on the road then at home. We’ve been married for over 40 years now, and she said that this is supposed to be our golden years.”
With constant touring and a long career, Clifford mentioned he has accumulated a lot of stories of his time in the Pacific Northwest.
“I remember playing in Lincoln City, right on the ocean,” said Clifford. “My son came down from Portland with some friends, and after the show we went to the bar. Some of us ended up getting pretty, you know, hammered, and my daughter in-law, she was ghost-white, so we decided to take a walk on the beach. It was freezing cold, but I discovered that a walk on the Oregon coast is the best cure for a hangover since Alka-Seltzer.”
This month’s gig is likely to produce some stories and anecdotes as well.
