{"id":589129,"date":"2026-04-17T05:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/589129\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T05:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:06:12","slug":"on-this-day-57-years-ago-creedence-clearwater-revival-released-this-apocalyptic-hit-inspired-by-john-fogertys-favorite-black-and-white-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/589129\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day 57 Years Ago, Creedence Clearwater Revival Released This Apocalyptic Hit Inspired by John Fogerty’s Favorite Black and White Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Creedence Clearwater Revival broke the record<\/a> for most No. 2 singles on the Hot 100, you could hardly dismiss the California-based rockers as also-rans. Their 1976 compilation Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, still holds a spot on the Billboard 200 half a century later. It notched 750 weeks in June 2025. However, they only managed to land one No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom with \u201cBad Moon Rising\u201d, released on this day (April 16) in 1969.<\/p>\n

\u201cBad Moon Rising is the lead single from Creedence Clearwater Revival\u2019s third studio album Green River. It is a deceptively upbeat tune that employs weather imagery to imply that there is \u201ctrouble on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frontman John Fogerty drew inspiration from the 1941 film The Devil and Daniel Webster, which he had watched on television as a child. The film\u2019s protagonist strikes a deal with Satan in exchange for wealth, then cowers in his barn as a terrible hurricane destroys his neighbors\u2019 crops. <\/p>\n

\u201cBad Moon Rising\u201d came at a critical juncture for the band, which had recently shed its one-hit wonder status (from 1968\u2019s \u201cSuzie Q\u201d) thanks to the success of their single \u201cProud Mary\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was desperately worried we were about to fall flat on our faces,\u201d Fogerty said<\/a>. \u201cIn those days, you put out singles every few weeks, so when\u00a0\u2018Proud Mary\u2019\u00a0was on the radio I knew we had to write the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Looking Back at CCR\u2019s 5 Legendary No. 2 Hits: The Songs That Made Swamp Rock Great]<\/a><\/p>\n

This Creedence Clearwater Revival Hit Was Almost a Disaster<\/p>\n

Notably, \u201cBad Moon Rising\u201d very nearly lived up to its doomsday lyrics. Speaking in a video<\/a> on his YouTube channel, Fogerty recalled the disaster he experienced just days before Creedence Clearwater Revival was set to record the song.<\/p>\n

The \u201cFortunate Son\u201d singer, now 80, drove to Oakland for a meeting with executives at Fantasy Records, the band\u2019s label. After the meeting ended, he walked outside to see that someone had shattered his car\u2019s rear window with a brick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I looked inside, my new 175 and my old Tremolux\u00a0Fender amp were gone,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, we were about to record \u2018Bad Moon Rising\u2019 in just a few days. This was an emergency. I needed a guitar to play on Bad Moon Rising.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A panicked Fogerty then drove to a newly opened music store in nearby Albany. \u201cI said to the man, \u2018Do you have any Les Paul guitars?\u2019\u201d he recounted.<\/p>\n

The man had just one. With the store owner\u2019s permission, Fogerty carefully tuned the guitar and gave it a strum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it was magical\u2014epical, really,\u201d he said. \u201cMade the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My eyes got real big. I looked at the man and I said, \u2018I\u2019ll take it\u2019\u2026 So anyway, that little event in a music store in Albany set me off on a lifelong love of Les Paul guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured image by Tucker Ranson\/Pictorial Parade\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although Creedence Clearwater Revival broke the record for most No. 2 singles on the Hot 100, you could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[24911,43014,88,54384,216,2156],"class_list":{"0":"post-589129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-1960s","9":"tag-creedence-clearwater-revival","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-john-fogerty","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-rock-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}