Editing Creedence Clearwater Revival (section)

=== Tom Fogerty's departure, discord, and breakup: 1971–1972 ===
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[[File:Creedence Clearwater Revival - Sweet Hitch-Hiker (1971).jpg|thumb|Trade advertisement for the release of CCR's single "[[Sweet Hitch-Hiker]]" in July 1971]]
[[File:Creedence Clearwater Revival.jpg|thumb|CCR in 1972 after Tom Fogerty's departure; John Fogerty, Stu Cook, Doug Clifford]]

Around this time, an overwhelming perception among the other band members that John was being overly controlling and domineering was approaching a boiling point.{{sfn|Fogerty|McDonough|2015}}{{page needed|date=January 2025}} Tom Fogerty decided he had enough and resigned from CCR in early 1971 after the recording of ''Pendulum'', with his departure being made public in February of that year. The remaining members initially considered replacing him, but ultimately continued as a trio.

In the spring of 1971, John Fogerty, frustrated with his remaining bandmates' constant complaining that they were not allowed to write and produce their own songs,{{sfn|Fogerty|McDonough|2015}}{{page needed|date=January 2025}} relented and informed Cook and Clifford that CCR would continue only by adopting a "democratic" approach; each member would now write and perform his own material with each band member contributing three songs apiece to the next album. Fogerty would only contribute guitar parts to his bandmates' songs.{{sfn|Fogerty|McDonough|2015}}{{page needed|date=January 2025}}

Conflicting views exist regarding Cook and Clifford's reaction to this proposed new arrangement, although everyone seemed to acknowledge that Cook and Clifford had wanted more input in CCR's artistic and business decisions. For his part, Fogerty recounts that Cook and Clifford were initially excited about this new opportunity to write and perform their own songs free of his meddling, since they had been the ones who asked for it in the first place, and they only soured on the concept after the record's lack of success (Fogerty also mentions a time while recording the album when he refused Cook's request to "fix" one of his (Cook's) songs to make it sound more like other Creedence material, which may have also played a role in the band members' attitudes toward the project).{{sfn|Fogerty|McDonough|2015|page=225}} However, other sources imply that Cook and Clifford were resistant to this approach from the start.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eu.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/07/07/doug-clifford-ccr-john-fogerty/29792885/ |title= Interview: Doug Clifford on CCR and John Fogerty |website= azcentral |access-date= February 13, 2022}}</ref> Allegedly, Fogerty at one point insisted they accept the arrangement or he would quit the band.<ref>{{cite web |title=Creedence Clearwater Revival – the full story, by John Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/creedence-clearwater-revival-the-full-story-by-john-fogerty-stu-cook-and-doug-clifford-6563/ |website=UNCUT |access-date=25 December 2023 |date=18 July 2014}}</ref> Despite the conflict, the trio put its new work ethic to the test in the studio, releasing the top-10 single "[[Sweet Hitch-Hiker]]" in July 1971, backed with Cook's "Door to Door". The band toured both the U.S. and Europe that summer and fall with Cook's song a part of the live set. In spite of their continuing commercial success, relations among the three had become increasingly strained.

The band's final album, ''[[Mardi Gras (album)|Mardi Gras]]'', was released in April 1972, featuring songs written by John Fogerty, Cook, and Clifford, as well as a cover of "[[Hello Mary Lou]]" (a song [[Gene Pitney]] had originally written for [[Ricky Nelson]]). Each member sang lead vocal on the songs written by that member. The album was a critical failure, considered by critics to be of inconsistent quality and lacking in cohesion. ''Rolling Stone'' reviewer [[Jon Landau]] deemed it "relative to a group's established level of performance, the worst album I have ever heard from a major rock band".<ref name="landau-review">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mardi-gras-19760526 |title=Creedence Clearwater Revival: ''Mardi Gras'': Music Reviews: Rolling Stone |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=May 25, 1972|access-date=May 8, 2009}}</ref> The sales of ''Mardi Gras'' were weaker than previous albums, ultimately peaking at number&nbsp;12, though it still became the band's seventh consecutive studio album to be certified gold. Fogerty's "[[Someday Never Comes]]", backed with Clifford's "Tearin' Up the Country", also cracked the U.S. top 40.

By this point, Fogerty was not only at direct odds with his bandmates, but he also had come to see the group's relationship with Fantasy Records as onerous, feeling that Zaentz had reneged on his promise to give the band a better contract. Cook&mdash;who held a degree in business&mdash;claimed that because of poor judgment on Fogerty's part, CCR had to abide by the worst record deal of any major U.S. recording artist. Despite the relatively poor reception of ''Mardi Gras'' and deteriorated relationships among the remaining band members, CCR embarked upon a two-month, 20-date U.S. tour. However, on October 16, 1972—less than six months after the tour ended—Fantasy Records and the band officially announced its disbanding.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7A4EAAAAMBAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7A4EAAAAMBAJ/page/n62 16]|quote=creedence splits.|title=Billboard –|via=[[Internet Archive]]|date=October 28, 1972|publisher=Nielsen Business Media|access-date=August 30, 2010}}</ref> CCR never formally reunited after the breakup, although Cook and Clifford eventually started the band [[Creedence Clearwater Revisited]]. John Fogerty later commented on the demise of CCR in a 1997 edition of the [[Sweden|Swedish]] magazine ''Pop'':

{{blockquote|I was alone when I made that [CCR] music. 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. For me, Creedence was like sitting on a time bomb. We'd had decent successes with our cover of "Susie Q" and with [[Creedence Clearwater Revival (album)|the first album]], when we went into the studio to cut "Proud Mary". It was the first time we were in a real Hollywood studio, RCA's Los Angeles studio, and the problems started immediately. The other guys in the band insisted on writing songs for the new album, they had opinions on the arrangements, they wanted to sing. They went as far as adding background vocals to "Proud Mary", and it sounded awful. They used [[tambourine]]s, and it sounded no better.

That's when I understood I had a choice to make. At that point in time, we were just a one-hit wonder, and "Susie Q" hadn't really been that big a hit. Either this [the new album] would be a success, something really big, or we might as well start working at the car wash again. There was a big row. We went to an Italian restaurant and I remember that I very clearly told the others that I for one didn't want to go back to the car wash again. Now, we had to make the best possible album and it wasn't important who did what, as long as the result was the very best we could achieve. And of course I was the one who should do it. I don't think the others really understood what I meant, but at least I could manage the situation the way I wanted. The result was eight million-selling, double-sided singles in a row and six albums, [which] all went platinum. And ''[[Melody Maker]]'' had us as the best band in the world. That was after [[break-up of the Beatles|the Beatles split]], but still. ... And I was the one who had created all this. Despite that, I don't think they understood what I was talking about. ... They were obsessed with the idea of more control and more influence. So finally, the bomb exploded, and we never worked together again.<ref name="1997-98Interviews">{{cite web|url=http://riverising.tripod.com/john-bluemoonswamp/bmsinterviews.html?stop_mobi=yes|title=Blue Moon Swamp Interview|work=POP |year=1997|access-date=May 23, 2012}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}