1970 Up Around the Bend Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around The Bend
In the short time of Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1968 – 1972, some outstanding hits were created. These included, above all, the outstanding album ‘Cosmo’s Factory’ and the hit ‘Up Around the Bend’, which was also released on the album, the call to embrace new times. The album is regarded as the artistic highlight of her career.
With the demand to work hard on himself, bandleader John Fogerty pursued a mentality that would later lead to the group’s rancour. Factory, a garage rehearsal space, and Cosmo, the nickname of drummer Doug Clifford, formed the album name. Even before the album was released in July 1970, songs such as ‘Travelin’ Band‘/’Who’ll Stop the Rain‘ and “Up Around the Bend”/’Run Through the Jungle’ were already firm favourites on the radio.
American Bandstand 1970 – 1970 Dance Contest Finalists – Up Around The Bend, CCR
The band released numerous hits until their break-up in 1972. However, the speed at which they worked on these hits led to intense tensions and was therefore also the trigger for the break-up of Creedence Clearwater Revival, or CCR for short. Tom Fogerty, the band leader’s brother, had already left the band.
A band that could not call well-known faces such as Morrison, Hendrix, Clapton or Page their own had a hard time at the end of the 1960s and had to work particularly hard on their career to get a place on airplay (radio and television) and thus get their chance. Something that had driven Fogerty to become as productive as possible. With this knowledge, he demanded a special effort from the band, which resulted in really good hits, without the usual hooks like sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. On the contrary, the band had created their very own genre, a mixture of sothern and swamp rock.
The fifth album in two years was to be a stroke of genius for him. And the album made it to number 4 in the USA and number 3 in the UK. Fogerty incorporated guitar mixes like those of Jimi Hendrix, driving chord sequences like those of the Beatles and harmonic sounds like those of the Greatful Dead. A lot of power in just over 2 minutes, the song first appeared on the single ‘Run Through the Jungle’. Little is known about the creation of the song itself or the idea behind it. Only the circumstances of the time and interpretations that arise from the lyrics, as well as the special type of John Fogerty, allow many a music fetishist to understand what idea Fogerty seemed to be inspired and driven by.
The song ‘Up Around the Bend’ is about the call for change and freedom, leaving problems behind and approaching the new with optimism. The song was written in the midst of global political, cultural and social unrest and calls for hope and solace in a turbulent time. The Vietnam War, civil rights movements, primarily in the USA, and thus questioning the status quo, a rebellious call to free oneself from the maelstrom of the past.
Fogerty is still active today as a solo artist, a Grammy award winner and has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Over 100 million records were sold together with and during the CCR era. In 2019, he celebrated his 50th anniversary on stage and is far from thinking about retiring. Instead, there was a worldwide tour, ‘My 50 Year Trip’, to which he also dedicated an album ‘50 Year Trip: Live at Red Rocks’. This included songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival and hits that were played at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969. In 2020, Fogerty went into self-quarantine with his family and produced music in his home studio. This resulted in a weekly video series that was released via BMG. ‘Weeping in the Promised Land’, released in 2021, became a dedication to all those affected by the pandemic, as well as those who had suffered prejudice and injustice, with a view to better days ahead.
At the beginning of 2025, John Fogerty has regained the rights to his songs, which were taken from him by the music label, and is currently planning upcoming tours again.
1974 Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love you
„I will Always Love you“ is a story of two cover versions, one that was and one that might have been. The song was originally a modest hit for Dolly parton in 1974 and 1982. Written to lament the end of Parton`s formative (and entirely non-romantic) musical partnership with sharp-dressing country legend Porter Wagoner, „I will Always Love You“ was twice a country No. 1 but never troubled the pop charts. Then Whitney Houston got hold of it in 1992 and turned an understand country love song into a gargantuan, release-the-diva soul ballad. Recorded for the soundtrack of cinematic melodrama The Bodyguard, „I Will Always…“ was No. 1 in the United States for fourteen weeks and sold more than thirteen million singles arround the world – a record for a female artist.
Which brings us to the second cover version, the one that never was. While Parton`s springhtly tune was still wowing country audiences, it reached the ears of elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who decided it would mean singing over half the publishing rights, as was the custom when dealing with Parker, she refused. Although it denied us the chance to hear presley´s tonsils wrapped round her perky tune, the decision paid off nearly twenty years later, when Houston`s version earned Parton a cool 56 million.
1976 Nazareth – Love Hurts
Nazareth – Love Hurts
In 1960, the Everly Brothers released the later hit ‘Love Hurts’ for the first time, which became much better known through Nazareth. It appeared on the album ‘Hair of the Dog’ in 1975 and reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. ‘Love Hurts’ became the real hit of the album, as Nazareth bassist Pete Agnew described it. The song was initially released as a B-side on the single.
The song first appeared on the album ‘A date with the Everly Brothers’ and was never released as a single. The duo’s manager Wesley Rose first brought the song to Roy Orbison in 1961, where it appeared on the No. 1 single ‘Running Scared’. Don and Phil, the Everly Brothers duo, were in a legal dispute with Wesley Rose and his label Acuff-Rose. The duo signed a contract with Warner Bros. The rights were ceded, and the songwriting duo, Mr and Mrs Boudleaux Bryant, also withdrew the lyrics to ‘Love Hurts’.
The Everly Brothers claimed that the lyrics were written for their song and would now go to Roy Orbison. At the time, however, it was still unclear whether the Acuff-Rose label would licence the song and so no single could be recorded.
The married couple Boudleauy, Felice Bryant and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant wrote songs such as ‘Wake up little Susie’ and ‘Bye Bye Love’. Love Hurts was about heartbreak and the scars and wounds it would leave behind.
Without further ado, the Everly Brothers rewrote the song in 1965 and released their own version of ‘Love Hurts’ on their album Rock’n Soul. When Nazareth recorded the song in 1975, the lyrics were changed again and appeared on the album ‘Hair of the Dog’. Love is like a stove / It burns you when it’s hot was changed to Love is like a flame / It burns you when it’s hot. However, the Everly Brothers had already been separated for three years when the Nazareth album was released. The duo did not record the hit again until 1983.
Everly Brothers – Love Hurts