Lost Classic: CCR’s ‘Live in Europe’

Band’s final tour documented on double LP

For a time, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the hottest American band on the rock ‘n’ roll scene. Between 1968 and 1970, anything that the Northern California quartet touched turned to gold. The band’s earthy, raw, Cajun-inflected sound definitely struck a nerve (in a good way) with rock music fans. The group’s music still casts a long shadow today.

But nothing is ever as good as it is perceived. Group co-founders and brothers John and Tom Fogerty were seemingly always at odds. Tom invited his younger brother to join his band in the early ‘60s, but eventually John took control of the group and became its sole creative force. He was largely responsible for the group’s sound, which was rounded out by bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford.

It was painfully obvious that Tom was an inferior musician, songwriter and singer, and playing second fiddle to John just wasn’t going to work for Tom; he left the group in 1971, and Creedence continued as a trio. And the first thing the group did without Tom was the double album “Live in Europe,” one of two live CCR LPs. (“The Concert” was recorded in Oakland in 1970, but it stayed in a vault for 10 years before finally being released in 1980. That album, also a double LP, was a much better representation of the group’s live show.)

“Live in Europe” was recorded in April 1971, but it didn’t hit stores for more than two years. Fantasy Records’ executive Saul Zaents, who was best friends with Tom, released the album over the objection of John, who had released his first solo album via the label six months earlier. The tour from which the songs were culled was launched to promote the group’s last studio LP, 1972’s “Mardi Gras,” an absolute mess of a record.

After Tom’s departure, CCR became a democracy – something that the guitarist had always envisioned during his tenure with the group. However, the new formula didn’t work for either fans or critics. John’s contributions, “Someday Never Comes,” “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” and a cover of Ricky Nelson’s “Hello Mary Lou,” were solid, and, honestly, they represented some of his best work. But Clifford and Cook wrote and produced some of the songs, most of which were forgettable.

The live work overseas obviously didn’t work, either, then. But most of the classics are included here in this collection. And had John and Zaents not been at each other’s throats and had John continued to be the group’s leader, who knows what might have been?

“Sweet Hitch-Hiker” and Cook’s “Door to Door” are on the live LP, along with classics such as “Born on the Bayou,” “Fortunate Son,” “Hey Tonight” and “Bad Moon Rising.” Other tracks on the setlist sound the way they’re supposed to sound, proving that Tom’s contributions were minimal and that his presence was largely dead weight.

The feud between John and Tom continued until Tom’s death in 1990, and the brothers never really settled their differences, if John’s account is to be believed. Zaents and John remained bitter enemies right up until the former’s death, as well. After the European live album was released, John vowed never to sing CCR songs again, a promise he kept until 1987, when the boycott unexpectedly came to an end at the “Welcome Home Vets” concert in Landover, Maryland. After coming out onstage and starting “The Old Man Down the Road,” John suddenly took a knee and began weeping. He eventually broke into “Born on the Bayou.”

“Live in Europe” gets a bad rap. The music is good and the trio was tight, but Creedence had obviously passed its prime when it was recorded. Fans of the group should give it a spin for old times’ sake, though.