Creedence Clearwater Revival had been together, under different names, for about thirteen years when they broke hard apart in 1972. In their final five years together as CCR, they’d enjoyed enviable success, but now went their separate ways.
John Fogerty’s first solo album, Blue Ridge Rangers, featured a number of covers, mostly of country standards. Of these, Jambalaya (On the Bayou) charted the highest at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, but only at #66 on the country charts. Apparently, country music fans deemed Fogarty to be a maker of rock music, not country. For those keeping score, he’d end up having just one song in each decade (70s, 80s, 90s) register on the US Hot Country chart. He did much better on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, which only came into being in March 1981. The high point of his solo career occurred in the mid-eighties.
The number #n following the year released, below, indicate chart position for Top 40 (US Billboard Hot 100). After March 1981, there are two numbers separated by a slash. The second number indicates chart position on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. As you can see by looking at these numbers, Fogerty’s music was much more popular in the eighties with rock ‘n’ roll fans than with Top 40 fans, an indication that a gulf was forming between rock and pop music: the beginning of a trend that continues today.
1973 #16
Jambalaya (On the Bayou) (3:18)
1973 #37
Hearts of Stone (2:14)
1975 #27
Rockin’ All Over The World (2:53)
1984 #10/1
The Old Man Down the Road (3:35)
1985 #20/5
Rock and Roll Girls (3:27)
1985 #44/4
Centerfield (3:52)
1986 #81/3
Eye of the Zombie (4:36)
1986 #-/27
Headlines (4:30)
1986 #-/3
Change in the Weather (4:04)
1997 #-/14
Walking in a Hurricane (3:42)
1997 #-/32
Blueboy (4:05)
1998 #-/19
Premonition (LIVE) (3:20)
