If someone can explain this to me, I’d like to hear it.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, a group from 50 years ago that has never toured in the modern era, has three songs in the top 20 on iTunes. One of them, “Have You Never Seen the Rain,” has been sitting at number 2 all week.
The group’s greatest hits album, released in 1976, is in the top 5 sometimes moving higher.
Deep discounting is not the reason. The album is selling for a reasonable $11.99. The singles go for $1.29. Those are the normal prices on iTunes.
Of course the top 100 is littered with old songs. It has been for some time. Music fans are yearning for good material, and nostalgia for real music is huge because of the pandemic and uncertainty of the times.
But why CCR? Formed by John Fogerty and his brother Tom, a bassist, the group was a hit from the late 60s through the mid 70s. (Stu Cook was the group’s bassist and Doug Clifford was the drummer.) Then they broke up. They’ve never re-formed. Their music was sold into slavery basically and Fogerty refused to perform it for years. In the 80s he came back with some solo hits like “Centerfield,” but even then CCR had faded away.
Many CCR songs remain in the news. “Fortunate Son,” about Vietnam and how rich kids beat the draft while regular guys went to war, has always been used in films and TV. So has “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” “Proud Mary” became Ike and Tina Turner’s calling card. So Fogerty’s music has always remained current.
This latest sales revival is still a mystery. CCR has country and blues roots, certainly, that stand the test of time. That may account for the new popularity. And again, it’s real music, which must seem refreshing to young people who are discovering it for the first time.
