John Fogerty Reflects On Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Infamous ‘Disappointing’ Woodstock Set

The August 1969 Woodstock festival saw the Creedence Clearwater Revival band do an hour-long set featuring their iconic hits like “Bad Moon Rising” and “Proud Mary” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts at the time. Their third number two single, “Green River” was still at number 15 during their performance.

Surprisingly, their set went undocumented in the festival’s movie, making the knowledge of their presence unknown to most. CCR was easily one of the fan-favorite bands of that time, having graced other shows, including the Newport in California, the Denver and the Atlanta festivals, and the Atlantic City Festival.

CCR did not perform as scheduled at Woodstock

According to frontman John Fogerty, they were supposed to take the “prime spot” had The Grateful Dead not disrupted the plan. Regardless, they began just after midnight with “Born On The Bayou” as the opener song, and then “Green River” plus Wilson Pickett’s “Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won’t Do).”

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They also did “I Put A Spell On You” at twice its playtime and “Keep On Chooglin’” for up to ten minutes. However, despite their dedicated performance, John was quite disappointed because the audience was unresponsive. Thankfully, John got over the shame, and they all agreed to put it behind them, but not after he made a decision that affected the band’s credit for Woodstock ‘69.

John had their performance omitted

Out of embarrassment, John had footage of their rendition removed from Woodstock’s movie and live album, thereby erasing their impact or any credits for their contribution to the festival. The deliberate omission did not seem to affect the group’s success much, as they went on to release more chart-topping music the following year.

After years of making groundbreaking hits together, CCR began to break up in 1972 with Tom Fogerty’s exit and internal lawsuits that ensued. There was also a lack of consensus among the remaining band members, who considered John’s leadership style to be unhelpful. After CCR disbanded, John pursued a solo career and other members regrouped to form Creedence Clearwater Revisited in 1995, which mostly played the original band classics.