Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cosmo's Factory

THE REVIEW

'Cosmo's Factory' is the fifth album by Creedence, and certainly their most famous album, as well as the one that achieved the greatest commercial success. An album that managed to exemplarily synthesize the sound and spirit of an era. That essential and concise rock typical of Fogerty and company effectively served as a soundtrack for the disappointments of the Sixties, a kind of balanced diet to heal from the lysergic rock intoxications of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.

In those years, Creedence represented the moderate area of California: a band atypical both musically and philosophically. Yet they were the diamond point of the recording industry, skilled like no other at crafting wonderful 45 rpm singles as well as LPs of extraordinary artistic and emotional impact. Built around the undisputed leading figure of the charismatic John Fogerty, Creedence formed in 1959 in El Cerrito, in the East Bay of San Francisco where the two Fogerty brothers, both guitarists, met bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford at the local high school. Tom Fogerty is a skilled guitarist, but in the band, he is overshadowed by the talent of his brother John.

After playing locally for a few years, in 1964, they signed with the prestigious Fantasy Records of Berkeley. With their new name Golliwogs, they recorded the single "Brown-Eyed Girl", but it didn't follow through. Since 1967, they decided to call themselves Creedence Clearwater Revival. With a tough apprenticeship and extraordinary experience gained during the eight years before gaining notoriety, totaling 2000 studio hours accompanying themselves or other obscure talents in search of fame, they knew well how to work in a recording studio.

With 'Cosmo's Factory', Creedence became promoters of that musical genre they themselves like to define as bayou country or swamp rock due to a pleasant obsession they have for the music and culture of Louisiana. In those swampy areas about a hundred kilometers east of New Orleans are the lands inhabited by the Cajuns, and they turn to this remote world, often guiltily forgotten by consumer America, for inspiration and to give it an absolutely personal interpretation. They adopt the terminology associated with those lands and develop it on rhythms and sounds that convey in their own way the charm of Louisiana. This is how the swamp songs come about. A "swamp" is literally a marsh or swampy ground, which is synonymous with "bayou". According to John Fogerty, to make a "swamp" track, you need a guitar with a tremolo, a powerful voice with a gospel timbre, a mystical lyrics with characteristic expressions like "blue moon swamp", thus creating the classic atmosphere of Creedence's pieces, real anthologies of 'american music'.

'Cosmo's Factory' is expressly dedicated by John to drummer Doug Clifford, who was nicknamed 'Cosmo' because he was the most moody of the band. "Factory" was always meant to be the place where Creedence played. With the same name 'Cosmo's Factory', the place where the album was conceived was identified. It is a kind of headquarters located at 1230 Fifth Street, a series of huge warehouses in the industrial area of Berkeley. A small 'loft' is adapted as an office, while protected by blue curtains, in the corner of the main room, the rehearsal room is created. Every day for six weeks before the recordings, Creedence would go to Cosmo's Factory around noon to rehearse the eleven tracks that would be recorded on tape at the Fantasy studios. The record showcases at the peak of expression, the band's eclecticism and its formidable ability to effectively and emotionally interpret the roots music of America. Inside, there's a bit of everything: the blues of the Delta and Chicago, the pop music of California, echoes of rockabilly, classic rock'n'roll, country strains, soul sounds, jazz hints, and the unusual swamp rock of Louisiana.

Each band member has their own preferences. Doug Clifford considers "Lookin Out My Back Door" the most representative track of the album. Tom Fogerty thinks "As Long As I Can See The Light" is the best song on the album, and his brother John's sax solo a true jewel. Stu Cook favors two covers: "Ooby Dooby" made famous by the great Roy Orbison in 1965 and "My Baby Left Me" by Arthur Crudup also because these are the tracks that convinced the group to seriously pursue a career as a rock band. And also because Roy Orbison was a decisive influence on John Fogerty's artistic development. John fondly recalls Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me" because they used to play it together in bars at the beginning of their career. That heart was always in John's heart. John himself recalls that Cosmo's Factory was the easiest and most fun album to record. They went into the studio and completed it in a week without issues. The only track they worked hard on was Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Through The Grapevine". Many artists had already recorded it, but John tried to create a different arrangement. In the end, it came out as a track over 11 minutes long.

The record contains two masterpieces penned by John Fogerty. The first, "Travelin' Band", is a breathtaking rock'n'roll, written in a hotel room, which recounts the vicissitudes of a rock musician and his love-hate for life on the road, for concerts, tours, and everything that revolves around this profession. The second, "Who'll Stop The Rain", soon became a symbol of an entire generation. In three minutes it dramatically expresses all the malaise, tensions, expectations, and hopes of modern man. A track of rare beauty, a magnificent parable of anguish and impotence, a true youth anthem. Before this song, Fogerty himself stated that he wasn't confident in writing something committed and profound, truly his own. This song changed his life and from that moment on, he felt the need to narrate and express the things he saw around him, especially those that were not going right. "Run Through The Jungle" stems from an idea by Stu Cook and is an acidic and psychedelic track, with a visionary, almost surreal atmosphere, about the Vietnam War told from the soldiers' perspective. "Up Around The Bend" is a simple rock with an atypical but highly effective riff. The album closes with "Long As I Can See The Light", a gripping soul ballad accompanied by a melancholic sax, a fluid piano, and precise rhythmic counterpoints. The rhythmic section of Creedence, entrusted to Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, is here more than anywhere else inimitable and precise: one of the strengths of the Californian quartet.

In ten days, 'Cosmo's Factory' leaped to the top of the world charts and became a platinum record.

The rest is history.