Born on the Bayou

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"Born on the Bayou"
Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival
from the album Bayou Country
A-side"Proud Mary"
ReleasedJanuary 5, 1969
RecordedLate 1968, RCA Studios, Los Angeles, California
GenreSwamp rock[1][2]
Length5:10 (Album Version)
3:50 (Single Edit)
LabelFantasy
Songwriter(s)John Fogerty
Producer(s)John Fogerty

"Born on the Bayou" (1969) is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revival's second album, Bayou Country, released in 1969. It was released as the B-side of the single "Proud Mary" that reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts.

Background

Songwriter John Fogerty set the song in the South, despite neither having lived nor widely traveled there.[3] He commented:

"Born on the Bayou" was vaguely like "Porterville," about a mythical childhood and a heat-filled time, the

hoodoo." Hoodoo is a magical, mystical, spiritual, non-defined apparition, like a ghost or a shadow, not necessarily evil, but certainly other-worldly. I was getting some of that imagery from Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters.[4]

"Born on the Bayou" is an example of "

J.J. Cale and Tony Joe White. The guitar setting for the intro is over-driven with amp tremolo on a slow setting; Fogerty uses a Gibson ES-175 (which was stolen from his car soon after recording this track).[6]

Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford has said of the song in 1998:

My favorite record of ours is "Born on the Bayou." It's just an ass-kicker and a rolling track and, basically, where that song started was at the

Suzie Q" but I changed the foot pattern, and that was sort of the beginning of it. That's how it started, that feedback beginning and that quarter note beat.[7]

According to Clifford, "Born on the Bayou" was originally supposed to be released as the A-side of the single with "Proud Mary."[8] Clifford said of the song "I didn’t think 'Proud Mary' was that good, if you want to know the truth about it. I just didn’t like it. I liked 'Born on the Bayou' — to this day, it’s still my favorite Creedence song. It’s nasty, and I was disappointed when [the single] got flipped."[8] Clifford added that “I must say I’ve had a change of heart over 40 years, and I love ‘Proud Mary.”[8]

Creedence Clearwater Revival performed the song at Woodstock.[9][10]

Reception

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Cliff M. Junior rated "Born on the Bayou" as Creedence Clearwater Revival's 2nd greatest song, saying that "John Fogerty doesn’t just sing this ominous ode to the New Orleans area — he howls it."[10]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 500,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Molanphy, Chris (February 28, 2019). "The Bad Moon on the Rise Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  3. ^ John Fogerty interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1970)
  4. .
  5. ^ "What Is Swamp Rock?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
  6. ^ Drozdowski, Ted. "How John Fogerty Created Swampy 6-String Magic with Classic Les Pauls". Gibson Guitar Co. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  7. .
  8. ^ a b c Junior, Cliff M. (December 25, 2009). "Creedence Clearwater Revival: Three of a kind". Goldmine. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Greene, Andy (December 11, 2014). "Creedence Play 'Born on the Bayou' at Woodstock". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Junior, Cliff M. (September 9, 2012). "Top 10 Creedence Clearwater Revival Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "American single certifications – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Born on the Bayou". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 12, 2023.