Originally Posted by
bob_32_116
It is probably hard for young people today to appreciate the significance of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Events that took place 45 years ago are probably barely separated in their minds from those of 50 years ago, yet from 1965 to 1970 there were huge changes taking place. I recall reading that one of the early CCR albums cost about $2000 to make, a tiny sum even in those days, and this was typical of the band's approach - what we today would call "lo-fi". To put that in perspective, Pet Sounds, recorded a few years earlier, was put together on a budget of about $70,000, and between $50,000 and $75,000 was spent recording Good Vibrations alone - just one song. The world had got used to hearing about bands at the cutting edge, such as the Beatles and the Beach Boys, spending enormous amounts on getting the product just the way they wanted.
Those two bands showed what was possible in the studio, given enough time, effort, and money - and of course talent. What CCR showed was that money wasn't everything - that sometimes less is more. It was possibly a much-needed wake-up call at the time to aspiring musicians, who may have been seduced by albums like Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds into thinking that making good music - even great music - required enormous amounts of money. It doesn't. What it requires most of all is the ability to write good songs, and to play them.
Sure, CCR never produced anything like Pet Sounds, but that was hardly the point. There are some parallels between the arrival of CCR on the scene, in about 1969, and the arrival of punk rock, about ten years later.
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