Creedence Clearwater Revival coined a unique language with roots in Louisiana blues and cajun music. They married the rhythms of the "swamps" with the melodies of folk-rock and the spirit of Bob Dylan. Somehow that fusion created a simple and catchy style that represents the quintessence of American music.

The Fogerty brothers, John (vocals, guitar) and Tom (guitar), had actually grown up in Berkeley, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and since 1959 had played in a rhythm and blues band (Tommy Fogerty & the Blue Velvets), releasing some 45s starting in 1964, during the "hot" years of the British Invasion.

In 1967 they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival and released two covers of Jay Hawkins, Suzie Q and Put A Spell On You, which immediately catapulted them into the charts. These are the cornerstones of the first album, Creedence Clearwater Revival (Fantasy, 1968). The secret of their music lay not so much in the melodies as in the rhythms. Rhythm had been the great rediscovery of those years, thanks to the "blues revival" coming from Chicago that had set foot in San Francisco itself. Folk-rock, surf, and acid-rock had mostly relegated rhythm to the background, but the blues revival was forcefully bringing the "groove" back to the forefront. CCR focused precisely on the "groove".

John Fogerty began composing original material, leaving behind the covers that had trained him. John wrote all the classics of 1968–70, defining a sound that springs from blues jams, Dylan’s talking ballads, and the lysergic trips of the Bay; that softens with the guitar-driven country of the South; that regenerates itself in the swamp rhythms of Louisiana; and, concentrated into pills of skin-deep emotions, slips into a timeless limbo of folklore. Bayou Country (Fantasy, 1968) is a much more robust album. Above all it includes Proud Mary, their most famous song, which, relying on a feverish rhythm, served as a bridge between the festive spirit of folk-rock and the darker one of blues-rock, and other tracks built on the groove, such as Bootleg and Graveyard Train, swamp blues with sinister tones that relied on a strong and dark, almost tribal pulsation in Born On The Bayou. The guitar had a purely atmospheric role: not only were the solos limited to a few seconds, but the rhythm section took centerstage.

Green River (Fantasy, 1969) continued the progression toward that dark and murky sound with Lodi (1969), a blend of blues and gospel elements accelerated in the same manner as Proud Mary; Bad Moon Rising, increasingly immersed in sinister voodoo nightmares; Green River, the dress rehearsal for Run Thru The Jungle; and Tombstone Shadow. John Fogerty was the lifeblood of the band, with his martial, dark, and somewhat hoarse voice, whose tone shifted from that of a true Delta bluesman to that of an apocalyptic prophet. Fogerty, however, displayed a tendency to repeat himself, to self-quote, to endlessly exploit riffs, refrains, and famous cadences from his songs, and for this reason his glory rests more on a handful of brilliant ideas than on a substantial opus.

Willy And The Poorboys (Fantasy, 1969), a concept dedicated to the working class, relied on less obsessive songs and more realistic lyrics. The standouts are Down On The Corner, a syncopated Caribbean-style quadrille, and Fortunate Son, the first of their three great acrobatic rock and roll numbers.

Cosmo's Factory (Fantasy, 1970), probably their masterpiece, from Ramble Tamble onward leans on the visceral and driving cadences of Delta blues and on the unsettling atmospheres of jungle rituals. Thus was born Run Thru The Jungle, the darkest and most hypnotic nightmare of their career. But the band had reached maturity in reinterpreting tradition, as shown by Travelin' Band, the second of their great rock and roll numbers; Looking Out My Backdoor, a catchy and effervescent ragtime; Up Around The Bend, a roaring boogie-driven shout; and Who'll Stop The Rain, a sped-up gospel set to an insistent jingle-jangle.

Pendulum (Fantasy, 1971) seems almost like a poor copy of the previous record. Fogerty duplicates those classics one by one. The only one worthy of the originals is Have You Ever Seen The Rain, in Dylan’s prophetic tone. Molina, Hey Tonight, It's Just A Thought, and Hideaway are brilliant but generic roots-rock songs. The band pushes to the extreme the elements that had made the previous record great in the lengthy Pagan Baby and Born To Move. Nevertheless, the album became the group’s best-seller. Tom Fogerty had already left the band (he would die of tuberculosis in 1990).

The band broke up after the mediocre Mardi Gras (Fantasy, 1972), which contains Sweet Hitch-hiker, the last of their great rock 'n' roll numbers.

In those years CCR dominated the singles charts, despite not being a commercial band at all. The fact is that they had coined a language in which the average American immediately identified, the prototype of family-oriented rock of the 1970s.

Chronicle (Fantasy, 1976) is the anthology of their hits.

John Fogerty launched his solo career with two albums on which he played all the instruments: The Blue Ridge Rangers (Asylum, 1973), a tribute to the heroes of country music (Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers), and John Fogerty (Asylum, 1975), which includes two decent rock and roll songs, Rockin' All Over The World and Almost Saturday Night. The third album, Hoodoo, rejected by the record label, remained unreleased, and Fogerty withdrew from the scene. He returned to the studio after ten years and hit the mark. Centerfield (Warner, 1985) was a major success, thanks above all to the verve of Rock And Roll Girls and The Old Man Down The Road, an obvious reworking of Run Thru The Jungle for the generation that had missed the original. Eye Of The Zombie (Warner, 1986), however, was another disappointment, despite Sail Away and Change In The Weather. After another ten-year absence from the scene, Blue Moon Swamp (Reprise, 1997), containing lukewarm blues-rock ballads such as Swamp River Days, Southern Streamline, Blue Moon Nights, and the live album Premonition (Reprise, 1998), brought him back into the spotlight once again. He would persist in recording a couple of albums per decade: Dejavu (2004) and especially Revival (2007), with Don't You Wish It Was True.

John Fogerty released a second solo album a quarter of a century after the first one: The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again (2009), a nostalgic collection of country covers.