Creedence Clearwater Revival, Chronicle
Creedence Clearwater Revival CHRONICLE.
Creedence Clearwater Revival existed for only a few intensely productive years, but Chronicle turned that burst of singles into a record that has outlived the band by decades.
Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Image source: Cover Art Archive / MusicBrainz.
SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.
Twenty songs make Chronicle look simple. The remarkable part is how little time CCR needed to create the catalog that fills it.
Chronicle: 20 Greatest Hits was released in 1976, four years after Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded in 1972.
The compilation contains 20 tracks, including "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Fortunate Son," "Down on the Corner" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain."
The collection also includes CCR's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," showing that the band's catalog was not built entirely from John Fogerty originals.
The RIAA certified Chronicle Diamond in 2016, representing at least 10 million U.S. album units under the certification standard.
Concord identifies Chronicle as Creedence Clearwater Revival's best-selling album.
CCR released seven studio albums between 1968 and 1972, meaning the material summarized by Chronicle came from an unusually concentrated period of work.
Concord dates the recordings collected on Chronicle to 1968 through 1970 and credits John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford.
WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.
Chronicle became more than a convenient greatest-hits collection. For generations of listeners it has functioned as the front door to CCR, preserving an enormous number of familiar songs from a band whose recording career was remarkably short.
THE
NUMBERS.
TRACKS
Twenty songs form the standard compilation.
U.S. UNITS
Diamond certification marked at least ten million U.S. album units.
STUDIO ALBUMS
CCR released seven studio albums between 1968 and 1972.
THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.
Greatest-hits records can feel disposable, but Chronicle became a physical object with its own identity. For many listeners, this cover is not a substitute for the CCR catalog. It is the CCR record they grew up with.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Facts are checked against artist, label, award, chart and detailed recording-credit sources before publication.
KEEP
DIGGING.
More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.