Every Christmas we see the promotion of new albums with the old classic songs remade but how many of these albums carry the true Christmas spirit of giving? Creedence Clearwater Revisited drummer Doug Clifford vouches that the full proceeds of their Christmas song "Run Run Rudolph" on the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) album Hope for the Holidays are wholly donated to the worthy cause. Other artists include Weezer, Collective Soul, and The Beach Boys to name a few others who have also donated songs to the album. I spoke to Doug Clifford over the phone about Revisited recording "Run Run Rudolph" and what it's been like playing those classic Creedence hits again.
I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas tunes and perhaps I did hide my Mum's "Elvis sings Christmas" cassette (remember those) when I was younger but, after listening to "Run Run Rudolph" I began to find myself discovering a little lost holiday spirit buried deep inside. The music instantly put a smile on my face as it was not only a great Chuck Berry track redone but, it was performed in the original Creedence style that they are so well known for and it definitely carried that reminiscent Creedence Clearwater sound. As Doug Clifford likes to call it, "Creedence meets Chuck Berry".
We all remember Creedence Clearwater Revival from the '60s and '70s. Those days when live music sounded exactly the same as the album. They have sold over 26 million records in the US alone and their hits are too many to list in full. Some hits to recall are "Fortunate Son", "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" and "Proud Mary". I was having a little trouble understanding why they played under the new name, Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Original Revival band members Stu Cook (bassist) and Doug Clifford (drummer) reformed the band in 1995 without previous members, the Fogerty brothers. In their place, three long standing and talented musicians took on the Creedence title. They are; Steve Gunner, Tal Morris (Vocals), John Tristao and Revival was replaced by Revisited. Doug Clifford who has been drummer in both bands explains, "This is 'Revisited's 15th year. Stu's my best old pal and it's a lot of fun. The fans are enjoying the music and we are enjoying the fans."
Alongside the Hope for the Holidays album single "Run Run Rudolph", Revisitied's recently released a CD titled Recollection which has the hits they have not been able to play for over 20 years re-released. I asked Doug how it felt to be playing the old classics again. "Oh it's great. The music is wonderful. It's a great catalogue. When we walk out on stage we are going to play 20 songs and everyone's a hit. Everybody that really knows Creedence knows every song. The younger folk know the obvious ones but then they hear the more obscure ones that were still hits, it's an interesting experience for them. So, it's just a joy to play them."
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