10 Most Dramatic Band Splits In Music History
6. CCR
To your average listener, Creedence Clearwater Revival has the sound of the Great American Rock Band, combining blues, country, and folk into a unique rocking good time. While the records always sounded like a ton of fun, it was not always an easy road getting there.
As the band finished their album Pendulum, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty abruptly left the group, citing his inability to work with his brother John Fogerty anymore. With the band now a trio, CCR faced an uncertain future as they entered their next album. The way the rest of the story goes really depends on which member you talk to.
According to the other members, Fogerty forced them to write their own songs and sing them, while Fogerty maintains that he was simply burned out and the other members wanted to have a more equal say in the music. Along with the artistic disagreements, the band was upset over not being compensated properly from their record company, which led Fogerty to be outwardly hostile to the head of their label. This tension made for one of the band's most ill-conceived albums with Mardi Gras. Once the record was officially released, the band were hardly on speaking terms anymore.