CCR Drummer Is Proud of Creedence Revisited’s Popularity

While John Fogerty has carried on the legacy of Creedence Clearwater Revival as a solo artist, the group’s other two surviving members, drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford and bassist Stu Cook, have continued to play together in their own group, Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

This year, the latter outfit is actually celebrating its 20th anniversary, having remained together for about four or five times longer than the original CCR.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Clifford tells ABC News Radio. “It seems like we just got started a few years ago, but it’s been an amazing couple of decades. We started not really knowing how we would be perceived by the public and it’s been great since the first show. In fact, at this point in time, we have more young fans than we do older fans and the fan base is growing in the right direction, which is probably our proudest accomplishment.”

As it usually does, Creedence Revisited will be playing dozens of concerts around North America this year. The band, whose current lineup also includes singer/guitarist John Tristao, lead guitarist Kurt Griffey and multi-instrumentalist Steve Gunner, has about 30 shows on its upcoming itinerary, which is mapped out from an April 11 performance in Mescalero, New Mexico, through a September 13 stop in West Wendover, Nevada.

Clifford points out that the bands shows generally run about 90-to-100 minutes, but says fans hoping to hear more obscure tunes from the CCR back catalog may be disappointed.

“There are 20, 21 songs in [our set] and they’re all hits,” he explains. “So, it’s pretty hard to slip in an album cut when you have such an arsenal of hit songs.”

The 68-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer says one of the reason for the enduring popularity of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and why Creedence Revisited remains a big concert draw, is how fresh and timeless the songs still sound.

“I’ll be in a store or surfing on the radio and I hear those songs and they could be a band right now, in the new millennium,” he maintains. “That’s kind of the beauty of it — great songwriting and great execution of the recordings, and I think that’s why we’re still around.”

Of course, Creedence Clearwater Revival fans have long hoped for a reunion of the original members, something that currently seems unlikely. For many years, Fogerty had feuded with his former band mates, although a couple of years back he admitted that he finally was open to playing with Clifford and Cook again. In response, the CCR drummer and bassist declared in a U.K. interview that the frontman’s overture came about 20 years too late. Clifford tells ABC News Radio that he still feels the same.

“It would have been nice 20 years ago, but it’s long passed, and I like the guys that I’m working with now,” says Doug. “I suppose if the original band got together again, the money would be huge, but life is short and the idea is to have as much fun as you can while you’re on the planet. So, I wish him well and he’s got his band and we have ours, and we’re happy where we are.”