Maps of Music

Cosmo's Factory (1970)

Where the lyrics of Cosmo's Factory take you, and where it was really made.

The album is named after drummer Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford, but its title comes from a Berkeley warehouse he nicknamed 'The Factory'.

Key places

Recorded at Wally Heider Studios (1970)

Recording site Soapbox West — The album was recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. The point is placed at the city centre, so the exact studio building position is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Cosmo's Factory: fifth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Released 8 July 1970 by Fantasy Records
• Eleven tracks; six of them released as singles in 1970
• All six singles charted in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100
• Nine consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200
• Blends R&B, soul, country, rockabilly and psychedelia into the band's 'swamp rock' sound
• Includes two longer cuts: the seven-minute opener 'Ramble Tamble' and an 11-minute 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine'

Background

• Title comes from a Berkeley warehouse where the band rehearsed early in their career
• Drummer Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford dubbed the place 'The Factory'
• John Fogerty made the band practice there almost every day
• 'Travelin' Band' was inspired by 1950s rock 'n' roll, particularly Little Richard
• The publisher of Little Richard's 'Good Golly, Miss Molly' later filed a plagiarism suit over 'Travelin' Band', settled out of court
• 'Lookin' Out My Back Door' was a direct tribute to the Bakersfield Sound
• Fogerty said the song was written for his three-year-old son Josh
• The double A-sided 'Travelin' Band'/'Who'll Stop the Rain' peaked at number two on the Hot 100 in January 1970

Recording

• Recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco (city-level location only)
• Russ Gary credited as engineer
• 'Run Through the Jungle' opens and closes with jungle sound effects made from backwards recorded guitar and piano, according to bassist Stu Cook

Cover

• Cover photo taken by Bob Fogerty, brother of John and Tom
• Shows the four members caught in an off-duty moment
• The handwritten '3RD GENERATION' sign is an ironic reference to Ralph Gleason's liner notes on the band's debut album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California, in 1968.
• The members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs.
• Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz bought the label in 1967 and offered the band a chance to record an album.

Members

• John Fogerty: lead vocals, lead guitar, primary songwriter.
• Tom Fogerty: rhythm guitar, quit at the end of 1970 and died in 1990.
• Stu Cook: bass.
• Doug Clifford: drums.

Career

• Between 1969 and 1971 the band had 14 consecutive top-10 singles and five consecutive top-10 albums in the United States.
• Green River (1969) and Cosmo's Factory (1970) both topped the Billboard 200.
• The band performed at Woodstock in 1969.
• The band disbanded acrimoniously in 1972 amid lawsuits and disputes over business and artistic control.
• Cook and Clifford performed as Creedence Clearwater Revisited from 1995 to 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's original review said Creedence Clearwater Revival is one great rock and roll band, and cited this album as another good reason why
• AllMusic rates the album 5 out of 5 stars
• AllMusic singled out the closing track 'Long as I Can See the Light' as the perfect way to end an album made during stress and chaos

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time placed it at number 265
• On the revised 2020 list it was re-ranked at number 413

Records

• Billboard 200: nine consecutive weeks at number one
• Six singles, all in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100
• Topped the album charts in six countries
• RIAA gold certification (500,000 units) on 16 December 1970
• RIAA four-times platinum certification on 13 December 1990, indicating over four million copies sold
• Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album title comes from a Berkeley warehouse that drummer Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford nicknamed 'The Factory' because the band practiced there almost daily.
• Clifford later said John Fogerty told the press the album would be named after him, so he would take the pressure; he joked that it had to be a hit because it was named after him.
• 'Lookin' Out My Back Door' was written for Fogerty's son Josh, and the parade reference was inspired by a Dr. Seuss book.
• Many listeners believed 'Run Through the Jungle' was about the Vietnam War, but the song is actually about how common guns were in the United States.
• The opener 'Ramble Tamble' runs seven minutes, unusually long for a band known for concise, tightly arranged songs.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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