Maps of Music

Pendulum (1970)

Where the lyrics of Pendulum take you, and where it was really made.

Pendulum took a month to record, an unusually long time for the band, and it became the last Creedence album produced solely by John Fogerty.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1970)

Recording site Hyde Street Studios — The album was recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. The sessions took a month, an unusually long time for the band. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Pendulum: sixth studio album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Released in December 1970 by Fantasy Records
• Second studio album the band released that year, five months after Cosmo's Factory
• Final album with guitarist Tom Fogerty, who left shortly after the recording sessions ended
• Tom Fogerty's departure was not officially announced until February 1, 1971
• Last Creedence album produced solely by John Fogerty
• The only album by the band with no covers; all songs written by John Fogerty
• Sixth of seven studio albums by the band from 1968 to 1972

Background

• A band meeting before the sessions saw Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford asking bandleader John Fogerty for greater creative input
• The backlog of John's songs had already been released earlier that year on Cosmo's Factory
• The band planned to jam and experiment in the studio, but no new songs came from this method

Recording

• Recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco
• The sessions took a month to complete, an unusually long time for the band
• John played Hammond B-3 organ on many tracks
• Stu Cook contributed piano; saxophones and keyboards expanded the sound

Cover

• Cover design by Richard Edlund and Wayne Kimbell
• Photography by Ed Caraeff and Baron Wolman

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.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

• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album an A−
• He criticized "Molina" and "Pagan Baby" as slightly subpar and "Sailor's Lament" as a little more so
• He called "Rude Awakening #2" a pretentious moment and praised the other six songs
• He wrote that other songwriters would kill or steal those six songs for themselves

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said the album isn't transcendent like the band's previous work
• He nevertheless called it a grower and praised John Fogerty's expansion of the band's sound
• A Portuguese article quotes Erlewine saying the album was built as a rebuke to critics who labeled CCR a pop band in 1969 and 1970

Records

• Charted in the top 10 in 10 countries
• Peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200
• The single "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" / "Hey Tonight" was released in January 1971
• The single reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Clifford played the album for Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper of the M.G.'s, who said it sounded remarkably similar to the playing of their bandmate Booker T. Jones.
• Portuguese Wikipedia notes Pendulum was the only CCR album with no covers, with all tracks written by John Fogerty.
• French Wikipedia notes "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" was used in the soundtrack of the final episode of Stargate SG-1, titled Unending.

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

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