The original Woodstock turns 55 next month, and John Fogerty still holds a grudge about how the audience treated Creedence Clearwater Revival when they performed.
Forgerty told Guitar Player that he didn’t realize how big the fest was until they arrived on site. He said, “Riding in on a little World War II–era helicopter, coming up over a hill and suddenly seeing that crowd for the first time. That took my breath away.”
CCR were scheduled to go on after the Grateful Dead, and that band’s set went a bit long. That left CCR to go on at 12:30 am in front of a sleepy crowd. Fogerty said, “I had hoped to have my band do a spectacular set in front of this enormous crowd, because Creedence was clearly on a rocket ship going almost straight up. But even though we played well, the audience was very much asleep, and I was very disappointed.”
Fogerty didn’t allow the band to appear on the Woodstock film or live album because of the lack of response. CCR’s performance wasn’t released in full until the Woodstock 50th anniversary box set came out in 2019.
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