Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall

Warning: If you don't play this documentary at a high volume you will be missing out on the fun.

I always thought that Creedence Clearwater Revival was the best band to come out of the 1960's and 1970's. Better, even, than the Beatles. Their country /grunge style always makes me smile whenever I hear it.

The documentary begins with the boys on their 1970 European tour. Then there is some background on the roots, the founding of the band back in high school. They first went under the name "The Blue Velvets" and when John's older brother joined they switched to "Tommy Fogerty and The Blue Velvets".

It's kind of funny how their first manager, Max Weiss, decided they should change their name to "The Golliwogs" so that they would sound more "British"'. What better way to ride on the coattails of "The British Invasion" than to name yourselves after an ugly rag doll caricature of a black minstrel. But, in Max's defense, he did have a prior hit under his belt: the theme to the "Charlie Brown" TV specials is a jazz instrumental titled "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi.

I knew most of their hits as they were always being played throughout the duration of the Vietnam debacle, but some of this footage is utterly mesmerising. I've seen very little live footage of them over the decades, but to be blessed by the whole concert, at the Albert Hall in 1970, is a privilege worth savouring. The sound quality is bang on. To learn that "The Fortunate One" was all about the privileged who avoided the draft is fascinating in its own right. The astonishing thing about the live concert, is that the 4 of them are in a 20 foot radius of each other, tight in every aspect. Miss this at your peril.

A film that captures Creedence Clearwater Revival's concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, during their 1970 European tour. We also have a history of the band to that point, all the way from their earliest days in school. Narrated by Jeff Bridges.

Creedence Clearwater Revival were huge in the late 60s/early 70s and had a big influence on later bands but today, unfortunately, they're less well known. This documentary and concert footage are timely reminder of just how great they were.

The documentary part is quite interesting though I sometimes feel Jeff Bridges overdoes the superlatives, making the narration sound less objective. He also sounds a bit drunk (and yes, I know that's how he always sounds).

The concert is great: only about an hour long but packing in their biggest hits. Great music and musicianship.

"Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall" (filmed in 1970; released in 2022; 86 min.) is a documentary about CCR's 1970 European tour, culminating with 2 shows at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London. Thankfully someone had the foresight to film one of these sets. As the documentary opens, the 4 guys in CCR are right in front of the Royal Albert Hall, grinning from ear to ear. "Can't wait to play here!" We then get short clips from some of their other European shows (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, Paris). At that point we go back to the band's origins, in the late 50s in El Cerrito, CA. Indeed, by the time the band broke big in 1968, they had been together for years.

Couple of comments: this is the long rumored release of the concert footage from CCR's show on April 14, 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall. Tis documentary is in fact a 3-for-1: there is the footage of them traveling around Europe (about 15 min.), then there is a look at the band's history leading up to that European tour (about 20 min.), and then comes the actual Royal Albert Hall show in its entirety (about 45 min.). If it were up to me, I'd have reduced the amount of time devoted to the band's history, and instead showing us more of the footage from the European tour (some gems like when they talk about that this is their very first visit to Europe, and their initial impressions). But of course the raison d'etre of this release is the Royal Albert Hall show. This was 8 month's after the band's legendary set at Woodstock. To be clear: they are in very fine form (check the outstanding "Born On the Bayou"), rip-roaring through 12 cuts in just 42 minutes. Yes, that is not a typo, they complete set clocks in at 42 minutes. Not sure how this is possible. How many opening bands were there? Anyway, the audio quality is top notch (this is also available as a CD), and the video quality is okay but not top notch. But the historic significance of this only goes up with each passing year. (For another footage gem of that era, look on YouTube for Deep Purple's Concert for Group Orchestra, filmed at the very same Royal Albert Hall in September, 1969.)

"Travelin' Band: CCR at the Royal Albert Hall" premiered on Netflix last Fall, and I completely missed it. Thankfully Netflix recommended it to me recently based on my viewing habits, and I watched it just the other night. Under normal circumstances I'd have rated it a solid 7 stars, but given the historical significance of this long overdue release, I'm rating it a generous 8 stars. Of course don't take my words for it, so check it out and draw your own conclusion.

The first half of this documentary is interesting. I loved getting a history of the band and seeing some footage from their first trip to Europe. I always find band histories fascinating, when done well. I wouldn't say this part of the documentary is top notch but it's done well enough to be enjoyable.

Where this really gets into its stride is with the concert footage from London. I thought I'd end up skipping for later as generally, I don't watch concerts on TV. And I was tired. But I was hooked, and ended up rewatching some parts of it. The simple raw performance of four musicians churning out great song after great song for 45 minutes was absolutely brilliant. I loved it and would recommend it as one of the best concerts I've ever seen on TV.