The Four Members of Creedence Clearwater Revival Invented The Swamp Rock Genre

the musicologists at Rolling Stone . . .

It is to laugh. . .



For the record—there are no musicologists at Rolling Stone. There are press agents and a couple of Lester Bangs wannabes. Rolling Stone doesn't do musicology.

 

Southern-rock and swamp-rock are two different things and shouldn't be confused. Yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd made reference to the Muscle Shoals Swampers, but hell, that's what everybody called them.

 

I thought that it was something merely related to academia? Now you're trying to limit it to only those who have PhDs. We're not talking about doctors and lawyers here.

 

If you want the title earn the degree. You don't have to pass a bar exam.

 

I don't know about the "Lester Bangs wannabes" part. I haven't read an issue of the Stone in a long time, but I'm fairly certain that no one on the staff is as distinctive as Lester was. Specially since he was a bit of an outsider in that scene to begin with

 

Down Home Music, El Cerrito, invented Swamp Rock when they made a bin card for it. Fogerty stole the concept:

 

But is your goal here really to debate who is a musicologist or to make a point about CCR?

If the latter, I suggest making your own arguments rather than trumping up the credentials of people you claim agree with you.

 

In any event, I'm not sure Rolling Stone -- and I know folks who work or have worked at Rolling Stone over the years -- has ever had anyone with a PhD or even a MA or MS in musicology on staff, has it? It certainly has never published a piece of musicology. This is a work of musicology: http://jm.ucpress.edu/content/32/2/153 or these: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.ethnom...e/resmgr/Journal_Abstracts/59.3_Abstracts.pdf and requires a certain kind of scientific and research rigor.

Rolling Stone has published the non-academic writings of academics for sure. It's published Sean Wilentz who is an academic historian who teaches at Princeton. It's published Dave Hickey who I think has an MA in art history and who has taught art history, criticism and writing at the college level, etc. But I'm not sure about musicologists.

 

Like I said, a couple. Mostly writing politics these days.

 

"Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me"... (B. Joel)

He`s no musicologist, but I kind of agree with him nonetheless.

 

Not just academia generally, but the specific discipline of musicology. You're much more likely to find people with degrees in history, English even cultural studies or American studies or something writing for the likes of Rolling Stone than with degrees in music or musicology, never mind people who are actually practicing, professional musicologists.

 

Bobbie Gentry's "Mississippi Delta" and "Okolona River Bottom Band" were pre-CCR swamp rock.

 

Barry Hansen (a/k/a Dr. Demento) has a degree in ethnomusicology, and he penned a few record reviews for Rolling Stone early on.

The magazine has been around for 48 years, with a zillion writers who have added their byline to a story. There would HAVE to be a few musicologists in that number. It's not that simple to say there weren't.

 

However this thread winds up, it's certain that while CCR might have been part of the swamp-rock thing, they didn't invent it by any means

 

But the bulk of Dr. D's writings do not go under the general heading of "musicology". There are no musicological articles in Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone doesn't do musicology. My ex does musicology. Richard Taruskin does musicology. Nicholas Slonimsky did musicology. But, like Homie the Clown, Rolling Stone don't play that.

 

Right, but to say there were you have to back it with facts.

 

As much as I love CCR, calling the music unique is a bit of a hyperbole.

 

Come Back Bobbie Gentry!

 

I bet you Zanz could dance with her...

 

Instantly recognizable, though. So maybe "distinctive" is a better word (though John Fogerty evidently did refer to his own singing as a "unique instrument").

 

That`s the whole point with the OP...the guy loves a good argument and he`ll fight anyone on everything. Eiher you agree with him or it`s endless argumentation.

 

Seeing as how you've already had your butt handed to you regarding musicologists at Rolling Stone there is no need for me to find a dictionary. Thank you.

 

Amen.

 

Right. Having a degree in musicology does not mean everything you write is now musicology. (Thank god for that, too). I have friends who are professors of musicology. Tossing out a phrase like "swamp rock" while reviewing a Creedence album could not be farther from the kind of thing that they do professionally.

 

CCR didn t invent anything. John Fogerty and the boys simple took old blues, rockn roll, soul, country and mixed it with the lenghty jam-phsycedelia popular at the time. Plus John Fogertys formidable talent
The term Swamp-rock as far as I know was a marketing term to introduce and sell Tony Joe White first album and not least Pork Salad Annie.
Most "musicologists" are aware that hardly any musical genre were invented by a certain artist it s more an evolution
With that said CCR were a great band and John Fogerty certanely. is one of the truly great singer -songwriters within rock- music
But to claim they invented Swamp-rock is just as brilliant as to claim Rolling Stones invented Chicago- blues, the Beatles invented Motown or that Dylan invented folk-music