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

Clearly the intention of the filmmakers was to release concert footage of Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall. I can't attest to the full running time of the concert, but it seems as if the filmmakers also felt the need to pad out time with a fair amount of backstory for the band, as well as some candid video interviews of the band touring Europe. All this is well and good, but having the backstory of the band, without the aftermath, leaves the whole enterprise feeling a bit uneven as a documentary film. This is not to say I necessarily wished for the whole sordid breakup and litigation to be rehashed. But it leaves the film in a kind of limbo. On the one hand, being a wonderful concert presentation, with a lot of upward trajectory of the band, but on the other and unfinished story abruptly ending on an ominous (at least to CCR fans) high note. Well worth watching for the concert alone, even if we know the ending is bittersweet.

The classic voices in this band brought me back to being 13 in Pittsburgh. Funny the way music enables time travel... I hadn't realized that Creedence Clearwater Revival was second only to the Beatles in worldwide popularity; that's what we're told here. I'd also been clueless as to the lyrics in the songs. Thanks to close-captioning on my TV, I saw that CCR actually offered some social commentary in those days of anti-Vietnam War sentiment, as in "It ain't me -- I ain't no fortunate one...I see the bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way..." Early in the documentary, I was thinking the songs all sounded alike. But as it drew me in, I found that the whole was greater than the parts. Well worth experiencing, for the wistfulness of yesterday.

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Sensational. I listen to Creedence as part of a regular routine. Like breathing, it's an automatic bodily function!!! The lyrics & sounds has & continues to be relevant and a class of its own. This doco was an awesome travel back in time to a time where Creedence rules the world of rock - the greatest of all times. The doco shows true artists who were not making music for $$$ and self promotion but for making music for the pure love of music. The lead up to the final concert gives a highly entertaining but captivating, informative insight not only of Creedence but where the world was at the time! Just loved it and it was the best doco I've seen having listened to Creedence since was 11 and 47 years on, it still rocks & lifts my soul. Well done!!!

"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.

For a film like this to get almost no press and to have a quiet release on Netflix is a crime. This documentary was a really fun watch as it goes over the history of Creedence up until their performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Not only that but you get the full, unseen concert recording, remastered and all. I will admit I haven't seen the full concert portion yet but I'm going to take it in increments. Jeff Bridges as the narrator was a slam dunk as he gives a sort of heft to the narration that suits CCR. Although I would consider The Beatles: Get Back the gold standard of music documentaries, this should not be slept on and deserves a watch. Please tell your friends to watch this if they have any interest, it's worth it. 7.8/10 (could change in the future)

As a teenager in the 1980's I said something out loud in front of an older guy who was actually around during the late 60's and early 70's... that Led Zeppelin was the biggest band in the world then... he said no, no way... The Rolling Stones were... Thinking of them only as a sixties thing, little did I know then about Mick Taylor and how great The Stones were and how big they were... So when narrator Jeff Bridges mumbles (about five times) that Creedence was always number 2 behind The Beatles and then Number One after their breakup, it's a bit of a stretch... actually it's an outright lie... CCR had many top ten hits and turned out albums like warhorses, but they were a popular niche compared to The Stones... And this is a pretty good documentary and a pretty great live show... The documentary of the band's rise occurs as bookends, and the only frustration is, if you're going to hear about a band beginning and climbing, you'll expect to hear the entire story... because their breakup is even more interesting than the years they existed... So that leaves the grungy powerhouse concert to stand alone... like Scorsese's Shine A Light for The Stones, this is more a concert film than doc, and the rowdy working glass rockers take on the otherwise classy prestige of England's Royal Albert Hall... a bunch of hillbillies raiding a mansion is what's being expected here... However, when you see the brainless hippie audience being even more of a contrast to the location... in particular three or four dancing like insane puppets at the foot of the stage while the band worked their butts off... that whole irony loses its... well... irony... A great concert's here, however, and John Fogerty and the band that backed him better than any musicians ever would... including the clean-toned rhythm playing brother perfectly contrasting to John's distorted menace... and a rhythm section that were as irreplaceable to John as he was to them: and this is all the proof of that you'll ever need of that fact.