This week’s surveyEast Bay · 1969
Creedence a friend’s name · Clearwater a beer · Revival optimism
Pick of the week · Tom Fogerty · Doug Clifford · Stu Cook · John Fogerty
The sound was swamp; the band was from the East Bay. Five singles stopped at No. 2. Push them up and the rooms they came from open.
El Cerrito and West Oakland · 1959–1967
John Fogerty, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook were schoolmates at Portola Junior High in El Cerrito.
The band signed to Fantasy as the Golliwogs before becoming Creedence; its swamp imagery is not a Louisiana origin.
Site of Portola Junior High
The old Portola campus, at Moeser and Navellier, was found to be unstable when the district planned to rebuild it. The school moved to the site of Castro Elementary; the old buildings were demolished.
The old school has been demolished; Navellier Street is a public street. The school itself moved to the former Castro Elementary site.
Fantasy Records, Oakland · 1281 30th Street at Peralta, West Oakland
Fantasy, a jazz and comedy label, was founded by the brothers Max and Sol Weiss in 1949. John Fogerty was a Fantasy shipping clerk; the band he led was the Golliwogs.
A private building: see it from 30th Street and don’t go in.
East Bay
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Compare toursThe Hot 100 · March 1969 to October 1970
Five singles reach No. 2 on the Hot 100 between March 1969 and October 1970: Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Travelin’ Band and Lookin’ Out My Back Door. None reaches No. 1.
Five singles. Pick one and push it up the survey.
Each single opens the room it was made in.
Wally Heider’s, now Hyde Street Studios
In March 1969 Fogerty booked a three-hour test session with the engineer Russ Gary, to see if the studio made the grade.
Heider’s Studio C was the band’s main room. Nearly every instrument had a Shure SM56; it was the only microphone on Fogerty’s vocal for Green River.
West Berkeley and West Oakland · 1969–1970
22,000square feet
Site of Cosmo’s Factory · Fifth Street, West Berkeley (the plaque gives 1230)
The band lived in the East Bay and rehearsed daily in a 22,000-square-foot industrial building in Berkeley.
Doug Clifford was called Cosmo for his interest in cosmic things; because Fogerty was so demanding, he called the space the factory. Cosmo’s Factory came out in July 1970 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.
The Berkeley plaque gives 1230 Fifth Street; PopSpots gives 1237. The building burned on 29 June 2005, when it was storing props and sets for Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
The warehouse burned in 2005. Fifth Street is a public street of workshops and shops.
Peraltaat Hollis
The Duck Kee Market corner
The front cover of Willy and the Poor Boys was shot outside the Duck Kee Market, a few blocks from the Fantasy office.
The shoot was at Peralta and Hollis streets; the back cover was taken in the triangle there. The photographer was Basul Parik. While Parik waited for more film, the band played on the corner.
A public street corner with a playground. Nobody we read says whether the market still trades.
The songs and the map
Three places in the songs. Stamp one to see where it really was.
Putah Creek at Winters
Fogerty said Green River is about a place on Putah Creek near Winters, where his family went every year until he was ten.
He learned to swim there; the family stayed in a cabin owned by a descendant of Buffalo Bill Cody. The title came from a lime soda-fountain syrup called Green River. Green River came out on 3 August 1969 and was the band’s first No. 1 album.
Putah Creek runs past Winters below Monticello Dam. Cody’s Camp, where the family stayed, has closed.
Lodi Arch · Pine and South Sacramento streets, Lodi, California
Fogerty reportedly had never been to Lodi when he wrote the song; he liked the sound of the name.
He has said the name had stuck in his head since childhood and just sounded cool. Lodi came out in 1969 as the B-side of Bad Moon Rising.
The arch was built in 1907 for the Lodi Tokay Carnival, designed by E. B. Brown; it is California Historical Landmark No. 931.
The arch spans the street downtown, free to walk under; downtown has tasting rooms and restaurants.
2505 W. Turner Road, Lodi, California · Book direct
Sixty-six rooms set in botanical gardens in Lodi wine country, with a spa, a restaurant and a café-bakery. A short drive from the arch downtown.
Check rooms
Bethel, New York · August 1969
In April 1969 Creedence became the festival’s first official booking. Doug Clifford has said that once they signed, everyone else jumped in line.
They went on after the Grateful Dead, after midnight on the Saturday night; much of the crowd was asleep. Fogerty thought the set was not remarkable and kept it out of the film. The full set came out in 2019 as Live at Woodstock.
The museum stands at the festival site and opens daily, April to December, 10am to 5pm. Adults $22.69 at the door.
200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York · Adults $19.69 in advance, $22.69 at the door; youth $5
The museum on the 1969 festival site, where Creedence were the first band booked. Open daily, April to December, 10am to 5pm; guided cart tours of the field run in season.
Plan a visit
London and Oakland · 1970, and a record of 1980
Royal Albert Hall · Kensington Gore, London SW7
Creedence played two sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall in April 1970, on their first European tour.
The 14 April show came days after the Beatles announced their split. Its multitrack tapes sat in storage for about 50 years; Giles Martin and Sam Okell mixed them for release in 2022.
A working concert hall: go to a concert, or book a tour on the Hall’s own site.
Oakland Coliseum Arena · 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland
In 1980 Fantasy released a live album called The Royal Albert Hall Concert. The audio was the Oakland show.
Creedence played a hometown show at the Oakland Coliseum as the new decade began, in January 1970.
Now the Oakland Arena. Go for one of its concerts or games.
Berkeley and Cleveland · 1971 and 1993
1971
Fantasy’s Berkeley building · Tenth and Parker streets, West Berkeley
Fantasy bought the property at Tenth and Parker from Peterson Trucking in 1969, and moved into a two-story building there in 1971.
In 1980 Zaentz added a seven-story building, later known as the Zaentz Media Center; Green Day’s Dookie was recorded there.
A working building, not open for tours. See it from Tenth Street.
1993
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame · Cleveland
Creedence Clearwater Revival were inducted in 1993, by Bruce Springsteen. The plaque is signed by Doug Clifford, John Fogerty, Stu Cook and Tom Fogerty.
The Hall’s essay counts nine Top Ten singles in three years.
Open daily 10am to 5pm from September to June, Thursdays until 9pm. Adult tickets are $45.
1100 Rock & Roll Boulevard, Cleveland · Adults $45; youth (6–12) $30; under-6s free
The museum of the Hall that inducted Creedence in 1993. Open daily 10am to 5pm from September to June, Thursdays until 9pm.
Buy ticketsWhere it is now
In West Oakland, the Fantasy office on 30th Street and the Duck Kee corner are a few blocks apart; Fifth Street and Tenth and Parker are both in West Berkeley; El Cerrito is just north. Hyde Street is across the Bay, and Winters and Lodi are drives inland.
12 places you can visit, from El Cerrito to Cleveland. Portola Junior High and the Fifth Street warehouse are gone; their sites are pinned on public streets. The Los Angeles studio where Proud Mary was made is named on this page but not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The old school has been demolished; Navellier Street is a public street. The school itself moved to the former Castro Elementary site.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A private building: see it from 30th Street and don’t go in.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public street corner with a playground. Nobody we read says whether the market still trades.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The warehouse burned in 2005. Fifth Street is a public street of workshops and shops.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working building, not open for tours. See it from Tenth Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Now the Oakland Arena. Go for one of its concerts or games.
Moeser Lane and Navellier Street, El Cerrito, California
John Fogerty, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook were schoolmates at Portola Junior High in El Cerrito.
The old school has been demolished; Navellier Street is a public street. The school itself moved to the former Castro Elementary site.
1281 30th Street at Peralta, West Oakland
Fantasy, a jazz and comedy label, was founded by the brothers Max and Sol Weiss in 1949.
A private building: see it from 30th Street and don’t go in.
Peralta Street at Hollis Street, West Oakland
The front cover of Willy and the Poor Boys was shot outside the Duck Kee Market, a few blocks from the Fantasy office.
A public street corner with a playground. Nobody we read says whether the market still trades.
Fifth Street, West Berkeley (the plaque gives 1230)
The band lived in the East Bay and rehearsed daily in a 22,000-square-foot industrial building in Berkeley.
The warehouse burned in 2005. Fifth Street is a public street of workshops and shops.
Tenth and Parker streets, West Berkeley
Fantasy bought the property at Tenth and Parker from Peterson Trucking in 1969, and moved into a two-story building there in 1971.
A working building, not open for tours. See it from Tenth Street.
7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland
Creedence played a hometown show at the Oakland Coliseum as the new decade began, in January 1970.
Now the Oakland Arena. Go for one of its concerts or games.
Stay
Gardens and a spa in the wine country round the town in the song.
2505 W. Turner Road, Lodi, California · Book direct
Sixty-six rooms set in botanical gardens in Lodi wine country, with a spa, a restaurant and a café-bakery. A short drive from the arch downtown.
Check roomsGo there
The Woodstock museum, the Hall of Fame, and walks in San Francisco, the East Bay and Lodi.
200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York · Adults $19.69 in advance, $22.69 at the door; youth $5
The museum on the 1969 festival site, where Creedence were the first band booked. Open daily, April to December, 10am to 5pm; guided cart tours of the field run in season.
Plan a visit1100 Rock & Roll Boulevard, Cleveland · Adults $45; youth (6–12) $30; under-6s free
The museum of the Hall that inducted Creedence in 1993. Open daily 10am to 5pm from September to June, Thursdays until 9pm.
Buy ticketsSan Francisco
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Compare toursEast Bay
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Compare toursLodi, California
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Compare toursWhat’s on
No Creedence or John Fogerty date after October 2026 was on an official page when we checked.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
John Fogerty’s own account, two albums made on Hyde Street in 1969, and the real London show.
John Fogerty
John Fogerty’s memoir.
Find the bookCreedence Clearwater Revival · LP, Fantasy, 1969
Made at Wally Heider’s on Hyde Street; named after a soda syrup and a creek near Winters.
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Find a copyCreedence Clearwater Revival · LP, Fantasy, 1969
Its cover was shot on the corner of Peralta and Hollis in West Oakland.
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Find a copyCreedence Clearwater Revival · CD, Craft Recordings, 2022
The real London show of 14 April 1970, out of storage after about fifty years.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 20 of 20 Moments
Moeser Lane and Navellier Street, El Cerrito, California
Three schoolmates from Portola Junior High form a trio.
1281 30th Street at Peralta, West Oakland
John Fogerty packs records for Fantasy by day and learns the studio at night.
The band signs to Fantasy and records under a name the label gives them.
After Saul Zaentz buys Fantasy, the band takes a new name: a friend’s name, a beer, and a word for optimism.
Peralta Street at Hollis Street, West Oakland
The cover of Willy and the Poor Boys is shot outside a West Oakland market.
Fifth Street, West Berkeley (the plaque gives 1230)
Daily rehearsals in a Berkeley warehouse that the drummer names the factory.
The Fifth Street building burns down.
Tenth and Parker streets, West Berkeley
Fantasy moves into its own Berkeley building.
7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland
A hometown show at the Oakland Coliseum.
Fantasy releases the Oakland show as The Royal Albert Hall Concert; later pressings are renamed The Concert.
245 Hyde Street, Tenderloin, San Francisco
Fogerty books a test session at the new studio on Hyde Street.
Five singles reach No. 2 on the Hot 100 between March 1969 and October 1970: Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising, Green River, Travelin’ Band and Lookin’ Out My Back Door. None reaches No. 1.
The album named after the warehouse is recorded on Hyde Street and goes to No. 1.
Putah Creek, Winters, Yolo County, California
A song about a creek near Winters, named after a soda syrup.
Pine and South Sacramento streets, Lodi, California
A song named after a town Fogerty reportedly had not been to.
200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York
The festival’s first booking plays after the Grateful Dead to a sleeping crowd.
The full Woodstock set is released fifty years on.
Kensington Gore, London SW7
Two sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall on the first European tour.
The London tapes, stored for about fifty years, are mixed and released.
1100 Rock & Roll Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio
Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen.
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