There aren’t a whole of second chances in many people’s lives, but Doug “Cosmo” Clifford and Stu Cook grabbed two of them.
If you go
Creedence Clearwater Revisted, part of Loudon Summer MusicFest
Where: The Belmont Country Club, 19661 Belmont Manor Lane, Ashburn, Va.
When: 5 p.m. gates, 6 p.m. show Sunday
Info: $15 in advance, $20 at the gate, $35 for Gold Circle seating; 877-743-5320; loudounsummermusicfest.com
It all started when the famed rhythm section for the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival band got together for what they thought would be a casual jam and ended up forming a new band — Creedence Clearwater Revisited — in the form of the prior one. The band soon had a full touring schedule and a platinum album, “Recollections.” “We never thought ‘Recollections’ would be a platinum album,” Clifford said. “We wanted to put something together for the fans to just pick up.”
The project started in 1995 when the duo was continually approached to perform at private parties. After a friend who is a concert promoter asked the resultant band to perform at a few concerts, the project took on a life of its own.
“The first year we played five shows. We played 106 shows the following year,” Clifford said. “The whole process was pretty basic.”
Of course before they could do that, they had to recruit new band mates. Rather than take out advertisements to find players to round out the line up, the two networked with friends in the music business. That led them to find lead singer/rhythm guitar player John Tristao — a former member of the band People — plus lead guitarist Tal Morris and multi-instrumentalist Steve Gunner.
“Once we heard John sing, we knew we had our guy,” Clifford said, about auditioning singers. “He is an incredible entertainer and also a lot of fun. We are not too worried about too much except executing the songs as well as possible and having as much fun as we can.”
The generation gap among the players is something of a mirror to the band’s audience which is comprised of people who enjoyed the original Creedence Clearwater Revival to those that “weren’t even born,” when the original band recorded, Clifford said.
Although both Cosmo and Cook have worked in the business beyond Creedence, working together again is almost like going home.
“There’s not even a thought process about how it happens,” Clifford said. “Having it fluid, creating the effect it does is something like hopping on an old bike, it’s that natural.”
