PROUD MARY

"'Proud Mary'" is a song written by American singer and guitarist John Fogerty. It was first recorded by rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (in which Fogerty played lead guitar and sang lead vocals) on the 1969 album ''Bayou Country''. Released as a single in January of 1969, it became the band's first top ten hit on the U.S. Pop chart, peaking at number two. It was the first of five singles that the band released that would reach that peak on the chart, though the group never had a single reach number one, giving them the record for most No.2 singles for a group without a No.1. In 1971, a cover version was released by Ike & Tina Turner that differed greatly from the structure of the original, but is also well known and has become one of Tina's most recognizable signature songs.
Stylistically, the song merges elements of several genres, including rock and roll, blues, gospel, and soul. Nevertheless, it contains many of Creedence Clearwater Revival's most characteristic elements, including a repeated guitar riff, "down-home" lyrics, and a guitar solo Fogerty said was influenced by Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.s.
The second line of the second verse has generated considerable confusion, and can be considered a type of mondegreen. Listeners have variously interpreted it as "pumped a lot of pain" and "pumped a lot of 'pane", referring to propane, which is commonly used as a fuel. The controversy was further fueled by Ike and Tina Turner's cover, in which Tina sings "pumped a lot of 'tane", referring to octane, the grading scale and chemical in gasoline. The author, Fogerty, finally laid the confusion to rest, saying, "Sometimes I write words to songs because they sound cool to sing. Sometimes the listener doesn't understand what I'm singing because I'm dedicated to singing the vowel, having fun with the word sounds coming out of my mouth. 'Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis, pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans,' is a good example. I think Tina Turner sang '`tane' instead of 'pain,' as in a contracted form of 'octane'. But I knew what she meant."
The most famous cover version was Ike and Tina Turner's recording. Substantially rearranged by Soko Richardson^[1][2] and Ike Turner, with a sultry, slow opening and spoken-word intro by Turner, it reached #4 on the pop charts in 1971. Elvis Presley also often performed the song in his Las Vegas shows and on tour in the early 70s. Versions can be found on the albums ''On Stage'' (1970) and ''Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden'' (1972). Actor Leonard Nimoy also infamously covered Proud Mary for Dot Records. The song was performed by American Idol season 3's winner Fantasia Barrino in her audition. The song was also performed as a duet by Jewel and Beyoncé in DIVAs LIVE 2003[1]. Prince covered this song in a medley during Super Bowl XLI (Feb. 4 2007). Another cover version was performed by Emily Woods. Another Cover was by Ros Sereysothea she refashioned it with Khmer lyrics and put it under the title "Cry Loving Me"

Contents

References

Notes

References

★ Hoffman, Ken (1997). "Musicians' mumblings deciphered on lyrical Web page". Retrieved Nov. 5, 2005.

Notes

1. Soko Richardson press release from pressnetwork.com Fri Jan 30, 2004
2. Noted Soul Drummer Soko Richardson Dies February, 2004