Pendulum (Creedence Clearwater Revival album)

Pendulum is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released by Fantasy Records on December 9, 1970.^[1] It was the second studio album the band released that year, arriving five months after Cosmo's Factory.

Pendulum
Studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Released	December 9, 1970 (1970-12-09)[1]
Recorded	November 1970
Studio	Wally Heider (San Francisco)
Genre	Swamp rock
Length	40:56
Label	Fantasy
Producer	John Fogerty
Creedence Clearwater Revival chronology
Cosmo's Factory (1970) Pendulum (1970) Mardi Gras (1972)
Singles from Pendulum
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain" / "Hey Tonight" Released: January 1971

Background

The album was recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, and took a month to complete, which was an unusually long time for the band. On previous albums, they had rehearsed songs before entering the studio, but, for Pendulum, the members learned the songs in the studio.^[2] The backing tracks of the songs were performed by the whole band,^[3] and the various members then recorded the wide variety of vocal and instrumental overdubs.

It is the last album the band recorded while Tom Fogerty was still a member, as he left the group in early 1971 to start a solo career; and the last of the band's albums to be produced solely by John Fogerty.

Musical style

Pendulum expands the band's sonic palette with instruments such as keyboards and saxophones, in contrast to the group's previous albums, which were dominated by the guitar, as well as a saxophone section played entirely by John Fogerty.^[2] John also played the Hammond B3 organ on many of the Pendulum tracks, notably in "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", in recognition of the deep respect and influence of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, with whom the members of the band had jammed. It also contains, in the closing instrumental "Rude Awakening #2", a venture into avant-garde psychedelia.

Notably, the album is the only one by Creedence Clearwater Revival to not contain any cover songs, but was also the last album by Creedence where all the original songs were written by John.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]

Pendulum was released in December 1970 and proved to be another hit for the band, charting within the top 10 in 10 countries, and peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The only single taken from the album, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"/"Hey Tonight", was released in January 1971, and reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Robert Christgau enjoyed the album and rated it an A-, despite criticizing Molina and Pagan Baby, as, "slightly subpar," Sailor's Lament as, "a little more so," and Rude Awakening #2 as "a pretentious moment I hope--and expect--he [John Fogerty] has the sense never to repeat." However, he praises the other six songs on the album as "so superpar Steve Barri or Tommy James would kill (or least steal) for them. Ho hum, another Creedence album."

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain" has enjoyed extended popularity even into the 21st century, being the band's most streamed song on Spotify at over 2 billion streams.

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Fogerty.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Pagan Baby"	6:25
2.	"Sailor's Lament"	3:47
3.	"Chameleon"	3:05
4.	"Have You Ever Seen the Rain"	2:39
5.	"(Wish I Could) Hideaway"	3:53

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Born to Move"	5:39
2.	"Hey Tonight"	2:43
3.	"It's Just a Thought"	3:45
4.	"Molina"	2:41
5.	"Rude Awakening #2"	6:19

40th Anniversary Edition CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
11.	"45 Revolutions Per Minute (Part 1)"	3:17
12.	"45 Revolutions Per Minute (Part 2)"	7:19
13.	"Hey Tonight" (Live in Hamburg September 17, 1971)	2:30

Tracks 11 and 12 on the 40th Anniversary Edition CD are musique concrète tracks in the vein of "Revolution 9", including tongue-in-cheek interviews with band members.

Personnel

Performers^[2][7]

• John Fogerty – vocals, lead guitar, piano, organ, Fender Rhodes electric piano, saxophone, percussion, producer, arranger
• Tom Fogerty – rhythm guitar, percussion
• Stu Cook – bass guitar, double bass, piano, kalimba, percussion
• Doug Clifford – drums, percussion

Production

• Ed Caraeff – photography, cover design
• Russ Gary – engineer, mixing
• Kevin L. Gray – engineer, mastering
• Steve Hoffman – remastering
• Richard Edlund – cover design
• Wayne Kimbell – cover design, photography
• Baron Wolman – photography
• Joel Selvin – liner notes

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Pendulum Chart (1970–1971) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 2 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 3 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[12] 1 Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[13] 3 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[16] 8 US Billboard 200[17] 5 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[18] 28

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Pendulum Chart (1971) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 5

Certifications

Certifications for Pendulum

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[20]	Gold	20,000[20]
United States (RIAA)[21]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.