Recollection

Mary

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. According to the Proud Mary Songfacts, the phrase "Proud Mary" reminded John Fogerty of a domestic washerwoman, which is what he started writing the song about. When he wrote the music, the first few chords reminded him of a paddle-wheel going around, and he thought of the Mississippi River. Instead of "Proud Mary" being a clean-up lady, "she" became a boat. Released as a single in January 1969, it became the band’s first top-ten hit on the U.S. Pop chart, peaking at number two,\[1\] or number one according to some charts.\[2\] Bob Dylan said this song was his favorite single of 1969. It was the first of five singles that the band released that would reach that peak on the chart, a record for most number-two singles for a group without ever having a number-one song. The song reached number eight in the UK. [Read more on Last.fm](http://www.last.fm/music/Creedence+Clearwater+Revival/_/Proud+Mary). User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

"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. According to the Proud Mary Songfacts, the phrase "Proud Mary" reminded John Fogerty of a domestic washerwoman, which is what he started writing the song about. When he wrote the music, the first few chords reminded him of a paddle-wheel going around, and he thought of the Mississippi River. [Read more on Last.fm](http://www.last.fm/music/Creedence+Clearwater+Revival/_/Proud+Mary).