Music / Cosmo's Factory

"Well I'm flyin' across the land, tryin' to get a hand, playin' in a travelin' band."

"Long as I remember, the rain been coming down.
Clouds of mystery pouring, confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, trying to find the sun.
And I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?"

—"Who'll Stop the Rain"

Cosmo's Factory is the fifth studio album by Creedence Clearwater Revival, released on July 16, 1970. It got its name from what drummer Doug Clifford - nicknamed Cosmo - called the Berkeley warehouse the band performed early rehearsals in: "The Factory". The three singles from the album: "Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop the Rain", "Up Around the Bend/Run Through the Jungle" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door/Long As I Can See the Light" all charted in the US Hot 100 and the album itself remained at the top position in the Billboard 200 for nine consecutive weeks.

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Ramble Tamble" (7:09)
2. "Before You Accuse Me" (3:24)
3. "Travelin' Band" (2:07)
4. "Ooby Dooby" (2:05)
5. "Lookin' Out My Back Door" (2:31)
6. "Run Through the Jungle" (3:09)

Side Two

1. "Up Around the Bend" (2:40)
2. "My Baby Left Me" (2:17)
3. "Who'll Stop the Rain" (2:28)
4. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (11:05)
5. "Long As I Can See the Light" (3:33)

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Principal Members:

• Doug Clifford: drums, cowbell
• Stu Cook: bass, backing vocals
• John Fogerty: lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica
• Tom Fogerty: rhythm guitar, backing vocals

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Doo, doo, doo, tropin' out my back door:

• The City vs. the Country: "Up Around the Bend" is about the desire of escaping the hustle of city life to live a simpler, more relaxed life in the country.
• Cover Version: Bo Diddley ("Before You Accuse Me"), Roy Orbison ("Ooby Dooby"), Arthur Crudup ("My Baby Left Me") and Marvin Gaye ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine").
• The Cover Changes the Meaning: While the original versions of "I've Heard It Through the Grapevine" shows the narrator in disbelief over being cheated on, the cover makes it appear that the narrator is angry at what's happening.
• Epic Rocking: Starts off with a seven minute "Ramble Tamble", with the album's other side featuring the cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" with a lengthy guitar solo taking it to just over eleven minutes.
• In the Style of: "Travelin' Band" was made in the style of Little Richard.
• Protest Song:
  • According to John, "Run Through the Jungle" was not about Vietnam as many assumed, but the tensions and paranoia of America's firearm culture (specifically, that there was a gun for every single person in the United States, which the song explicitly references)
  • "Who'll Stop the Rain" was about Vietnam in a more roundabout way, drawing on the heavy rains that the band saw while at Woodstock to create a metaphor for institutional failure and malaise.
• Rock-Star Song: "Travelin' Band", where the band is constantly on a hectic schedule.
• Shout-Out: Two in "Lookin' Out My Back Door":
  • The song itself references And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
  • There is a name check for John Fogerty's inspiration:
  A dinosaur Victrola, listening to Buck Owens.
• Song Style Shift: "Ramble Tamble" kicks off like a fast country rocker, then shifts into a long, slow instrumental gradually building up until it segues back into fast country rock.
• Word Salad Lyrics: "Lookin' Out My Back Door". Word of Godinvoked is that it was inspired by And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

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