Proud Mary

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"Proud Mary"

Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival
from the album Bayou Country
Released	December 1968 (single) January 5, 1969 (album)
Format	Vinyl single, Vinyl album
Recorded	late 1968
Genre	Rock music
Length	3:07
Label	Fantasy
Producer(s)	John Fogerty
Chart positions
#2 U.S. (CCR) #4 U.S. (Tina Turner)
Creedence Clearwater Revival singles chronology
"I Put a Spell on You" (1968)	"Proud Mary"	"Bad Moon Rising" (1969)

"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. The song is generally considered one of the band's signature songs. Tina Turner's version of the song was also a hit, reaching number 4 on the pop charts. More recently, the song was performed by Jewel and Beyoncé In DIVAs LIVE 2003[1].

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 and the MGs.

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 that recorded by Tina Turner. Substantially rearranged by Soko Richardson^[1]^[2] and Ike Turner, with a sultry, slow opening and spoken-word intro by Tina 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. Prince covered this song in a medley during Super Bowl XLI (Feb. 4 2007). The song was performed by American Idol season 3's winner Fantasia Barrino in her audition. It is also the most popular dance-along song performed by The Nervous Rex at their sold-out shows.