They first appeared on the UK charts in 1969 with ‘Proud Mary’, followed by the number one single ‘Bad Moon Rising’, triggering a glorious run of singles that included ‘Travellin’ Band’, ‘Up Around the Bend’ and ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’ among many others. Their music was simple and direct. It spoke from the heart and it rocked like crazy, evoking the energy of the great early records that came from the Sun label in Memphis, the Starday imprint in Nashville and Buddy Holly and the Crickets in Lubbock, Texas. The leader and songwriter of CCR was John Fogerty, who grew up to the sound of those ground-breaking recordings. At the very first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on 23 January 1986, he stood at the microphone and explained why Creedence sounded the way they did.

‘I just want to tell you what Buddy Holly meant to me,’ he began.

‘I was 12 years old, and I was working at a beach resort, and that voice and guitar came up over the PA. I went out and bought “That’ll Be the Day”, and started learning the words. A few months later, I bought the album, and that album set a course in musical history for a series of strange events, I think. There was a group pictured on the cover – a guy with a Strat and three other guys. It was a group, and it was the first time you saw a group in rock and roll and I thought, “I’m gonna have a group.”

‘Over in Liverpool,’ he continued, ‘the same thing was going on with four other guys. They named their group The Beatles because Buddy Holly’s group was called the Crickets. In 1963, these four guys chose to end their great song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” with the little syncopation Buddy Holly used in the chorus after the solo of “That’ll Be the Day”.’ As he looked out at the audience he added, ‘All you guys who play rock will know what I’m talking about.’

It was a stunning observation, and we know that the connection between Buddy and The Beatles was strong from the very start.

When John Fogerty made this speech in 1986, he had recently enjoyed his biggest chart success for many years with Centrefield and as he stood at the lectern, he acknowledged Buddy’s influence on the title song of that brilliant comeback album. ‘Well, this kid was writing a song about how it feels to be back, and he ended his song with the same riff. It came from the same place. We are all made up of the people we love and the people we admire. I think that’s why we’re all here tonight’.

With Buddy’s widow Maria Elena and her daughter Elena by his side, John Fogerty announced Buddy Holly as one of the ten founding members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bob Harris