Creedence Clearwater Revival takes on Little Richard‘s “Good Golly Miss Molly” on The Ed Sullivan Show in a recently unearthed clip from March 9th, 1969.
Posted to the The Ed Sullivan Show‘s YouTube channel, the video shows a fresh-faced CCR fronted by a young, flannel-clad John Fogerty, who leads the band through a cover of Little Richard’s early rock and roll classic. The video description explains that The Ed Sullivan Show was a weekly variety show that had a major impact on popular culture by bringing an array of artists into the homes of mainstream America decades before MTV:
The Ed Sullivan Show was a television variety program that aired on CBS from 1948-1971. For 23 years it aired every Sunday night and played host to the world’s greatest talents. The Ed Sullivan Show is well known for bringing rock n’ roll music to the forefront of American culture through acts like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones. The entertainers each week ranged from comedians like Joan Rivers and Rodney Dangerfield, to Broadway stars Julie Andrews and Richard Burton, to pop singers such as Bobby Darin and Petula Clark. It also frequently featured stars of Motown such as The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5. The Ed Sullivan Show was one of the only places on American television where such a wide variety of popular culture was showcased and its legacy lives on to this day.
CCR’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show followed the release of the band’s second studio album, Bayou Country. The band opened with the hit single “Proud Mary”, which was #2 on the Billboard charts. “All the youngsters…have been asking for this group,” Ed Sullivan said as he introduced the band.
Following the group’s two-song performance, CCR greeted Ed Sullivan and waved to the crowd. Notorious for mispronouncing and forgetting names, Sullivan stuttered on John Fogerty’s name as the band walked offstage. He would have no problems pronouncing the band’s name when Creedence Clearwater Revival returned to The Ed Sullivan Show for a second performance in November of the same year, where the band played “Fortunate Son” and “Down on the Corner” off its newest album Willy and the Poor Boys (the band’s third release of 1969).
Watch Credence Clearwater Revival perform Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969 below.
Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Good Golly Miss Molly” (Little Richard) – The Ed Sullivan Show (1969)