In mid-1968 a band of four dedicated musicians from El Cerrito, California
skyrocketed to fame with their debut single “Suzie Q.” It took 10 years of gigging
to get there, but by the time “Suzie Q” peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was an unstoppable force in rock’n’roll.
Over the next 2 years they released 11 million-selling hit singles and 5 studio
albums, they toured the world as headliners, including an appearance at
Woodstock in 1969, and were ultimately inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of
Fame in 1993.
In the decades that followed CCR’s 2 year reign as the #1 band in the world,
Creedence drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford focused his creative energy on
producing album projects. His concept was to assemble a top shelf mix of
players, write an album’s worth of original songs, then record, mix and master
each album. When a project was completed, the masters were archived and
safely stored in Cosmo’s Vault until the time was right to release them. Fast
forward to 2021 and Cosmo has retrieved those masters and will be releasing
them one album at a time on his own label, Cliffsong Records. The first release
will be For All The Money In The World by Clifford / Wright.
As was the case with Creedence, the core members of Clifford / Wright are from
El Cerrito, California, each having earned Gold records over the years for playing
on million-selling hits. Cosmo’s original idea was to build the band around a solid
rhythm section, and his first choice for a bass player was his old pal Steve
Wright from the Greg Kihn Band. Cosmo and Steve not only had great
chemistry as a rhythm section, they also clicked as a songwriting team, crafting
well over a dozen original songs for the album.
Completing the Clifford / Wright lineup were featured guitarists Greg Douglass
(Steve Miller Band), Jimmy Lyon (Eddie Money) and Joe Satriani, plus keyboard
players Tim Gorman (The Who) and Pat Mosca (Greg Kihn Band). After holding
auditions for a lead vocalist, Keith England was selected as a perfect fit for the
Clifford / Wright songs. With the band in place, recording sessions were booked
in various studios in the San Francisco Bay area. The final result is the 11-song
album For All The Money In The World by Clifford / Wright, direct from Cosmo’s
Vault.