You won’t need to “Run Through the Jungle” to catch a previously unreleased performance from Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) that’s over 50 years old. Deadline reveals that a documentary centered around the band’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London is in production, with none other than Jeff Bridges backing it all with his soulful voice as narrator. Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall is officially just “Up Around the Bend” under the watchful eye of Grammy-award winning director Bob Smeaton, who fans will know for his work on documentaries featuring bands including Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, and The Band.
Although the band was founded under the name The Blue Velvets when many of its members met in junior high school, it would be their next name, The Golliwogs, in which they began to gain traction under. Made up of members John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook, the band quickly came out with hit after hit, with John composing most of the songs. At first, many may think they only know one or two tunes from the rock n’ rollers, but their long list of hits includes “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” “Born on the Bayou,” and countless others. The band broke onto the scene in the late 1960s, rose to fame quickly and even headlined Woodstock before their catastrophic breakup in the 1970s.
Travelin’ Band will chronicle the beginning days of CCR, their legendary set at Woodstock, which was followed by a sold out show at the Oakland Coliseum, and of course their European tour, which included a stop at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Audiences will also be treated to 16mm footage of band interviews, interactions and performances courtesy of their label, Fantasy Records.
Fans of the Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski will remember that Bridges’ character, The Dude, was a huge CCR fan, which makes the actor’s involvement in the piece all the better. In that sense, life imitates art as Bridges is a real-life superfan of the musicians and in possibly the best quote surrounding someone’s collaboration on a project, the Academy Award winner and national treasure said, "What a band! Love listenin’ to ‘em, love playin’ Fogerty’s tunes. They’re certainly favorites of mine. Creedence, yeah man."
The production team for Travelin’ Band is made up of the best of the best in the world of music based productions including Sig Sigworth (R.E.M. by MTV), Jonathan Clyde (The Beatles: Get Back), Martin R. Smith (The Beatles: Sgt Pepper’s Musical Revolution), and John Beug (Running Down a Dream Tom Petty) with Concord’s Scott Pascucci (The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years), Sophia Dilley (Billie), and Bob Valentine serving as executive producers. Wesley Adams, Charles Hopkins, and Taylor Umphenour co-produce.
Although production is underway, no release date has been announced at this time.