The five greatest covers of ‘Proud Mary’
There are many tunes with a reputation that precedes them. Head-bangers, floor-fillers, or heartbreakers, our sights of music and culture as a whole would be nothing without them. But ‘Proud Mary’ is just in a league of its own.
Any time this stormer of a track is played in any context, regardless of whether it’s a wedding, funeral, or anything in between, you’ll be stunned at the swathes of people, both young and old, male and female, who stop what they’re doing to limber up. Careful stretching and space are required before they throw themselves into a three-minute cardio workout of jerking themselves about the place.
That unceremonious routine, one can fairly confidently assume, was not exactly what Creedence Clearwater Revival had in mind when they first released the track back in 1969, rather reminiscing on John Fogerty’s time serving in the National Guard. Honouring the Proud Mary ship, which sailed along the Mississippi River from 1928 to 1978, its humble life was hardly the basis for a barnstormer.
But it goes without saying that the track ‘Proud Mary’ soon took on a lifeblood all of its own, ranging across time, space, and genre to the point where its credits to Creedence Clearwater Revival were almost forgotten in the first place. Here we recount five of the greatest covers of that one steamboat of a song.
Five of the best ‘Proud Mary’ covers ever made:
Tina Turner
It should be more than obvious that we could only ever begin in one place: with the ‘Queen of Rock and Roll’ herself, Tina Turner. The original song had already become a massive hit, charting at number two on the Billboard chart in 1969. But a year down the line, Ike Turner was not impressed with that version and set about reinventing his own cover for his and his wife’s second album, Workin’ Together.
There’s no need to spell out what happened next. That take on ‘Proud Mary’ has arguably become more iconic than the original, soon stapling its way into the iconic scores of Turner’s most beloved songbook, and sustaining as being among her most enduring hits. That’s where all the rollicking about the dancefloor was born – and it has never left since.
Elvis Presley
It seems only right that both ‘The King’ and ‘Queen of Rock and Roll’ should stake each other out in the ranks of ‘Proud Mary’, which is exactly what Elvis Presley did as the electric scores of his career slowly began to draw to a close. However, there was still a lot of life in the star yet when he began performing the song live in his set in 1970.
His most famous recorded version came during a 1972 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he gave ‘Proud Mary’ the full rock and roll treatment, as per tradition. There’s no denying that it’s full of Presley prestige, a far cry from the more understated nature of its roots rock origins, but it simply proves that the song can be sung in any mood and style, and still be just as tantalising.
Status Quo
The 1990s was clearly a difficult time for Status Quo. Their popularity was in commercial quicksand, and they needed something to save it fast. Part of that prop-job resolution was the 1996 covers album Don’t Stop – something which fans have never been completely bowled over with in hindsight, but salvaged the band enough to weather the storm.
That gives the record a pretty bad rap, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that there are some objectively excellent covers on there, such as their version of ‘Proud Mary’. As ‘60s rock stalwarts, you can imagine Status Quo’s allegiance was more aligned with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s than Turner’s, but striking a balance between the two hit all the right notes.
Billy Paul
“Billy Paul knows the blues – he’s lived them. For him, the blues is as much a part of his heritage as a part of the dues he’s had to pay,” it said in the liner notes for the musician’s second album, Ebony Woman, released in 1970. As such, closing out the record with ‘Proud Mary’, it was an homage to those roots more than it was a mere cover.
In many ways, Paul was an unsung hero of that whole movement, becoming closely tied with the Philadelphia soul scene but fighting for years to be heard in any other place. This was still two years away from the rocket launch of ‘Me and Mrs Jones’, but this cover showed that his musical inclinations were always geared in the right direction.
Solomon Burke
If Creedence Clearwater Revival were laughing all the way to the bank with these covers, they largely had Solomon Burke to thank for facilitating it to break down barriers and be revered by a much greater audience than the band would have achieved alone. The man himself explained it best.
They [the label] thought it was stupid to record ‘Proud Mary’, which was already on the charts. I was explaining to them that it was a very big record, but it’s a very white record, a pop record. We will redo the record, open up the doors for it to get on the R&B charts and make the Black stations play the record,” he said.
And the thing was, he was right. Despite being released only a month after the original, Burke’s take on ‘Proud Mary’ turned the song into a mix of gospel and country, and thus made it a celebration of the lives Black people lead. That was the mark of a song set to transcend the ages – where it could mean something to everyone.
