Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is the seventh and final studio album by American band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released in 1972. The group broke up after this album was released. The album was re-released in remastered format as a Japan exclusive in January 2011. A remastered version of the album had previously been featured internationally on the 40th anniversary CCR box set, but not as a stand-alone album.
Previously, bandleader John Fogerty sang all the lead vocals and he wrote almost all the band's original material. His older brother Tom Fogerty had just left after a dispute which was in large part caused by the elder Fogerty's desire to play a larger creative role.
For this album, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford shared the writing, singing, and production duties. Fogerty only contributed three original songs, and he sang a fourth lead on a cover of the early 1960s standard "Hello Mary Lou." Clifford and Cook each wrote and sang the lead vocals on three songs. The album was a commercial success peaking at #12 and going gold. However, it was considered weak compared to the sales of their previous albums. The album contained two Top 40 singles, both of which were contributed by Fogerty: the raucous "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" and the wistful swan song "Someday Never Comes."
According to Stu Cook and Doug Clifford it was John's idea for all the members to contribute songs equally for the album, even though the two did not want to. They believed he was bitter over Tom's departure and their own requests to have more of a say in the group's musical decisions, and that he was looking for an excuse to break up CCR entirely and pursue his own solo career. When Clifford and Cook at first demurred at the idea of having to supply 2/3 of the album's material themselves, Fogerty threatened to quit the band outright. Further compounding the tension during recording was the fact that for Stu and Doug's material, John refused to provide anything other than guitar, leaving all other instrumentation and vocals to them. The acrimony generated within the band during these sessions, coupled with mounting financial and legal woes, soon led to an irreparable breach between Fogerty and his remaining band mates. Cook and Clifford continued to work together after CCR broke up and later formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited.
The album was remastered and reissued on 180 Gram Vinyl by Analogue Productions in 2006.