While "Suzie Q" proved to be a hit, the band had played for years as the Golliwogs in the early 1960s, releasing numerous singles before achieving success in the pop world.

In Hank Bordowitz's book Bad Moon Rising: The Unauthorized History of Creedence Clearwater Revival, bassist Stu Cook is quoted, "Fogerty, Cook, Clifford and Fogerty signed a publishing agreement with one of Fantasy's companies that gave up rights to copyright ownership...Lennon and McCartney never owned the copyrights to their compositions, either.

"[3] John Fogerty took charge of the group artistically, writing all of the band's fourteen hit records and assuming the roles of singer, guitarist, producer and arranger of nearly everything that appeared on Creedence's seven studio albums.

The song was a breakthrough of sorts for Fogerty, who stated to Tom Pinnock of Uncut in 2012, "It's semi-autobiographical; I touch on my father, but it's a flight of fantasy, too.

Fogerty elaborated to Larry King in 1999, "We recorded an old Dale Hawkins song but I psychedelicized it to get it played on the local San Francisco underground radio station."

I came up with a quarter note idea and it made it harder edged and it gave it space and a totally different feel..." The Creedence version would reach #11 in the charts.

In 2012 David Cavanagh of Uncut wrote, "For all his skepticism about long solos, Fogerty stretched out penetratingly on guitar while Creedence's rhythm trio laid down a sublime slow boogie."

In 1998, Fogerty stated to Harold Steinblatt of Guitar World that the recording of "Susie Q" was "very pivotal" in another respect: It established how we would work for the next few years.

[7] Barry Gifford writing in Rolling Stone at the time stated, "The only bright spot in the group is John Fogerty, who plays lead guitar and does the vocals.

He also noted that the album "points the way to the breakthrough of Bayou Country, with "Porterville" being "an exceptional song with great hooks, an underlying sense of menace, and the first inkling of the working-class rage that fueled such landmarks as 'Fortunate Son.