John Fogerty has engraved his name on the hearts of music lovers throughout the world with straight from the heart lyrical musings and the soulful sound that is the hallmark of his music.
His classic guitar riffs, though not flamboyant and in-your-face, have found their place in the annals of rock history. Proving this beyond doubt, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #40 in its list of the top 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
John Fogerty was born on May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, California. He was musically inclined since his early school days and learned to play the piano up until the age of twelve. Fogerty then discovered the potential of the guitar and switched over to its powerful appeal. Thus began his love affair with music that has endured and matured over the years, making him one of the best loved singers, songwriters and great guitarists of modern times.
The Making Of John Fogerty
While in high school at El Cerrito, Fogerty got together with his schoolmates Doug Clifford and Stu Cook and his brother Tom Fogerty to form a band called Tommy Fogerty and The Blue Velvets.
The band started out playing at local dances and proms, but hit the big time when jazz label Fantasy Records signed them in 1964 and renamed the band “The Golliwogs”. They released seven singles as the Golliwogs, out of which the single ‘Browned Eyed Girl’ was a moderate success and the rest were all flops.
The band adopted the name Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967 and tasted success with their self-titled first album in 1968 which had the hit singles ‘Suzie Q’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’. Their second album Bayou Country was also a resounding hit which established their place as the premier rock band in America.
In the period 1969-1970, the group hit their artistic peak and had undeniably become the number one American rock and roll attraction with nine top ten singles and eight platinum albums all fueled by John’s driving rock songs, deceptively touching lyrics and soulful baritone. The songs, though rooted in rock and roll, often touched upon burning social issues and struck a chord with the American audience.
Royalties, Disputes And Court Cases
John’s increasingly dominant role in the band did not go down well with Tom Fogerty and he left in January 1971. Subsequently, in the 1972 album Mardi Gras, John gave Clifford and Cook an equal share in songwriting and vocal duties but the album was a flop. Finally the group split by the end of 1972. It was not a very happy parting as John got embroiled in a dispute with Fantasy records over royalty issues. John gave up his royalty rights to Fantasy in order to be released from the recording contract.
Dejected by the experience, John decided to pursue a solo career and in 1973, he released an album of covers named ‘The Blue Ridge Rangers’ in which he played all the instruments. After working on two more nondescript albums (one of which did not see the light of day), John Fogerty disappeared from the music scene. He later disclosed that he was unable to write any music during this time.
In 1985, Fogerty made a stunning comeback with the rousing album ‘Centerfield’ which shot up the charts to land at number one and produced the Top 10 hit single ‘Old Man Down The Road’. It was the welcome return of a great American artist to his rightful place. The success of the album was however marred by two lawsuits brought against John Fogerty by Fantasy Records.
In the first lawsuit, the record company alleged that two songs ‘Zanz Kant Danz’ (“Zanz can’t dance but he’ll steal your money”) and ‘Mr. Greed’ from the album were veiled attacks against the owner of Fantasy Records Saul Zaentz. Fogerty responded by revising the lyrics to “Vanz can’t dance”.
The other lawsuit claimed that the single ‘Old Man Down The Road’ was a plagiarized version of the old Creedence song ‘Run Through The Jungle’. John brought his guitar to the witness stand and played parts from both the songs to prove that they were two distinct songs. The jury ruled in John’s favor and ordered Fantasy Records to reimburse him the lawyers’ fees of over a million dollars. After this success, came the follow-up album in 1986, Eye of the Zombie, which wasn’t very successful.
The Creedence Songs
For years, John refused to perform Creedence songs at any of his live shows and concerts. The royalty issue over the songs had been an unpleasant experience and it still hurt him. But on July 4, 1987, at a concert for Vietnam War Veterans in Washington, D.C, he broke his boycott and performed eight Creedence classics. He explained, “Gradually I realized that these were not just my songs anymore.”
When Creedence Clearwater Revival were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, John refused to perform with Cook and Clifford that evening, as it still hurt him that they had sided with Fantasy Records over the royalty issue. Meanwhile, all was quiet on the music front from Fogerty.
Below is a video of Fogerty live at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, CA in September 2005, playing one of my favourite Creedence classics ‘Fortunate Son’ with one of his trusty old Gibson Les Paul guitars.
John Fogerty – ‘Fortunate Son’ Live
Rock And Roll Revival
After an eleven year hiatus John Fogerty again made a comeback, this time , with the album ‘Blue Moon Swamp’ which was even more successful than ‘Centerfield’ and netted him the 1997 Grammy award for Best Rock Album. The live album of the subsequent tour Premonition was equally successful and critically acclaimed.
The next album came, again after a break of seven years and was called Déjà vu (All Over Again) with ten songs squeezed into 34 minutes. This was soon followed the by 2005 release of ‘The Long Road Home’ – The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection, the first compilation of its kind to feature Fogerty’s solo numbers with Creedence classics.
The 2007 release ‘Revival’ was a resounding success with 65,000 copies sold in the first week itself and a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. Fogerty’s fans are waiting with bated breath for a new offering from the master guitarist and musician.
John Fogerty said on the eve of his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….“In 1968, I always used to say that I wanted to make records they would still play on the radio in ten years.” He’s got all that he wished for and more. It will be many, many more years until the music of John Fogerty and Creedence is forgotten.
Until next time…Rock On
Scotty Smith ©2008-2009
