John Fogerty

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This article is about the singer, John Fogerty. For the American racing driver, see Jon Fogarty.

John Fogerty
Born	May 28, 1945 Berkeley, California
Genre(s)	Rock Blues Country
Affiliation(s)	Creedence Clearwater Revival
Label(s)	Fantasy, Asylum, Warner Bros., Geffen
Years active	1959 - present
Official site	Official website

John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was born in Berkeley, California.

Contents 1 Creedence Clearwater Revival 2 Solo recording career 3 Trivia 4 Discography 5 External links

[edit] Creedence Clearwater Revival

John and his brother, Tom Fogerty, formed the band in El Cerrito, California in the late 1950s as Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets. The name was changed to The Golliwogs in the mid 1960s, but the band remained unpopular.

The Government tried to draft Fogerty in 1966 but instead he joined an Army reserve unit. He served at Fort Bragg, Fort Knox and Fort Lee. Fogerty was released from the army in 1967.

By 1968, things started to pick up for the band. The band released its first album, the self-titled Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also had their first hit single, "Susie Q". Other hit singles of the band were "Proud Mary", "Fortunate Son", "Up Around The Bend", "Lodi", "Green River", "Down On The Corner", "Travelin' Band", "Lookin' Out My Back Door", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Who'll Stop The Rain."

Upset by John's prominence, in 1971 John's brother, Tom, left the band. John subsequently demanded that Stu Cook and Doug Clifford write and sing one third each of the next album, Mardi Gras. They protested, saying it wouldn't be a CCR album, and that the fans would not understand. John replied, "My voice is a unique instrument and I will not lend it to your songs." He threatened to quit the band immediately if his ultimatum was not met; Mardi Gras turned out to be their last album as Fogerty bought himself out of his contract and officially left the band.

However, his influence was not forgotten with his departure. His guitar playing with CCR would later lead Rolling Stone to name him the 40th greatest guitarist of all time.

In the early 1970's Fantasy recommended to the Creedence members that they bank their royalties somewhere in the Carribean for tax reasons, and all four members did that (as did Fantasy). But at some point, Fantasy decided the Caribbean bank was not stable and told three Creedence members to withdraw their money. But no one told John Fogerty and he lost millions while the others avoided the loss.

[edit] Solo recording career

John Fogerty began a solo career, originally under the name the Blue Ridge Rangers for his 1973 debut, on which he played all of the instruments and covered others' hits, such as "Jambalaya" (which was a Top 40 hit) and some gospel songs like "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" and "Working On A Building". John Fogerty was released in 1975. Sales were slim and legal problems delayed a follow-up, though it yielded two minor hit singles, "Rockin' All Over The World" (later covered much more successfully by Status Quo) and "Almost Saturday Night" (later a minor UK hit for Dave Edmunds.) The Georgia Satellites later combined the two songs as "Almost Saturday Night/Rockin' All Over The World". Creedence Clearwater Revival's former music publisher (affiliated with Fantasy Records) filed a suit against Fogerty, claiming that his new, solo compositions sounded too much like his former work as songwriter for Creedence.

Fogerty's solo career emerged in full force with 1985's Centerfield, which went to the top of the charts and included a Top Ten hit in "The Old Man Down The Road" and a title track frequently played on classic rock radio and at baseball games to this day. But that album was not without its legal snags either. Two songs on the album, "Zanz Kant Danz" and "Mr Greed", were believed to be attacks on Fogerty's former boss at Fantasy Records, Saul Zaentz. "Zanz Kant Dance" was about a pig who can't dance but would "steal your money". When Zaentz responded with a lawsuit, Fogerty issued a revised version of "Zanz Kant Danz" (changing the lead character's name to Vanz). Another lawsuit claimed that "The Old Man Down The Road" shared the same chorus as "Run Through The Jungle" (a song from Fogerty's days with Creedence). Fogerty ultimately won his case when he proved that the two songs were wholly separate and distinct compositions. Bringing his guitar to the witness stand, he played excerpts from both songs, demonstrating that many songwriters (himself included) have distinctive styles that can make different compositions sound similar to less discerning ears.

Fogerty later sued Zaentz for the cost to defend himself against the copyright infringement lawsuit. In such copyright cases, prevailing defendants seeking recompense are generally bound to show that the original suit was frivolous or made in bad faith. However, Fogerty v. Zaentz became precedent when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings in 1993 and awarded attorneys' fees to Fogerty, without Fogerty having to show that Zaentz's original suit was frivolous.

The follow-up album was Eye of the Zombie in 1986, which was less successful. In 1993, his group Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Fogerty refused to perform with his former bandmates, thus claiming his revenge against them for having sided with Fantasy Records in his disputes with the company. He retired until returning with 1997's Blue Moon Swamp, which won the Grammy for Best Rock album in 1997.

He had a very successful tour in 1998 in the United States and Europe. He released a live album from that tour titled Premonition, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album in 1998, but lost to Sheryl Crow's 'The Globe Sessions'.

In 2004 John Fogerty released Deja Vu (All Over Again). Rolling Stone wrote: "The title track is Fogerty's indictment of the Iraq war as another Vietnam, a senseless squandering of American lives and power." On the album, Fogerty succinctly squeezed ten songs into only 34 minutes.

In October 2004 John Fogerty appeared on the Vote for Change tour, playing a series of concerts in American swing states. These concerts were organized by MoveOn.org with the general goal of mobilizing people to vote for John Kerry and against George W. Bush in that year's presidential campaign. Fogerty's numbers were played with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The sale of Fantasy Records to Concord Records in 2004 ended the 30+ year estrangement between Fogerty and his former label as the new owners took steps to restore royalty rights Fogerty gave up in order to be released from his contract with Fantasy in the mid 1970s.

On June 9, 2005, Fogerty was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame alongside Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, Isaac Hayes and David Porter.

In September 2005, Fogerty returned to Fantasy Records. The first album released under the new Fantasy contract was The Long Road Home, a compilation CD combining his Creedence hits with solo material which was issued on November 1, 2005. A new studio album is planned for 2006 release. On June 13, 2006 a live DVD named The Long Road Home - In Concert was released and included live versions of his biggest solo hits and hits of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Also in September 2005, Fogerty was introduced by Bill Clinton, former U.S. President, at the From the Big Apple to the Big Easy Hurricane Katrina relief concert at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. His set included renditions of Born on the Bayou and Proud Mary.

The summer of 2006, Fogerty toured the USA with Willie Nelson. On June 29, he played his first headlining British concert since 1972, at the Hammersmith Apollo theater in London, as part of the European leg of the tour.

On September 13th, 2006, Fogerty had his first concert in Mexico City, at the Auditorio Nacional; which was sold out to 10.000 fans.

On Thanksgiving Day 2006, Fogerty performed at halftime of the Miami Dolphins/Detroit Lions game, as well as the Denver Broncos/Kansas City Chiefs halftime later that evening. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

[edit] Trivia

• The Fogerty family name is Irish, an Anglicized form of the Irish personal name Fógartach, from fógartha, meaning 'banished, outlawed' (Hanks & Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames [Oxford UP, 1988], p. 187).

• He wrote the CCR hit "Who'll Stop the Rain" after Woodstock about the rain there. In concert he always introduces the song saying that there is a myth that he played it at Woodstock, when in fact he wrote it afterwards, about Woodstock.

• On his live album Premonition, near the end of "Bad Moon Rising" Fogerty replaces the usual lyric "There's a bad moon on the rise" with a well-known mondegreen, "There's a bathroom on the right."

• He wrote "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" to express his views about the second Iraq War.

• Is a staunch opponent of president George W. Bush's policies. Ironically, Bush has called "Centerfield" his favorite song. Athough not a supporter of his, Fogerty was reportedly amused by this.

[edit] Discography

• Blue Ridge Rangers (1973)
• John Fogerty (1975)
• Hoodoo (1976) unreleased
• Centerfield (1985)
• Eye of the Zombie (1986)
• Blue Moon Swamp (1997)
• Premonition (1998)
• Deja Vu (All Over Again) (2004)
• The Long Road Home (2005)
• The Long Road Home - In Concert CD (2006)
• The Long Road Home - In Concert DVD (2006)
• From the Big Apple to the Big Easy DVD (2006)

[edit] External links

• Official website
• John Fogerty's "Centerfield" on YouTube
• Daily Vault review of John Fogerty's "The Long Road Home - In Concert"