“It was life and death,” said musician John Fogerty. “I used to tell myself that phrase: ‘This is life and death.’ You’re against the whole world.”
He felt that as a young man: “Yes, oh yes. I mean, there’s a million records out there. It’s me against everybody that’s every recorded and ever will record. You’ve got to do a great job. It was either be great, or go home!”
You know how it turned out for Fogerty. “Great” is something of an understatement. That voice … that guitar … and those songs, so many of which became hits that are now classics. But Fogerty, who recently turned 80, says every time he steps up to the mic, he still has something to prove – and still feel a little nerve. “Oh yeah, yeah, every time!” he laughed. “But I think the nerves is what gives you the edge.
I asked, “How do you do that? What’s the magic there?”
“I wish I had a really great, contrived answer for you, but I don’t!” he laughed.
The answer seems quite simple when you watch Fogerty rehearse. There is love of craft, and love of family. (His sons, Shane and Tyler Fogerty, help lead his touring band.)
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The group that put Fogerty on the charts was Creedence Clearwater Revival, which got its start in the late 1950s. Though a native of Northern California, Fogerty soaked up the rhythms of the South, giving birth to his so-called “swamp rock” sound, which he honed in the mid-’60s.
He recalled: “I received my honorable discharge from the Army. And the first line I wrote was, ‘Left a good job in the city, workin’ for the man every night and day.’ Well, of course that was the Army. I mean, it had just happened. But as I begin to strum, I started singing this phrase: ‘Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river.’ And at that point I’m, Well, what is this song? What is this? And I went to this songbook that I had just started keeping, and on the very first page, the very first entry, I had written the words ‘Proud Mary.’
“And I actually understood right then that I’d written a classic song, a really great, American song,” he said. “And a few moments later, ‘Oh my God. What if I never get to do this again? What if this is the only one that ever happens, and I’m a one-hit wonder?'”
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Turns out, Fogerty was anything but that. Yet, after the 1972 breakup of Creedence, his solo career became mired in legal battles. He was stunned to discover he no longer had control over the use of the songs he wrote – and a limited share of the profits.
Fogerty has looked on as others have endured similar challenges, and pain. The most famous current example: Taylor Swift, who earlier this year purchased the rights to her compositions, and won back control of her music.
I asked, “If you could pull her aside, John, and give her a piece of advice about how to get over the pain of a fight over your own music, what would you tell her?”
“Well, I don’t think you get over that kind of fight,” he replied. “What happened to me is, I stopped touring, and I stopped singing my own songs. I don’t recommend that move to anybody. You become invisible. You’re just forgotten about. It’s like you died.”
I asked Julie, his wife of 34 years, if she ever doubted that he would be able to pull himself out of that anger. “I think it was more sadness than anger,” she said. “And all he ever wanted to do in life was make music. That was his love. That was his best friend. And having that taken away and turned so bad was really hard for me to understand.”
Fogerty gives Julie credit for turning his life around. And she encouraged him not only to buy back the rights to his Creedence catalog, but to re-record those songs with his sons. The result: a new album, “Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years (John’s Version).”
Julie said, “Having those songs and being able to put his fist in the air and go, ‘I own those songs,’ I couldn’t think of a better gift than having him record these with friends and family.”
You can stream John Fogerty’s album “Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years (John’s Version)” by clicking on the embed below (Free Spotify registration required to hear the tracks in full):
Since they were children, sons Shane and Tyler learned guitar from their father. The new album is a family affair, but it’s also serious business. “I have the feeling that somehow Julie knew, she knew that at some point, the life-and-death John would kick in and I would have to roll up my sleeves,” Fogerty said. “‘Cause that’s what happened. And literally, this was kind of when the record was done, I think she told me, she said she could see me going back in time. With each one of these tracks, especially when I was doing the lead vocal, I had to remember what I felt like when I sang it the first time.”
And what a time it has been. For John Fogerty, the highs and lows have landed him here: at peace with it all, and lucky enough to have his songs still playing.
I asked, “What’s it like for you to hear your music everywhere, even now?”
“I don’t know the exact right words; I can almost not believe it actually happened, or that that was me,” he said. “It’s a prideful thing. I think it makes you feel really happy that you are able to tune into the radio station that God delivers, you know, and receive a song like ‘Proud Mary,’ and write it down, and even take credit for it, right? And then have it go around the world like that? It’s kind of too much to really be able to grab hold of.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with John Fogerty, and a performance of “Proud Mary”:
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Story produced by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Jason Schmidt.
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