b. 28 May 1945, Berkeley, California, USA. As the vocalist and composer with Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the most successful acts of its era, Fogerty seemed assured of a similar status when he began a solo career in 1972. Recording as the Blue Ridge Rangers, the album was a curiously understated affair designed to suggest the work of a group. The material consisted of country and gospel songs, two tracks from which, ‘Jambalaya (On The Bayou)’ and ‘Hearts Of Stone’, became US hit singles in 1973. Despite the exclusion of original songs and its outer anonymity, the work was clearly that of Fogerty, whose voice and instrumentation were unmistakable. The first of many legal problems arose when the singer charged that his label, Fantasy Records, had not promoted the record sufficiently. He demanded a release from his contract, but the company claimed the rights to a further eight albums. This situation remained at an impasse until Asylum Records secured Fogerty’s North American contract, while Fantasy retained copyright for the rest of the world. Fogerty made his solo debut proper in 1975 with a self-titled set. John Fogerty contained several classic tracks, notably ‘Almost Saturday Night’ and ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’ which were successfully covered, respectively, by Dave Edmunds and Status Quo. However, Fogerty’s legal entanglements still persisted and although a single, ‘Comin’ Down The Road’, was released from a prospective third album, Hoodoo, it was never issued.
It was 1985 before the artist re-emerged with the accomplished Centerfield, which topped the US album chart and provided an international hit single in ‘The Old Man Down The Road’. The set also included two powerful rock songs, ‘Mr. Greed’ and ‘Zanz Kan’t Danz’, which Fantasy owner Saul Zaentz assumed was a personal attack. He sued Fogerty for $142 million, claiming he had been slandered by the album’s lyrics, and filed for the profits from ‘The Old Man Down The Road’, asserting the song plagiarised Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Run Through The Jungle’. Fogerty’s riposte was a fourth album, Eye Of The Zombie (1986), which, although failing to scale the heights of its predecessor, was the impetus for a series of excellent live performances.
Since the late 80s Fogerty has maintained a lower profile, and successfully secured a decision against Zaentz’s punitive action. The 1997 comeback album Blue Moon Swamp was a welcome return to form. The reviews were generally excellent, although the material on the album was not radically different from Fogerty’s favoured mix of rock and country. The live Premonition was released the following year.
Fogerty returned to the headlines in October 2004 when he participated in the Vote For Change Tour, joining acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and R.E.M. in a series of shows intended to influence voters to remove President George W. Bush from the White House. His new studio album, the disappointingly bland Deja Vu All Over Again, was released at the same time. In a surprise move, Fogerty then returned to the Fantasy label. In reality, the sale of Fantasy to Concord Records in 2004 had prompted the return of Fogerty’s royalty rights, and with his short-lived DreamWorks contract ending he saw no barriers to resuming a working relationship with this former bête noire. A compilation set and a live album were the first fruits of the renewed partnership, and Fogerty’s increasing confidence was then demonstrated with a terrific new studio album, Revival.
