John Fogerty

John Fogerty is a celebrated artist who distinguished himself in the United States of America as a singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was born on May 28, 1945 in Berkley, California. John’s first band was Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets headed by his brother Tom. In the early sixties, it was renamed to The Golliwogs, which, in fact, did not improve the situation. In 1966, John Fogerty joined the army for two years and then, on his return home, began looking for musicians to complete his own group. Called Creedence Clearwater Revival, it released in 1968 the self-titled debut album to please both experts and listeners. The band continued strengthening its positions releasing within a year three impressive singles, Proud Mary, Fortunate Son, and Bad Moon Rising. The young ensemble’s achievements were recognized by inviting the musicians to the Woodstock festival in 1969, which they could not deny. Sadly, the Creedence Clearwater Revival performance was not recorded for the documentary about this bog event due to an extremely poor level of sound.

In 1971, Creedence Clearwater Revival developed an inside conflict featuring Fogerty brothers as main characters. As a result, Tom quit. This loss proved to be incurable. In 1972, the musicians released an album called Mardi Gras to be followed by John’s departure. Before he embarked on a solo career, the singer suffered a great misfortune. The Fantasy Records label, John’s band’s partner, did not notify him duly of the problems at the band where the musicians kept their finances, which ended in Fogerty’s losing millions of dollars. The artist’s first solo efforts went almost unnoticed. The situation turned much more optimistic after the 1985 arrival of his album Centerfield. This spectacular record featured the famous track The Old Man Down the Road. The release of this studio work was accompanied by the beginning of a legal battle between John Fogerty and a Fantasy Records manager Saul Zaentz who claimed the artist had infringed copyrights, which was never proved.

This story was continued in 1993 when Creedence Clearwater Revival were presented as a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. John Fogerty refused to take part in the celebration concert since the other members of the bands supported Fantasy Records during the label’s struggle against him. All these feuds could not but affect the artist’s creative activities as he stopped recording for a number of years. When speculations started to arise that he had left the music business for ever, the musician came back gloriously with the impressive 1997 album Blue Moon Swamp. This record earned him Grammy while the promotional tour organized on the land of Europe and the US appeared a very successful campaign.

In 2004, John Fogerty presented his new studio work named Déjà Vu (All Over Again). Specialists and music lovers found it a politically colored album. Fogerty was considered as a rigid opponent of the war in Iraq and, consequently, of George Bush’s regime. In 2007, the artist prepared his subsequent studio record, Revival, to be followed by the 2009 album called The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. John Fogerty’s never-ending creative potential was rightfully praised by experts as they gave him his own place in the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Despite his considerable age, John Fogerty continues working in the studio and in the stage setting a good example for younger performers.