I’ll turn 78 in less than 7 years and a month.  I feel good, but by then I’ll be happy to rise from my blue recliner without mechanical assistance.  Unless I can get my hands on whatever that 78 year-old guy I saw on stage last night at the Blossom Music Center is taking.  That guy would be John Fogerty, who in ’59 with the help of his brother formed a little band out of El Cerrito California, a few blocks north of Berkeley.  They toiled under different names from 1959 onward before settling on Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) in ’67. You may have heard of them.  Their sound made folks think they came from somewhere in the bayou, but they were California boys all the way.  In those hippie times, their roots sound was kind of a contrast, and wildly popular.  Between 1969 and 1971 they produced 14 consecutive top 10 singles (many of which were double A-sides) and five consecutive top 10 albums in the United States – two of which, Green River (1969) and Cosmo’s Factory (1970), reached number one. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival, and was the first major act signed to appear there.  John wrote his iconic “Who will stop the rain?” (1), inspired by his soggy experience there.  They broke up in ’72, at the peak of their success.  John continues to perform as a solo act and the remaining boys tried to pass themselves off as CCR.

The songs that John plays in concert these days are almost all CCR songs.  The audience knows them by heart and sings along loudly and enthusiastically, always standing.  Should John wish to take a break from singing, he can just turn his microphone to the audience and they will fill in.  John still sings these songs with all the exuberance and joy of back in the day. The years have been kind to his voice and it’s easy to close your eyes and think it’s 1969 again.  John, dressed in his everyman’s flannel shirt and jeans, still jumps all over the stage while delivering.  But delivering these songs was once a complicated matter.  In the high days of CCR, John signed over rights to his songs to Fantasy Records, who had produced all the band’s records.  It wasn’t a conscious decision, just part of the standard recording contract, endorsed by his bass player (Stu Cook’s) dad, an entertainment lawyer.  But over the years John saw his beloved compositions used to sell all manner of product, and didn’t like it.  Thus ensued a battle that has only recently been resolved after years of legal struggle (2).  Fantasy let the other members of Creedence out of their contracts when the band broke up, but held on to John.  He learned he owed them 186 tracks, something he figured would take close to 20 years to fulfill.  He gave up his artist royalties in 1980 to get out of his Fantasy obligations.  But he remained soured on Fantasy and for many years he refused to play CCR songs out of protest.  An epiphany at Robert Johnson’s grave in 1990 got him playing “his” songs again.  My wife and I have seen him 4 times since we started our “Fogey Rock” tour in June 2014, and he’s always played Creedence songs.  But until recently, they weren’t “his” and he realized no financial gain for playing them.  He learned about 7 years ago that U.S. law would restore at least partial ownership.  The way U.S. copyright law works is, [songwriters get full rights] after a period of two terms of 28 years. Somebody could actually have their songs become free after 28 years, but if the owning party exercises an option, then it goes for another 28 years, so you’re dealing with 56 years. John and his lawyers did all that (preparatory) stuff 10, 11, 12 years ago, so the songs were going to revert back to him by U.S. copyright law.  But he wasn’t getting rights to his songs all over the world.  John, his wife, and his lawyers eventually worked out a deal to purchase back his rights, and he now has a majority share of his publishing catalog, internationally as well as domestically; and since he is able to control how it gets used, he figures that is good enough.

Maybe this is too inside baseball for most of you.  But it clearly means a great deal to John.  Several times during the concert he talked about how ”I’ve got my songs back!”, spoken with both joy and tears.

Well, we in the audience are elated to have those songs back.  And what songs!  Still fresh as the day they were released, just like the guy singing them.

John’s the one in the light.  That’s his son to his immediate right.

Rather than pepper this blog with references to YouTubes of his many great tunes, here’s a link to a recent setlist.fm, where every song on the list has a link to a file that will play it for you, which just so happens to be his setlist from last night (3).  If you’re looking for something a little more permanent, there are a couple great greatest hits collection (4,5).  If you seek more immediate gratification, there’s a great full concert on YouTube from several years ago (6).

So, if somehow the glory of CCR and John Fogerty has slipped your mind, it’s well worth your effort to check him out again.  He may claim he’s not the Fortunate One (7)*, but we in the audience sure are.

*PS.  If you’re wondering about John and the military, he served in the Army reserve in the Bay Area ’66-68, entering after his original 4-F classification was “corrected” to 1-A.  Possible deployment to Vietnam was held over his head by supervisors, but never acted upon (8).

References

1.     Who’ll Stop The Rain- Cosmo’s Factory/Fogerty’s Factory. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9v8vtQRRQA

2. Willman C.  John Fogerty Recounts His Epic Journey to Finally Control Creedence Songs: ‘Good Things Come to Those Who Wait’- for 55 Years.  Variety 2/28/23. https://variety.com/2023/music/news/john-fogerty-details-battle-own-creedence-clearwater-revival-songs-1235537926/

3. John Fogerty Setlist at Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH, USA.  setlist.fm. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/john-fogerty/2023/blossom-music-center-cuyahoga-falls-oh-4ba457a6.html

4. Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits.  https://www.amazon.com/Chronicle-Greatest-Creedence-Clearwater-Revival/dp/B084J7CCY4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=17IDVFQBCBZMT&keywords=creedence+clearwater+revival+cd&qid=1691880315&sprefix=creddence+clearwater+%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-4

5. Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival: Greatest Hits & All-Time Classics.  (3 CD set) 11/6/12.  https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Creedence-Clearwater-Revival-Greatest/dp/B009A882D0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=17IDVFQBCBZMT&keywords=creedence+clearwater+revival+cd&qid=1691880315&sprefix=creddence+clearwater+%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-3

6. John Fogerty (CCR) @ Stagecoach Festival (2016) – Full Concert Stream in HD.  YouTube.  https://youtu.be/nt7-W-ARf6w

7. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son (Official Music Video).  YouTube.  https://youtu.be/ZWijx_AgPiA

8. Fogerty J.  Fortunate Son.  New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2015.  Pp 110-118. https://www.amazon.com/Fortunate-Son-John-Fogerty-audiobook/dp/B014JXRWM2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IKOBJMK1LTCV&keywords=john+fogerty+book+fortunate+son&qid=1691883885&sprefix=John+Fogerty%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1