John
Fogerty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born May 28, 1945 (age 61)
Berkeley, California, USA
Genre(s) Rock
Blues
Country
Affiliation(s) Creedence Clearwater Revival
Label(s) Fantasy
Asylum
Warner Bros.
Geffen
Years active 1959 – Present
Official site www.johnfogerty.com
John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter,
and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock or roots rock band
Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was born in Berkeley, California.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
John Fogerty singing in foreground on Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle
cover.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", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" and "Who'll Stop The Rain."
Many people are not aware that Creedence performed at Woodstock in August 1969. They were the first band to be signed, but Fogerty was unhappy with some technical problems that occurred with the sound during their set, so he wouldn't give permission for any portion of their performance to be included in "Woodstock," the film which documented the legendary rock festival.
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.[1]
In the early 1970's Fantasy Records recommended to the Creedence members
that they bank their royalties somewhere in the Caribbean 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
