In The Studio with Redbeard

Tag: John Fogerty

  • Creedence Clearwater Revival- Cosmo’s Factory @55- John Fogerty

    Creedence Clearwater Revival- Cosmo’s Factory @55- John Fogerty

    In late July 1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival had a veritable greatest hits package Cosmo’s Factory  which would start a nine week run at #1. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame American music legend John Fogerty returned In the Studio for the double-nickel anniversary of this timeless  album by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory. This was miraculously the fourth full CCR album in only eighteen months (!), yet nevertheless singer/songwriter/lead guitarist/producer John Fogerty’s cup runneth over with hits, six in the Top Five to be exact:”Travelin’ Band”, “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”, “Run Through the Jungle”, “Up Around the Bend”, “Who’ll Stop the Rain”, and “Long As I Can See the Light”. Wow.

    With the Beatles, at least John Lennon had Paul McCartney and vice versa to contribute high-caliber songs, and by 1968’s White Album,  George Harrison became a significant contributor as well. How then do we explain Creedence Clearwater Revival’s five hit albums in three years, leaving the best for July 1970’s Cosmo’s Factory, all written, arranged, produced, and sung solely by John Fogerty? Enjoy my very rare classic rock interview on Cosmo’s Factory 55th anniversary. –Redbeard (L-R: drummer Doug Clifford, the late Tom Fogerty, John Fogerty, Stu Cook )

     

     

  • Creedence Clearwater Revival- Green River/Willy & the Poor Boys- John Fogerty

    Creedence Clearwater Revival- Green River/Willy & the Poor Boys- John Fogerty

    After already releasing the hit album Bayou Country at the beginning of the year, Creedence Clearwater Revival released Green River in August 1969 and Willy and the Poor Boys just before Christmas. Those latter two veritable greatest hits packages loaded with “Bad Moon Rising”, “Lodi”, “Green River”, “Down on the Corner”, “Fortunate Son”, and “Don’t Look Now” were, like the two preceding Creedence Clearwater Revival albums, the artistic vision of one John Fogerty. Even as he wrote all of the original songs, sang every one, and provided the chunky lead guitar, John Fogerty also produced the distinctive “swamp rock” sound of every CCR album, including those THREE in 1969.

    And while John Fogerty was not the first to be entrusted with the then-new trend toward allowing the bands to produce themselves, he certainly was the most successful, truly remarkable when you realize that, at least in North America, Creedence Clearwater Revival rivaled The Beatles for consecutive Top 5 hits in the US from 1967-1970, and that is without the expert guidance of a producer such as The Fab Four had in George Martin. Jimi Hendrix and The Doors made equally indelible impacts upon rock history in the same inconceivably brief span of time as Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty, but they each had help, Hendrix from ex-Animals member Chas Chandler and The Doors from veteran producer Paul Rothschild. Even over fifty-five years later, my guest here In the Studio John Fogerty‘s sound and vision on Green River and Willy and the Poor Boys were completely self-contained and, to this day, never duplicated.

    Barely eight months after releasing Bayou Country in January, Bay Area quartet Creedence Clearwater Revival would offer up Green River in August, with the hat trick Willy & the Poor Boys before year’s end. This outpouring of timeless hits in a single year, including “Proud Mary”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Lodi”, “Green River”, “Down on the Corner”, and “Fortunate Son” all penned, produced, and sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty, has never been matched and probably never will. –Redbeard

  • Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band- Fortunate Son

    Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band- Fortunate Son

    When you are as prolific a song craftsman as Bob Seger, there is little reason to cover anybody else’s. But a lucky crowd got to hear Bob Seger lead his Silver Bullet Band through a rousing version of John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” long ago.

  • Creedence Clearwater Revival- Bayou Country- John Fogerty

    Creedence Clearwater Revival- Bayou Country- John Fogerty

    Creedence Clearwater Revival began a superhuman creative run of releasing three full-length albums in 1969 (!!!), starting in January with CCR’s second, Bayou Country. It contained the swamp rock classic “Born on the Bayou” as well as one of the biggest songs of the last half of the 20th century, “Proud Mary”. The composer, singer, guitarist, and producer of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s albums, John Fogerty, is my guest In the Studio.

    This is my very rare interview with John Fogerty, who wrote and sang every Creedence Clearwater Revival song, played lead guitar & great chunky rhythm guitar, and produced every CCR album. When my parents could finally afford a little monaural record player, Bayou Country with its “Proud Mary” and”Born on the Bayou” was among the first albums I ever bought. As popular and influential on other musicians as Creedence Clearwater Revival was, it is safely said that no one has ever sounded quite like CCR. ( L-R CCR‘s  John  Fogerty, drummer Doug Clifford, the late TomFogerty, bass player Stu Cook)

    My hunch is that more people double- and triple-check the release dates of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bayou Country,  Green River,  and Willy and the Poor Boys  albums than practically anything musically historical on Wikipedia, Google, or AllMusic.com. When you see the  year of release for all three as 1969, common sense tells you that is highly improbable and must be a mistake, as the creative talent and time required to write and record three albums of material, while simultaneously touring, would be superhuman.

    On further inspection when it is stated that Green River  came out in August as CCR was appearing at the Woodstock Festival, with only three months  until Willy and the Poor Boys in November 1969, any reasonable assumption tells you that is simply impossible, since only one man, John Fogerty, was responsible for writing all of the original songs on this terrific album trifecta in that ridiculously short span of time. But it happened just that way, in barely a thirteen month period.-Redbeard

  • John Fogerty- Proud Mary- Burbank rehearsal 5-97

    John Fogerty- Proud Mary- Burbank rehearsal 5-97

    Here is a kick*ss performance of “Proud Mary”, one of the essential songs of the last half of the 20th century, sung and played by the composer John Fogerty and made internationally popular when he led Creedence Clearwater Revival. This was mixed live by the master Bob Clearmountain, with no overdubs, at rehearsal for the Blue Moon Swamp  Tour in 1997. – Redbeard

    The preacher and his acolyte, two of America’s finest songwriters enjoying each other at a Hall of Fame induction.

    25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Concert - Night 1 - Show

  • John Fogerty- Blue Moon Swamp

    John Fogerty- Blue Moon Swamp

    The Grammy Award-winning Blue Moon Swamp by John Fogerty emerged from the backwater bayou of his fertile imagination in May 1997. For a variety of reasons, some notorious and others more nuanced, legendary singer/songwriter John Fogerty released solo albums in the twentieth century on an almost cicadian schedule. Extended periods of more than a decade would go between them: wars were won and lost, governments toppled, industries boomed and busted before another John Fogerty album would emerge. And the public’s response seemed to have no bearing on the release schedule, either. 1985’s Centerfield was a certified hit and return to form for the legendary leader of hit machine Creedence Clearwater Revival, but the following year Eye of the Zombie felt like out-takes from those sessions. Then quietly, I got the call in May 1997 that John Fogerty had emerged from his shadowy virtual swamp with a backpack full of new songs, including “Walking in a Hurricane”,”Blueboy”,”Hot Rod Heart”,”A Hundred and Ten in the Shade”,”Swamp River Days”, and “Bring It Down to Jelly Roll”. And Fogerty was willing to talk to me about all of it.

    1970’s Cosmo’s Factory  may have gotten its title from drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford, but that veritable greatest hits package was, like the four preceding albums Creedence Clearwater Revival , Green River, Bayou Country, and Willie and the Poor Boys, the artistic vision of John Fogerty. Even as he wrote all of the original songs, sang every note, and provided the chunky lead guitar, John Fogerty also produced the distinctive “swamp rock” sound of every CCR album. And while Fogerty wasn’t the first to be entrusted with the then-new trend toward allowing the bands to produce themselves, he certainly was the most successful, truly remarkable when you realize that, at least in North America, Creedence rivaled The Beatles for consecutive Top 5 hits from 1967-1970. And that was without the expert guidance of a George Martin. Jimi Hendrix and The Doors made equally indelible impacts upon rock history in the same inconceivably brief span of time as Fogerty and Creedence, but they each had help (Hendrix from ex-Animals member Chas Chandler, The Doors from veteran producer Paul Rothschild ). John Fogerty’s sound and vision were completely self-contained and, to this day, never duplicated. Here is John Fogerty with me In the Studio for the Blue Moon Swamp World Premiere North American radio broadcast about what became the 1997 Grammy Rock Album of the Year. The Blue Moon Swamp World Premiere was written, hosted, and interview conducted by Redbeard.

  • John Fogerty- Weeping in the Promised Land

    John Fogerty- Weeping in the Promised Land

    An American patriot, John Fogerty, with a new song and video,”Weeping in the Promised Land“. Just click the link   https://youtu.be/4ODrkRdwb3k

    May God bless the United States of America. –Redbeard

     

     

  • John Fogerty- Fortunate Son- rehearsal 5-97

    John Fogerty- Fortunate Son- rehearsal 5-97

    For those who have been suffering through life imitating art for the last four years by Jared and the Oligarchs featuring Ivanka, Eric, and Donald jr, ain’t nothin’ like the real thing: John Fogerty ripping through the furious protest song he wrote and sang for Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Fortunate Son”. This unreleased gem from the In the Studio  archives was recorded in May 1997 during John Fogerty’s rehearsals in Burbank CA for that Summer’s Blue Moon Swamp  Tour. –Redbeard

  • John Fogerty- Green River- Burbank 5-97

    John Fogerty- Green River- Burbank 5-97

    Creedence Clearwater Revival, led by John Fogerty, were very busy from 1968 through 1970. Their third album Green River   had  been released in 1969, their first since the spectacular breakthrough of “Proud Mary” from Bayou Country , and they were suddenly much in demand for TV appearances and concerts, including one outside Bethel NY called the Woodstock Festival.”We went on in the middle of the night after the Grateful Dead,” recalls Creedence songwriter/ producer/ singer/ guitarist John Fogerty. “ Half a million kids asleep, oh boy!” Decades later Fogerty was rehearsing his band in Burbank CA in front of a small studio audience when the band dug into the title song from that “Green River” album. –Redbeard

  • John Fogerty- Susie Q- I Put a Spell on You -rehearsal 5-97

    John Fogerty- Susie Q- I Put a Spell on You -rehearsal 5-97

    An In the Studio white-hot exclusive, here’s John Fogerty and his terrific band performing live at rehearsal in Burbank in 1997, reprising two Screamin’ Jay Hawkins  songs,”Susie Q” and the hoodoo howling “I Put a Spell on You“, which Fogerty’s  Creedence Clearwater Revival covered on their debut released in May 1968. – Redbeard