If ever there was a cautionary tale about the music industry, look no further than the covenant John Fogerty and his Creedence Clearwater Revival bandmates entered into with Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz when the band landed on his label.
In the process, Fogerty signed away the distribution and publishing rights to a treasure trove of hit material predominantly penned by him. Five decades-plus of litigation followed as the Berkeley native fought to get back his songs with lawsuits and counter-suits flying back and forth. At one point, Zaentz sued for defamation of character over the Fogerty songs “Mr. Greed” and “Zanz Can’t Dance” and the songwriter was forced to change to title and lyric to the latter to “Vanz Can’t Dance.” Zaents also sued for plagiarism, contending that the Fogerty tune “The Old Man Down the Road” was lifted from the Fantasy-copyrighted-but-Fogerty-penned “Run Through the Jungle.” Zaentz lost that suit.
The vitriol got to the point where for roughly 15 years after Creedence Clearwater Revival dissolved in 1972, Fogerty refused to play any CCR songs in concert not wanting Zaentz to make any money off of his performances. (That resolve softened when Fogerty played a Vietnam Veterans concert on July 4, 1987).
The tide changed when Concord Records purchased the Fantasy catalog in 2004. One of the first orders of business was to immediately reinstate and increase Fogerty’s artist royalties, which he had relinquished to Zaentz in 1980 to get out of his Fantasy deal and had not received in a quarter century. This year kicked off with the 78-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer announcing on Twitter that he would gain control of upwards of 65 CCR copyrights, including songs like “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Proud Mary” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” for the first time ever with Concord (now the owner of Fantasy Records) retaining the CCR master recordings already in its catalog. It’s the end of a protracted legal battle that stretched over a half century and Fogerty is grateful that it’s resolved.
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“It’s the most rewarding and fulfilling thing career-wise,” he said in a recent interview. “I was denied ownership for so long of these songs that I wrote and created. Unfortunately, being signed to a label—the ownership was handed over the second the contract was signed in early 1968. It meant songs I wrote were never owned by me. They already went into a section the minute I finished writing them. I’ve tried for years and years to figure out all the legal ways and friendly man-to-man ways that you try things and I was always denied. It became such a large source of disappointment to me. You generate a lot of emotions, especially over time. It’s a big relief now. I just don’t have to worry about that now. It was wrong, of course. I’m in a celebratory mood for sure. I’m just happy that I’m still here and I get to share this with my fans and also with my family, which is such a large part of my musical journey at this point.”
For Fogerty, 2024 represents a victory lap that includes a tour that is a family affair. Wife/manager Julie, (who was instrumental in helping her husband reacquire his songs) is by his side, while sons Shane and Tyler, who have a psychedelic rock band called Hearty Har are also sidemen for their pop. Even daughter Kelsy appears onstage performing with her siblings during the tour’s “Proud Mary” encore. Not surprisingly, this current tour is making up for the lost time of Fogerty not delving into the rich CCR catalog for so long.
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“Because of the celebration of me getting ownership of my songs, it’s such a brand-new feeling for me,” he explained. “It’s been more than 50 years. That’s really the theme [for this tour]. I’ll be doing much of the Creedence catalog and including some deeper album cuts as some people put it, particularly if you were really into all those records—because I wrote those songs. These are songs I know very well, but maybe the rest of the world—like the person who only heard hits on the radio – (might not) know about some of the other songs. We’ll be pulling those out of retirement, putting them on stage and breathing new life into them. In that sense, it will give you a different perspective on those album cuts. And mainly, the vibe of it all is the great joy that I feel with finally being connected. In a sense, the people that are fans, especially the ones that have supported me over all this time, will understand this. They probably intuitively know how I feel.”
Having signed a deal with BMG in 2019, Fogerty has been slowly crafting new material as well, only stopping long enough to release “Fogerty’s Factory,” a collection of CCR and solo hits along with covers of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans” and Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” that coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Creedence album “Cosmo’s Factory.” The album even found Fogerty and his offspring recreating the original album cover with help from brother Bob, who shot the initial image. The CCR founding member also penned two other new songs, “Weeping in The Promised Land” and “Joy of My Life,” a cut inspired by wife Julie, who he recently celebrated his 32nd wedding anniversary with.
“It’s a testimony that you’re with the right person that you’re been searching for and really never thought you would find,” he said. “All the rest of the story in that song is actually true. I’ve laid down next to her after coming home from a songwriting trip and having been away for a week or so—and she was falling asleep and suddenly my mind started going and writing the song that eventually became ‘Joy of My Life.’ It’s just really special.”
For now, Fogerty and his family will clock in plenty of time on the road with hopes to possibly pop into the studio at some time before year’s end.
“I’m working on material and it would fulfill me the most to be able to write a song with my kids and then get it recorded in some form or another,” he said. “Whether it be for the boys’ band Hearty Har or as a song that is kind of officially in my career you might say. And I’m not really sure what that might be because we haven’t done that yet. But they have a lot of talent and I think I have a lot of experience to pass on to them. The greatest part about being a musician is getting to play in front of an audience, more so than any of the other parts. It’s just a wonderful experience to share with other humans and present your songs and play. I’m looking very much forward to this.”
John Fogerty
Where: Pacific Amphitheater, 100 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Tickets: $55 – $121
