John Fogerty is featured on the latest installment of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. The founding Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman played a five-song set with his current touring band. The set included renditions of three well-known CCR tunes and two deep cuts from his solo career.
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As always, the new Tiny Desk Concert episode was filmed in front of a small audience at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. Fogerty began the show with a version of his all-time CCR classic “Proud Mary”.
The 80-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer then shared his recollections of writing “Proud Mary”. He described the track as “the first good song I wrote.”
“I’d been writing songs since I was about eight years old and in a pretty hap-dash way,” Fogerty explained. “And all those years, [I was] learning and listening to the people that are great, that inspired me.”
John then set the scene for how “Proud Mary” came to be. He noted that it was June or July 1968, a time when he’d already written and recorded many songs. He had been serving in the U.S. Army reserves for three years, and that day, he received his honorable discharge.
He remembered, “I opened my discharge [letter] up, and I was really, really, really happy, you know. … And I went right in the house, picked up my Rickenbacker guitar, started strumming, and the very first line that came out of me was ‘Left a good job in the city / Working for the man every night and day.’”
On Finishing “Proud Mary” and His Reaction to Writing the Song
Fogerty then revealed that it took him “less than an hour” to finish “Proud Mary”.
“And when I finished the song … I realized I had done something I’d never done before,” he shared. “I mean, it really felt different. And I looked at the page that I’d written this on, and I said, ‘John, you’ve written a classic. Wow!’”
Fogerty further explained, “After writing a whole bunch of lame songs—I mean, hundreds of ’em from the time I was little—and having idols like Hoagy Carmichael or Lennon and McCartney, you know, Lieber and Stoller, Bob Dylan, I realized I had passed … into the land of greatness, right? And I don’t mean that in a bragging way, but … this song was so much better than anything I’d ever done. And I was literally kind of dumbfounded and shocked that it had happened.”
John then humorously noted that he had a second realization after finishing the tune.
“I was sitting there all alone, and I realized, I’m the only person in the whole world that knows about this song and knows that it’s a great song,” he said. “It was just the strangest feeling.”
Fogerty also pointed out that perhaps a few weeks later, he remembered saying to himself, “Boy, I sure hope I get to do this again.”
He added before kicking into the next song, “‘Proud Mary’ has led to a lot of wonderful things in my professional life.”
“Proud Mary” was originally released in January 1969 as the lead single from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s second album, Bayou Country. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to be considered an American standard.
About the Rest of Fogerty’s ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ Set
Fogerty then played a pair of gems from his post-CCR solo career. The first was “Change In The Weather” from his 1986 album Eye Of The Zombie. That was followed by “A Hundred And Ten In The Shade,” from John’s 1997 studio effort Blue Moon Swamp.
Fogerty then sat down at an electric piano. He played a soulful version of the gospel-influenced “Long As I Can See The Light”, a No. 2 Hit for CCR in 1970. A highlight of the performance was a solo by saxophonist Rob Stone.
John then switched to acoustic guitar as he prepared to close out the set.
Before starting the tune, he told the audience, “I’ve been very blessed in my life to have music as my vocation, I guess you’d say. I’ve also been very blessed to have my family around me, which [is] the greatest feeling in the world to get up on a stage with my family every night and play.”
Fogerty’s comment was a reference to the fact that his sons Shane and Tyler have been part of his touring band for several years.
John added, “The most wonderful thing that has occurred is that all these fans, you guys, have come and seen me through the years … and singing these songs. And so this song that I’m about to do is a particular favorite, because it reminds me of you. The fact that you embrace my songs has been a rainbow in my heart. This song has a rainbow in it.”
He then played the 1971 Creedence classic “Have You Ever Seen The Rain.”
You can watch Fogerty’s Tiny Desk Concert episode now at NPR Music’s YouTube channel.
Fogerty’s Upcoming 2026 Performance Plans
Fogerty recently played the first of two scheduled three-show engagements in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on December 31, January 1, and January 2.
His next concert will take place on March 14 at the Festival Vive Latino 2026 in Mexico City. His upcoming Las Vegas residency shows are scheduled for March 18, 20, and 21.
(Photo by David McClister)
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