At all of his concerts, John Fogerty celebrates the impressive catalog of songs he wrote for Creedence Clearwater Revival. His old band’s heyday only lasted from 1968 to 1972, but Fogerty composed a bevy of enduring rock tunes during that period.
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A recent video posted on his social media sites captures Fogerty chatting backstage with a young member of his backing band about writing his classic songs. In the clip, the young musician asked Fogerty if certain tunes he’s written came to him “all at once.”
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“All of them do,” the 79-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer responded. “Especially back in my heyday.”
Fogerty then shared that he would experience a joyful feeling after composing a song he knew was a good one.
“‘Proud Mary’ was the very first time in my young life I ever got to feel that way,” John revealed.
Before he wrote “Proud Mary,” Fogerty noted, “I would always … second guess myself and go, ‘Well, yeah, I think I’m pretty good, but all those people think they’re pretty good.’ I was smart enough to realize [there were] probably millions of guitar players going, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty good.’ … So, I would kind of deflate myself with that.”
Following the elation of writing the CCR classic, John said he’d start to wonder, “God, is that ever gonna happen again?” Shortly thereafter, though, he began writing a wellspring of great tunes.
“I was in such a … euphoric few years there, I got to have that feeling a few dozen times,” he shared. “I mean, I wrote ‘Up Around the Bend,’ I wrote ‘Down on the Corner,’ I wrote ‘Wrote a Song for Everyone,’ you know.”
Fogerty Also Discussed the Unexpected Ways His Songs Would Turn Out
Fogerty then went on to explain how his songs often would come together in unexpected ways.
“[E]ach time … there’d be that moment when you’re writing and you thought it was going here, and then suddenly some word would fit next to that word and you’d go, ‘Oooh!’” he pointed out. “Now you’re starting all over, basically. You’d [go], ‘Oh, that was the middle verse. Now it’s the first line. Boom!’ And when you got done, you just sat there going, ‘Shoot, how did this happen?’ And then, you know, I got that feeling all over again.”
About Fogerty’s Upcoming Tour Plans
Fogerty wrapped up a U.S. spring leg of his Celebration Tour with George Thorogood and the Destroyers on June 20.
Next up for the rock legend is a brief European summer trek that kicks off July 11 in Berlin and runs through a July 19 show in Calella de Palafrugell, Spain
Fogerty then will launch another series of North American concerts with Thorogood and the Destroyers that will run from early August to early September.
Tickets for Fogerty’s concerts are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.
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