John Fogerty on Independence Day, Happy 4th!


(Photo source: maniadb.com)

Out on a delightful morning bicycle ride this morning, the iPod rolled into Blue Moon Swampby John Fogerty, which seems so appropriate to hear on the 4th of July. Fogerty had a run of hits with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the late sixties that was almost as prolific as the Beatles, writing, playing, and singing songs that melded so many great American musical traditions into three minute slices of rock and roll that sounded heavenly on the radio; influences from rock to country to cajun to blues to soul, and most emphatically that swamp guitar sound that is his signature.


John Fogerty - Blue Moon Swamp (1997)

Blue Moon Swamp sounded so good that I had to let the ipod roll right on into the live Premonitionalbum.


John Fogerty - Premonition (1998)

The fourth of July is a significant date in Fogerty's career. Not only is his status as an American musical icon without doubt, but for nearly twenty years after Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up, Fogerty never played his Creedence songs live, due to an enormous legal battle with his label, Fantasy Records. His history is best told by the man himself, reproduced here in an earlier blog article. But it was on July 4th, 1987, performing at the Welcome Home benefit concert for Vietnam Vets, broadcast live, that Fogerty made what is described as a spontaneous decision as he played the intro to his first song "The Old Man Down the Road", to shift gears and play "Born on the Bayou" instead and then he proceeded to play Creedence songs for the entire set, much to the delight of the veterans and everyone else in the music world, and he has never looked back. The lawsuit is long settled now, Fogerty is back on Fantasy, and his live sets now include all of his great songs, both solo and with Creedence. Check out a few tunes from Blue Moon Swamp (1997) and Premonition (1998), and have a happy Fourth of July everybody.

Listen to "Blueboy" from Blue Moon Swamp.


Listen to "Green River" live, from Premonition


Listen to "Suzie Q" live, from Premonition


Listen to "Swamp River Days" live, from Premonition,originally on Blue Moon Swamp.


John Fogerty's website.
John Fogerty's myspace.


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