Short Biography

Inspired by Rock and Roll pioneers, especially Little Richard and Bo Diddley, John and his brother Tom joined Doug Clifford and Stu Cook in the late 1950s to form the band Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets in El Cerrito, California. After signing with the jazz label Fantasy in 1965, they became the Golliwogs and released a few singles that were largely ignored.

Fogerty was almost drafted in 1966, but instead he joined an Army reserve unit. He served at Fort Bragg, Fort Knox and Fort Lee. Fogerty was discharged from the army in July 1967. In the same year, the band changed its name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

By 1968, things started to pick up for the band. The band released its first album, the self-titled Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also had their first hit single, "Susie Q". Many other hit singles and albums followed beginning with "Proud Mary" and the parent album Bayou Country.

John Fogerty, as writer of the songs for the band, felt that his musical opinions should count for more than those of the others, leading to resentments within the band.[1] These internal rifts, and Tom`s feeling that he was being taken for granted, caused Tom to leave the group in January 1971. The two other group members, Stu and Doug, wanted a greater role in the band`s future. Fogerty, in an attempt to keep things together, insisted bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford share equal songwriting and vocal time on the band`s final album, Mardi Gras, in 1972. They told him the fans would not accept it as a CCR LP, but he said, "My voice is a unique instrument, and I will not lend it to your songs." He gave them an ultimatum: either they would do it or he would quit immediately. They accepted his ultimatum, but the album received poor reviews and sold poorly. The group disbanded shortly afterwards. Their only reunion with all four original members would be at Tom Fogerty`s wedding in 1980. John, Doug and Stu played a 45 minute set at their 20th class reunion in 1983, and John and Doug would reunite again for a brief set at their 25th class reunion in 1988.

John Fogerty began a solo career, originally under the name The Blue Ridge Rangers for his 1973 LP debut. Fogerty played all of the instruments on covers of others` country music hits, such as "Jambalaya" (which was a Top 40 hit). Prior to performing country & western tunes he released a rock & roll single in late 1973, also as The Blue Ridge Rangers. The two John Fogerty penned songs were "You Don`t Owe Me" b/w "Back In The Hills" (Fantasy F-710).

In early 1974 John Fogerty released two rock & roll tunes on a 7"-single. The two songs were the vocal "Comin` Down The Road" b/w the instrumental "Ricochet". His second solo album John Fogerty was released in 1975. Sales were slim and legal problems delayed a followup, though it yielded "Rockin` All Over the World", a top 40 hit for Fogerty in North America.

Fogerty finished an album called Hoodoo in 1976. A single, "You Got The Magic" b/w "You Evil Thing", preceded the album`s release, but it performed poorly. The album, for which covers had already been printed, was rejected by Asylum Records on the eve of its release. Fogerty built a cabin near Troy, Oregon, where he hunted elk, and didn`t release a new album for eight years. He stated that he instructed Asylum Records to destroy the master tapes for "Hoodoo" sometime in the 1980s. Fogerty is something of a perfectionist, often destroying unreleased ma

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