John Fogerty

Biography

John Fogerty is the voice, songwriter and lead guitarist of Creedence Clearwater Revival, the band that turned a handful of chords and a swampy twang into some of the most loved songs in American rock. "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Green River," "Fortunate Son," "Down on the Corner," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," "Up Around the Bend" and later "Centerfield" all came from his pen. He was born May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, California, grew up in nearby El Cerrito, and took guitar lessons as a kid from Barry Olivier, founder of the Berkeley Folk Festival.

In 1959, still in junior high, he formed a cover band called the Blue Velvets with bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, later joined by his older brother Tom. Little Richard, Bo Diddley and Carl Perkins were the inspiration. Fantasy Records signed them in 1964 and renamed them the Golliwogs without asking, and seven flop singles later they became Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1968. Between 1968 and 1972 CCR scored nine Top 10 singles and eight gold albums, with John writing, arranging, producing, singing and playing lead on nearly everything. Rolling Stone named him one of the 100 greatest songwriters and singers, the band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and he joined the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Here is the gem. After CCR split, Fogerty spent years locked in legal battles with Fantasy Records over his old songs. When his 1985 comeback album Centerfield went to number one, Fantasy sued him, arguing that "The Old Man Down the Road" copied "Run Through the Jungle," a CCR song Fantasy owned. In other words, Fogerty was sued for sounding too much like himself. He brought his guitar into the courtroom to show the jury how a songwriter's style works, and he won. There is also a guitar story with a happy ending: his famous "Acme" Rickenbacker, played at Woodstock and on The Ed Sullivan Show, was given away to a 12-year-old fan in the early 1970s and tracked down decades later by his wife, Julie, who reunited him with it in 2016.

His solo career began with The Blue Ridge Rangers (1973), a one-man band album where he played every instrument, and continued through John Fogerty (1975), Centerfield (1985), Blue Moon Swamp (1997, a Grammy winner) and Revival (2007). For years he refused to play CCR songs because of the legal fights, but he eventually reclaimed them, and in 2023 he regained ownership of his Creedence publishing rights, re-recording the classics for Legacy with the Acme guitar back in his hands. His influence runs from Bruce Springsteen to Tom Petty to the Foo Fighters, and Dave Grohl summed it up best: everybody loves Fogerty's music.

Legendary Performance

Creedence Clearwater Revival at Woodstock

August 17, 1969 · Max Yasgur's Farm, Bethel, New York

Creedence Clearwater Revival were one of the first major bands to sign on for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, and they took the stage in the early morning hours of August 17, 1969, on Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York, following the Grateful Dead. By then the schedule was hours behind, and much of the crowd of hundreds of thousands was asleep in the mud. Fogerty later recalled looking out into the darkness and seeing almost no one moving, until a lone fan flicked a lighter and called out that he was with them, and Fogerty played the rest of the set for that one voice.

The band played like the hit machine they had become that year, tearing through "Born on the Bayou," "Green River," "Bad Moon Rising," "Proud Mary" and a long, hypnotic "Keep On Chooglin'." Fogerty played his "Acme" Rickenbacker 325, modified with a Gibson humbucker in the bridge and a Bigsby, with its twangy, punchy tone cutting through the night air. His guitar and voice drove the set with the stripped-down intensity that made Creedence stand apart from the long psychedelic jams of the era.

Fogerty felt the band did not hit its peak that night, and he kept CCR out of the original Woodstock film and album, which left their set largely unknown for decades. When the full recording was finally released in 2019, fans heard a tight, powerful performance from the biggest American band of 1969, and it became a key document of Fogerty's playing at the height of Creedence.

Gear

"Acme" Rickenbacker 325 (1969)

Known for: "Green River," Woodstock, and the Legacy re-recordings

John Fogerty's signature guitar is the "Acme," a Fireglo Rickenbacker 325 he got at the start of 1969. He replaced the Rickenbacker nameplate with one reading ACME in yellow letters, a nod to the Warner Bros. cartoons, swapped the bridge pickup for a Gibson humbucker taken from a Les Paul and added a Bigsby vibrato. The short-scale 325 with that humbucker gave him a thick, biting twang, heard on "Green River," "Down on the Corner" and "Up Around the Bend," on The Ed Sullivan Show and at Woodstock.

He gave the guitar away to a 12-year-old kid around 1973 or 1974, a decision he later called a dumb idea, and his wife Julie tracked it down and brought it home in 2016. He used it to re-record the CCR classics for his Legacy album, saying it gave him exactly the original sound. His other key guitars include a 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom (used tuned down a whole step for "The Midnight Special"), a Gibson ES-175 in the early days, a Telecaster for The Blue Ridge Rangers and a Washburn with a neck-through design for Centerfield.

Kustom K200A-4 with 2×15 cabinet (and Fender Vibrolux)

Known for: the raw CCR twang of "Green River"

In the Creedence days Fogerty used a Fender Vibrolux and a 100-watt Kustom K200A-4 head with a Kustom 2×15 cabinet, the famous tuck-and-roll amps of the late 1960s. The Kustom paired with the Acme Rickenbacker gave "Green River" its raw, slightly overdriven twang. In later years he moved to a Cornford MK50H modified to 100 watts, a Diezel VH4 and a Dr. Z Z Wreck, keeping the same punchy, mid-forward tone with more gain on tap.

Bigsby vibrato; later Moog Minifooger delay, SolidGold FX Surf Rider, Zeta tremolo

Fogerty has always kept his effects simple. His classic CCR sound came mostly from the guitar, the amp and his hands, with a Bigsby for subtle vibrato. In recent years he has added a Moog Minifooger delay, a SolidGold FX Surf Rider for spring-reverb twang, and a custom Zeta Systems tremolo, all aimed at recreating the swampy, vintage textures of his classic records rather than reinventing them.

Signature Technique

Hybrid-Picked Twang and Riff-First Swamp Rock

John Fogerty's playing is a lesson in how much power simplicity can carry. He builds songs on short, unforgettable riffs, and he has said that once you learn the opening riff of "Proud Mary" you have most of the song. His parts are about tone, rhythm and feel rather than speed, and he names B.B. King and Albert King as the players who taught him that emotion matters more than note count.

His twang comes from hybrid picking, combining a pick with his fingers, a technique he absorbed from James Burton. You can hear it in the "Green River" riff and solo, which he describes as hybrid-picked twang, and in the snapping double stops of "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Down on the Corner." His solos stay close to the melody and use bends, slides and repeated motifs drawn from rockabilly and country, with a touch of Memphis soul.

He is also a powerful rhythm player. CCR's swamp-rock groove, built on tight eighth-note rhythms and bluesy E and D shapes, often with his guitar tuned down, gave songs like "Born on the Bayou" and "Run Through the Jungle" their dark, rolling feel. In later years he has kept growing as a player, practicing Telecaster chicken picking, whammy dive bombs and even neoclassical tapping, inspired by players like Eric Johnson and Johnny Hiland.

His influence is enormous. Generations of roots rock, Americana and heartland rock players learned that a great riff and a great song beat any amount of flash, and his style echoes through Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, the Black Keys and countless bar bands that still open with "Proud Mary."