From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Tue May 28, 2002 1:13 am Subject: Born To Be With You : John Fogerty JOHN FOGERTY (By Shaun Mather) Born John Cameron Fogerty, 28 May 1945, Berkeley, California John Fogerty was the lead singer and writer of Creedence Clearwater Revival, a '60s band whose inspiration came from the decade before. The band was formed as the Blue Velvets in the late '50s, recorded as the Golliwogs in 1964 and was renamed Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967. The other members of the group were John's brother Tom Fogerty (guitar), Stu Cook (keyboards, bass) and Doug Clifford (drums). It was not until 1968 that they found fame. Their first two chart entries were revivals of Susie Q and I Put A Spell On You, but from then onwards, all their hits would be John Fogerty compositions, starting with Proud Mary (# 2 in early 1969). From Proud Mary (a regular part of Elvis' live show) to their split in October 1972 they enjoyed nine Top Ten singles (incl. Bad Moon Rising) and eight gold albums. Five singles hit the # 2 spot, but they never had a number one, although their LP's Green River and Cosmo's Factory topped the LP charts. After he was forced to go solo he cut a couple of so-so albums and seemed to have drifted out of the music business. He came back with a vengeance in 1984 with the album Centerfield (# 1 on the Billboard album charts), which spawned the hit single The Old Man Down The Road (# 10). The late '90s saw him release two highly regarded albums, Blue Moon Swamp in '97 and the live set, Premonition in '98. His songs have been widely covered and a high point of his career was when the Class of '55 (Jerry Lee, Cash, Perkins, Orbison) cut his Big Train From Memphis. Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, three years after the death of Tom Fogerty. Recommended listening: Chronicle : The 20 Greatest Hits (Fantasy), Chronicle, Vol. 2 (Fantasy). Recommended reading: Hank Bordowitz, Bad Moon Rising : The Unofficial History of Creedence Clearwater Revival. New York : Schirmer, 1998. (Reissued in paperback 2002.) For an interview with the author see: http://www.enoise.com/hank_bordowitz_ccrbookpt1.htm Creedence website: http://www.creedence-online.net/