ATLANTA — With the release last month of “Revival,” John Fogerty’s solo career is now seven times longer than that of Creedence Clearwater Revival, his old chart-topping band that dates back to the late ’60s.
Responsible for loads of classic-rock hits, including “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising” and “Down on the Corner,” the band split acrimoniously in the early ’70s, and bad blood between Fogerty and the band’s record label, Fantasy, resulted in a nasty lawsuit. For decades, Fogerty refused to sing CCR songs as he pursued a solo career, but times have changed.
Fogerty’s current “Revival” tour features more than a dozen CCR standards.
Q: What’s it like being over your identity crisis?
A: For a long time I disavowed my involvement with Fantasy and Creedence, simply because the memories were just so painful. You might say I’ve finally healed. I’m just a happy musician, and I feel very blessed, particularly with this new record.
Q: In concert you play songs from “Revival,” CCR hits and only three old solo songs. Do you avoid going deep into your solo catalog?
A: Because my career was so weird, I felt that I needed to start playing a lot of my Creedence-era songs because they were so well-known. People who have waited 35 years to see me want and deserve to hear those songs. I also try hard to present them as they are on the records because they’re so ingrained, people have been hearing those songs all their lives. I feel that I can now start to mix it up with other things. Therefore, if you do a two-hour show, and you’re going to include newer or different songs, you’re obviously going to have to drop something here or there, and that becomes a struggle to figure out.
Q: Don’t you feel that you’ve earned the right to challenge your listener by playing obscure songs between the CCR hits?
A: As much as I loved the “Deja Vu All Over Again” album, I call those things “tangents.” For a lot of my solo career, I have gone on tangents, and I wanted to get back to my “center,” which is rock ‘n’ roll. I consider that growing. I was growing as a musician, which I think you’re supposed to do. I just felt that perhaps my audience probably wasn’t as fond of my tangents as I was. I also realize that most of the world views me as a rock ‘n’ roller and they want me to do that, so that’s what I try to do.
Q: How do you feel the new protest songs are working?
A: In concert they go over great — they’ve been rockin’, full-bore energy. I imagine a guy who’s a staunch conservative having a problem with the songs. Then again, I’m not sure that guy would be listening to my music, anyway. It’s just really how I feel. How I make my records is just pleasing myself, doing what I feel is necessary.
