As John Fogerty over His new album speaksa confused smile flows over his face. “I wanted to call it ‘Taylor’s version’,” he says on a recent visit to New York. “I was very committed to the record company.”
“Taylor’s version”: a rejected idea
Whether he jokes or not, Fogerty says that his label rejected the idea. On the other hand, he was not entirely wrong. On Wednesday evening, Fogerty announced his new album “Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Year” on the stage of the New York Beacon Beacon Theater on Wednesday evening during the first of two shows for his 80th birthday. The album appears on August 22nd and contains 20 titles that are not simply cover versions of its best known and most popular songs from his time with Creedence. Rather, these are meticulous replicas of the original versions. To Fogerty’s vocals and guitar parts and the original rhythm group. Starting with “Up Around the Bend” about big hits like “Proud Mary”, “Who’ll Stop the Rain” “Bad Moon Rising” and “Down on the Corner”. As well as less well -known pieces such as “Porterville” and ‘Bootleg’.
“I’m still waiting for feedback,” says Fogerty. “But the first five or six people with whom I spoke and who heard the album say that it sounds ‘fresher’. Maybe they think that it is clearer or the sound faithful is better. Or something like that? I may not expect that. But it has more dimension, more depth.”
The production process behind the album
Musicians have been releasing note-for-grade cover versions of their older pieces for decades. But Fogerty only came this idea two years ago. With the support of his wife and manager Julie, in 2023 he finally acquired the majority rights to the publication rights for his Creedence song catalog. It was Julie who then suggested a remake album. Although Fogerty admits that he was skeptical. “I didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” he says. “But then, over time, I thought: ‘Okay, I’ll dare to go. And see how it is.'”
This process began with the fact that Fogerty and his son (and guitarist) Shane deal intensively with the Creedence recordings. With the help of isolated audio tracks- so-called “stems”- they were able to listen to every vocal and instrumental part separately. Including all aspects of Fogerty’s vocals to create a precise copy. In this regard, according to Fogerty, the project differs from its former remake albums. From the all-star duett project “Wrote A Song for Everyone” and “Fogerty’s Factory” from 2020, on which he re-recorded Creedence songs with members of his family.
No creative “bending” the songs
“Back then I just sang the songs, while this time it was about taking them up again. Or as you call it,” he says. “Instead of” Oh, let’s make a folk version ‘or to get involved, the idea was that it should sound as close as possible to the original. “
“Proud Mary” as a turning point
After picking up some preliminary accompanying tracks on the guitar with a band-Shane on the guitar and the session veterans Bob Bass and Matt Chamberlain on the drums, Fogerty began adding a new vocal part to the newly recorded “Proud Mary”. This moment was crucial for the project. “I’ve been singing ‘Proud Mary’ for over 50 years and have developed many bad habits without sticking to the original,” he says.
“But at that moment I realized: ‘John, that wasn’t good enough. You don’t really sing the song. You sing a’ drive-by ‘version.’ I had to learn the song with all the same emphasis.
Fogerty found that he sang “Lookin ‘Out My Back Door” at his concerts with more syncoping, as he calls it. “As I had received, because it was probably just a few weeks after the letter, it was pretty straightforward,” he says. “Somehow kitschy, do you know? Then we listened to” Born on the Bayou “. And it became something completely new. I said: ‘Man, I like it better than the old version’. Because the parts sounded very like a Jam band. But after a really good Jam band. You didn’t have to wait forever that something happened.”
The return of the legendary Rickenbacker guitar
In order to complete the review of the past, Fogerty even played the same Rickenbacker guitar (with “acme” hand painted on the body), which he had played at Creedence during his time. He had given them away in the 1970s. And in the 90s the opportunity to buy them back for $ 40,000. But at the time he declined, partly for financial, partly for emotional reasons.
It is no secret that Fogerty’s relationships with his former bandmates and the late fantasy records boss Saul Zaentz were tense. And were overshadowed by legal disputes. The memories of the guitar were therefore too painful for him to revive them again.
“I was hurt. I was broken,” says Fogerty. A decade ago, Julie Fogerty secretly bought the guitar back. For an unnoted amount. And gave her her husband for Christmas. After that, he says, the healing began. “As a child, I started music as a child. But during the time with Creedence and shortly afterwards it was definitely no longer a joy,” he says. “The idea [hinter Legacy] Was to establish a connection again and to feel it again. The man, who could not even see his own guitar in the nineties and beyond, would never have done that. ”
Parallels to Taylor Swift’s struggle for rights
Even if he has not chosen a Swift-like title for the album, Fogerty says that “Legacy” is still connected to the way Swift has reissued her albums after her back catalog was sold to scooter brown. (Similar to Fogerty and his former Creedence bandmates, they also do not have the rights to their albums.) “I understood their location,” he says. “She had a wonderful career. Of course saved a lot of money. And was a big tour artist. So she was able to afford the amount the seller asked. I really felt with her at the time because the guy sold it to someone else. Something like that is very similar to what Saul Zaentz would do.”
Like Swift, Fogerty has the rights to his remakes. What could bring him a financial profit if “Legacy” sells or streams well. (Significantly, Legacy does not contain the hit cover versions of the band of “Susie Q” or “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, both of which were not written by Fogerty.)
Why “Legacy” for Fogerty makes sense
Nevertheless, a question about “Legacy” remains open. Since these interpretations imitate the recordings that long -time fans know, mimick it true to the original, why should they need them? “That’s a good question. I also asked myself,” he says. “But there are a few things. Firstly, there is probably no chance that I will ever get a share of the old master bands. This is similar to Taylor Swift. But on the other hand, I find that the music exudes a joy that may not be clearly felt in the original versions.”
Fogerty is convinced that certain songs have also benefited from the course of time. “When I listen to the finished vocals of ‘Lodi’, it definitely sounds like the guy who lived this part. While I’m not sure whether the guy who sang it for the first time,” he says. In 2021, Fogerty returned with the gospel -like “Weeping in the Promised Land”, his first newly written song for eight years. At that time he told Rolling Stone that an album would probably follow. But it never happened. And now he says that fans who expect such an album may be disappointed.
Creativity awakened by live experiences
“Did I write and record a lot of songs?” He says. “No I haven’t.” But he adds that participation in the American Music Honors last month, where Bruce Springsteen honored him, was inspiring. Especially after Jackson Brownne had tuned some of the musicians to a version of “Take It Easy”. “On the way back to the hotel, I said to my wife: ‘I float three meters above the ground. I want to write songs and record them!'”
For now, Fogerty prefers to enjoy ‘Legacy’ and the surprising announcement at his birthday show. “When you are 80 years old, you finally get the special key to the kingdom,” he says. “I guess you can do what you want. And I decided that I want to give myself a gift myself.”