Travel Tunes - Week 27

John Fogerty has been through a lot for his music.  Sued by his producer for plagiarizing his own songs, practically disowned by his brother just before his brother died, and being forced to take a long hiatus from singing to deal with the legal issues...some of which went all the way to the Supreme Court!

Back to the music, Fogerty wrote extensively about the south, very convincingly too for someone who had not grown up there or even visited there until long after the songs were written.  Born on the Bayou, Green River, and Bad Moon Rising are all good examples. 

We've just gotten back from a trip where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers were an almost constant companion, so we're going with John's ode to riverboat travel, Proud Mary.  Written by Fogerty in 1969, it first appeared on Creedence Cleawater Revival's Bayou Country album.  Ike and Tina Turner did a very successful cover of it...in fact, many say it sold more copies than the original CCR version.  Tina does a very good version without Ike too.  Other artists that have covered it include Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen.

Proud Mary, of course, refers to the name of a riverboat.  People could cruise up and down the river, free of worries.  Don't worry if you're down and out because, as the lyrics say, "people on the river are happy to give."  Great song that has by now become a standard.  A happy tune about life on the river that Mark Twain could easily get behind.

Here it is, sung by Fogerty at a concert taped at L.A.'s Wiltern Theater, enjoy!

-Darryl