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
John Fogerty took a 9 year break after his first unsuccessful attempt at a solo career following the breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival. When he finally came back with his Centerfield
album, he was...as he says..."ready to play."
The acrimony wasn't completely behind him, however, as the song Zanz Can't Dance resulted in a lawsuit from Saul Zaentz, his former manager, suing him because his new song, Old Man Down the Road, sounded too much like his old CCR song Run Through the Jungle which Zaentz owned the rights to.
This led to an ironic twist...a songwriter (Fogerty) was being sued for plagarizing himself.
Fogerty took the stand with his guitar and played some selections to the jury demonstrating that songwriters just tend to have a style. The case was dismissed, but that was not the end of it.
Fogerty countersued for attorneys fees and at first was denied because the court determined that he had not been sued in bad faith. Appeals were filed and went all the way to the Supreme Court, who decided that the case was indeed frivolous and awarded the fees.
This week's song is the title track, Centerfield
, which was Fogerty's way of, literally, telling us he's back and wants to be put in the game. It's one of the great baseball themed tunes and you'll here it at many ballparks. Describing a perfect sunny day at the ballpark and ready to play, it evokes just what so many of us like about the game. Today, it serves as our song as we celebrate the opening of the season with baseball trips taken and other trips to come. Here is Fogerty, who uses a custom made baseball bat guitar, and Keith Urban singing Centerfield.
-Darryl
