The Creedence Clearwater Revival singer, guitarist and main songwriter John Fogerty was a crucial member of the legendary American Rock band and one of the biggest hits he wrote was “Proud Mary”, which was later covered by many other famous artists. It an important song for CCR but especially to Fogerty as a songwriter, because it was around the time he learned how to be more effective when writing lyrics as he told Classic Rock.
CCR’s John Fogerty recalls how “Proud Mary” changed his career
“There’s nothing like having something taken away to make you appreciate it… In the army, you’re not free, you’re not self-determining. And so, when you get back home and you now have time to decide your own schedule, you also decide to be a little more careful what you spend your energy on.”
“I decided, for one, ‘Wow I gotta get more organised about my songwriting,’ because I’d always kinda done it haphazard – not really a specific approach. So, I went and got a little notebook… I guess the idea in my mind was simply, ‘Well, you’ve got to have a place where you write every down so it’s all in one place’… and that was a big change in my life.”
He continued:
“It’s a strange story behind the song that not many have as their motivation, I suppose. But, for me, the hype of the Vietnam war and the spectre of being sent to the jungle and possibly getting maimed or dying, getting relief from that was a very big deal,” John Fogerty said.
Besides being Creedence Clearwater Revival’s vocalist and guitarist, Fogerty was the band’s main songwriter. He wrote many classic tracks like “Proud Mary”, “Born On The Bayou”, “Green River”, “Commotion”, “Tombstone Shadow”, “Bad Moon Rising”, “Lodi”, “Sinister Purpose”, “Down On The Corner”, “It Came Out Of The Sky”, “Fortunate Son”, “Travelin’ Band”, “Up Around The Bend” and “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”.
As Creedence, the band was active for only four years, from 1968 to 1972. The only time they reunited was at Tom Fogerty’s wedding party in 1980. Since then John Fogerty focused on his solo career and recently bought back his songwriting rights. Stu Cook and Doug Clifford toured as Creedence Clearwater Revisited and also wrote solo records.