Is John Fogerty, famous as he is, underrated?

Yeah, it's much wiser to be like Elton and McCartney and put out new albums every 6 months regardless of quality.

 

I would rather pick out the few good songs every six months to listen to than have no songs to pick out at all.

 

Basically, Fogerty was an incredible musical dynamo from 1968-1972. He was unstoppable on all fronts---songwriting; guitar playing; vocals; production; and vision. And the "vision" made all of the other things possible.

But after the breakup of CCR, he lost the vision, and all the other things suffered. And he never recovered; and everything in his life (as he knew it) fell apart. Here he was: After playing with CCR since 1959 or so (as the Blue Velvets, Golliwogs, etc.), he suddenly lost his bandmates (the only people he ever really played professionally with); his record/publishing company (which he made millions for) turned against him (or he saw it that way); his own brother Tom took sides with Saul Zaentz; etc. Under these conditions, he truly had to have had a nervous breakdown. Who wouldn't, right? And he couldn't handle it. He tried a bit with the Blue Ridge Rangers and the first solo LP, but they were just holding patterns. Then he probably lost the thread completely around the time of the Hoodoo album and had to take a full break until Centerfield. But even Centerfield was nothing compared to CCR, and he couldn't hold it together, as seen in the horrible Eye Of The Zombie album. And then after another 10 year break, he finally found some type of peaceful existence, with the help of his new wife. BUT his music has been up and down and up and down and .... Sometimes, he manages to get a decent (but not great) album out (Blue Moon Swamp; Revival): sometimes he is completely at a loss (Deja Vu). His concerts are still great because his skills are so excellent and his CCR tunes are so incredible, but his vision is absent when it comes to new material.

I'm personally thrilled every time that I see him in concert, and I still get his albums on the day they come out (although I did skip that last album of him doing those duets of old tunes). And I'm happy that he does seem to be in a happy place. But he got so screwed over psychologically, financially, and musically when CCR broke up, and it was just too much. Arnie

 

Your point would be better made if you chose better examples.

Fogerty's full-length studio albums, since '97:

• 1997 - new, original album (Blue Moon Swamp)
• 2004 - new, original album (Deja Vu)
• 2007 - new, original album (Revival)
• 2009 - covers album (The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again)
• 2013 - duets/covers album, with 2 originals (Wrote A Song For Everyone)

McCartney's full-length studio albums, since '97:

• 1997 - new, original album (Flaming Pie)
• 1999 - "oldies" covers album, with 3 originals (Run Devil Run)
• 2001 - new, original album (Driving Rain)
• 2005 - new, original album (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard)
• 2007 - new, original album (Memory Almost Full)
• 2008 - new, original album (Electric Arguments, as "The Fireman")
• 2012 - "standards" covers album with 2 originals (Kisses On The Bottom)

Elton's full-length studio albums, since '97:

• 1997 - new, original album (The Big Picture)
• 2000 - new, original soundtrack album (The Road To El Dorado)
• 2001 - new, original album (Songs From The West Coast)
• 2004 - new, original album (Peachtree Road)
• 2006 - new, original album (The Captain and The Kid)
• 2010 - new, original album (The Union, with Leon Russell )
• 2013 - new, original album (The Diving Board)

Fogerty's issued 5 studio discs in the last 16 years, to 7 by both McCartney and Elton. The latter two are hardly issuing albums "every 6 months". Zap the soundtracks/covers/collaborations, and those numbers get closer.
Fogerty: 3. McCartney: 4 (excluding the album under a pseudonym), Elton: 5 (although the last hasn't yet been released).

 

While I admire his work, I've always found him to be bitter in interviews and his chosen decade-plus silence baffling. It's hard to believe someone so prolific and so talented just stopped like he did. Still, I can't see how his self-imposed sabbatical didn't hurt himself far more than the business.

I'm torn about his treatment at the hands of his record company. On one hand I can understand how he felt exploited, especially when he was sued, absurdly, for self-plagiarism once he revived his career.

On the other, I can't pretend a good fraction of my music collection wasn't made possible by Fantasy's owner using CCR money to purchase great jazz and indie labels -- Debut, Galaxy, Good Time Jazz, Jazzland, Pablo, Prestige, Riverside/Bluesville, Specialty, Stax, Takoma -- keeping a large number of the albums in print decades after they otherwise would have become obscure collector's items. And almost all of it was affordable and very well remastered. So, er, thanks twice, John?

 

No. His CCR output is great. After that, I would argue that his cumulative output is "not bad" but not the work of giants.

He is rightfully lauded for the CCR work, and I would argue overrated, or at least over-acknowledged, for the stuff since then.

 

Just out of curiosity, which decade-plus silence? From '75-'85 or from '86-'97?

 

His absence wasn't baffling if you see it from his perspective. The guy got sued for sounding like himself, he lost his rights to CCR songs so didn't want to play them live and feed his adversaries in the process, and record labels wanted the JCF of CCR.
The guy was pretty much hogtied by his past decisions and there was no direction he could go that lacked road hazards.

I don't think it was a horrible album. It certainly wasn't what people wanted to hear from him, but it wasn't horrible. If you listen to it for what it is, it is quite good.
The guy had just taken another ass smacking for sounding like himself, so he was trying to avoid legal hassles by not sounding like himself.
Again, screwed himself with his past decisions, and he was having to live in the bed he made for himself.

 

Paul released 6 studio albums in the 80's, 3 in the 90's and 3 in 2000's.

How that is one every 6 months is beyond me.

 

My new least favorite word (after "overrated") is now "easily".

Especially when they are put together.

 

He was his own worst enemy. Playing Creedence songs in the 80s wouldn't have done him any harm (quite the contrary), but it would also have benefited Zaentz, which he couldn't bring himself to do. And he wasn't sued for sounding like himself, but for writing a new song that (allegedly) was too close to a specific old song.

 

What does that have to do with the OP? Being prolific, though not a crime, is not a requisite to be considered a great song writer. Fogerty basically wrote and played on six consecutive top ten albums and three of them were released in 1969 and all were of high quality material. Not to mention touring I think old John wore himself out.

 

And, like Elton's similar output they are all basically totally forgettable efforts. C'mon... let's not start judging artists by the amount of work they produce. Fogerty wrote practically every song on 5 albums that are A+. He gets points deducted because he stopped writing much after that? Go enjoy Biker Like an Icon.

 

So we only count Lennon and McCartney after the Beatles, but we get to count John with CCR and their 5 A+ albums and not his solo output (which has its fair share of soft material)?

Interesting way to stack the deck.

 

Hey, you're the one who (erroneously) stated that Paul & Elton were putting out new albums "every six months". They've only been slightly more productive with new studio albums than Fogerty.

And you may not agree, but during the same time span, most of those releases have been well-received critically.

 

It is my understanding that he was sued under the absurd notion that Old Man Down The Road plaugerized Run Through the Jungle.
It is also my understanding that part of his defense was that he was essentially being sued for sounding like himself.
If I remember correctly he has said in interviews that the suit was essentially based on him sounding like him.

 

Essentially, yes. Of course, even Fogerty himself acknowledged that "Old Man Down the Road" and "Run Through the Jungle" had the same chord progression. Not that the lawsuit wasn't the height of absurdity - it was - but the two songs are awfully similar.

 

John sits nicely in the continuum with Hank Williams and Chuck Berry
Whether Dylan is there or not doesn't really matter

 

he's old, had his day in the sun and is living "the life". CCR is one of my favorite bands...underrated? you've got to be kidding me.

 

I like "Have you ever seen Lorraine"

 

Wait a minute...hasn't Fogerty reduced himself to singing crap like "Sugar Sugar (In My Life)" in recent years?

 

wow. Someone has blinders on. Fogerty sounds better today than he did with CCR. The rhythm section made those songs? "Their contribution to CCR made Mr Fogarty what he is."

Not the songwriter? Not the singer? Are you drunk?

To me, John is a songwriter on par with the Beatles or Springsteen. And Springsteen agrees.

"Had a different rhythm section been on the CCR albums it is very possible they wouldn't even have gotten airplay."

OK, you're not drunk. You're just delusional. Or you're Stu.

 

No, not for years. And it's not a bad song. What solo artist doesn't do solo material? I'm waiting for your list.

 

Well, now that's a matter of opinion, isn't it? I think it ranks.

I think all solo artists do solo material.

 

I'm not sure about his obsession delaying releases. CCR turned out three albums in 1969 and two in 1970. Or were you referring to his solo career?