John Fogerty takes listeners along on The Long Road Home

This companion cd to his live dvd release in early 2006 is a rousing performance that dramatically displays Fogerty's boundless energy and unmatched skill as a writer/singer/guitarist. He tears through 26 classic songs spanning the rock icon's remarkable career, from his Creedence Clearwater Revival smashes, "Bad Moon Rising," "Proud Mary," "Down on the Corner" and "Who'll Stop the Rain" to Fogerty's signature solo gems like "Centerfield," "Rockin' All Over the World," and "Déjà vu All Over Again."

This album marks Fogerty's return to Fantasy records. Fogerty and Fantasy go back a ways, to say the least: the youngster worked there as a shipping clerk in '65 and '66 prior to forming Creedence and taking the then-tiny East Bay indie label to the top of the charts. The historic reunion occurred in 2005 after Fantasy was acquired by Concord Records, whose new owners welcomed the long-disenfranchised artist back into the fold, thus reuniting Fogerty with his treasured catalog of Creedence master recordings "The fact that I'm treated with respect and the music is treated with respect is a great new feeling, it really is," Fogerty said recently.

"I've always wanted to do a greatest hits collection that was inclusive of my entire career," says Fogerty, whose undiminished power as singer, writer and bandleader is fully showcased on the CD. "But there was a stumbling block. Now I can combine the Creedence songs, all of which I wrote, with my solo material. It's great that I can finally document the various changes I've gone through musically over the years without having to follow any artificial lines."

The collection encompasses the crème de la crème of Fogerty's Creedence songs, ranging chronologically from 1969's breakout hit "Born on the Bayou" to 1972's "Sweet Hitch-Hiker," as well as his own hits, including "Centerfield" (1985), "The Old Man Down the Road" (1985), "Hot Rod Heart" (1997) and "Déjà Vu (All Over Again)" (2004). Other CCR standout tracks include "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising," "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Lookin' Out My Back Door," "Down in the Corner," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?," "Lodi" and "Green River" among others. "I'm very happy to be back in touch with a part of myself," says Fogerty. "It's surreal. For 35 years, I never thought I'd be reunited with the music I wrote during the Creedence Clearwater Revival years."

In addition, the 25-song The Long Road Home features four live tracks, newly recorded this past summer: including the blistering and timely "Fortunate Son" (the original CCR version is also in the set), "Bootleg," "Hey Tonight" and "Keep on Chooglin'."

Unstoppable during its brief heyday, Creedence became the all-time most successful U.S. rock band, reigning supreme from 1968 to 1972. The group with its trademark swamp-rock sound scored 20 singles on the Hot 100 charts within an 18-month period, garnering nine Top 10 hits in a row. Eventually, CCR sold more than 100 million records worldwide, amassing 21 gold or platinum discs. However, the band imploded in 1972, which ushered in one of the most vitriolic chapters of pop music history.

The Long Road Home liner note writer Jim Bessman points out, "With the breakup of Creedence, Fogerty entered an extended period of music business hell and the agony that came with it. It all resulted from contractual obligations and disputes [among] Fogerty, his former band members, and Fantasy, and led to celebrated lawsuits including the extraordinary scenario where Fogerty, by then a Warner Bros. recording artist, was actually sued by his former label for plagiarizing his own CCR hit 'Run Through the Jungle' in writing 'The Old Man Down the Road,' his Top 10 single from his No. 1 1984 album Centerfield."

The feud between Fogerty and Fantasy (which lost the plagiarism lawsuit) turned so bitter that he stopped playing his CCR songs in concert for nearly two decades, from 1972 to 1990. He returned to his legacy after realizing during a visit to the Mississippi Delta grave site of blues legend Robert Johnson that in fact he was the spiritual owner of his songs, even if his former record company continued to reap their publishing royalties.

Fogerty's trip came full circle when he and his wife made contact with senior executives at the Concord Music Group when they were in negotiations to purchase Fantasy. "We heard rumors over the years that Fantasy was on the marketplace, but nothing materialized," Fogerty says. "About a year ago we heard the same rumor again, so Julie and I met with people at Concord just to get acquainted. At our first meeting, they expressed great respect and appreciation. When they finally acquired Fantasy, we figured the time was right to see if we could work together."

Audio Streams: Windows Media Player
“Bad Moon Rising”
"Fortunate Son"

Official John Fogerty Website

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