Episode 295 - John Fogerty
Sodajerker On Songwriting
Sodajerker
4.8 • 912 Ratings
🗓️ 22 August 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
John Fogerty sits down in London with Simon and Brian for a captivating conversation about his songwriting process and his new release Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years. The legendary singer-songwriter reflects on regaining control of his publishing rights, the writing of classics such as 'Proud Mary', and the creative techniques that shaped his enduring catalogue.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to another edition of Sode Jerker on songwriting. |
| 0:22.3 | This is Brian, accompanied as always by Simon, and with us for episode 295 is a truly legendary American singer-songwriter, |
| 0:29.9 | best known as co-founder, lead vocalist and principal songwriter of Creedens Clearwater Revival. |
| 0:35.1 | To date, his songs have sold over 100 million records, and it's |
| 0:38.4 | safe to say a number of them are nothing short of rock and roll standards, so it's really only |
| 0:42.6 | fair that he's an inductee of both the songwriters and rock and roll halls of fame. In 2023, |
| 0:48.2 | he reacquired the publishing rights to his celebrated catalogue, following a 50-year legal battle. |
| 0:53.3 | To celebrate, he recently re-recorded some choice cuts from that catalogue, which is now available in a 50-year legal battle. To celebrate, he recently re-recorded |
| 0:55.0 | some choice cuts from that catalogue, which is now available in a 20-track collection entitled |
| 0:59.0 | Legacy, the Creedence Clearwater Revival Years. We had the tremendous honour of meeting with the |
| 1:04.3 | creator of those songs in London recently and hearing all about their genesis. We're delighted |
| 1:09.1 | to welcome the great John Fogarty to the show. |
| 1:12.5 | John was born in 1945 in Berkeley, California, and raised in the suburb of El Cerrito. |
| 1:18.0 | He developed his love for music from a very young age and credits his mother Lucille for sparking his interest in songwriting. |
| 1:24.0 | When he was around 3 or 4, she played him O Susanna and Camptown Races, making a point of informing her young son that they were written by Stephen Foster. |
| 1:31.7 | Later, when he was around 10, John heard the Elvis B-side My Baby Left Me playing on a jukebox in a general store in Winters, California, and decided there and then that his future lay in rock and roll. |
| 1:42.7 | He picked up the guitar around the age of 12, |
| 1:44.9 | specifically a Dan Electro silver tone from Sears, I believe, and while at high school |
| 1:49.3 | formed the covers band called the Blue Velvet's with bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, |
| 1:54.3 | later joined by John's older brother Tom on lead vocals. The band was eventually signed in |
| 1:58.8 | 1964 by Fantasy Records, who forcibly renamed them |
| 2:02.5 | the Goliwogs. They released several singles under that unsavory moniker before John was drafted |
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