George Harrison was the lead guitarist of The Beatles, a spiritual songwriter, and a pioneering solo artist in rock music.
Looking through the pantheon of 20th-century music, it is easy to see a heavy conglomerate of stars from the 1960s. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, and so many more found their way in the decade and used the roots they laid to grow into the coming years, blooming into fame and fortune with the perfumed ease of a bowing sunflower. Their success in the music industry came as pop music was still in its infancy; those who made good on their names commercially had to bob and weave to get there. But not everybody was so lucky.
John Fogerty was one of the leading members of the growing counterculture movement as the lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival. A vocalist and songwriter that almost every band of the time would have cited as a major inspiration, Fogerty’s career was derailed following a not-uncommon mishap with his management. It ended with a tragic situation where the singer refused to play any of the band’s songs because of a dispute with their record label. Enter George Harrison and Bob Dylan.
As many musicians can attest to, being cut out of one’s own musical creations is a tough pill to swallow. Whereas some attempt to circumvent those issues by re-recording all of their tracks, Fogerty took a more gentle route and, instead, moved off into the shadows, confident that his time as the frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival was to fall away with a whimper. Years passed without Fogerty singing his legendary discography.
But, thankfully, things changed in 1987 when the Taj Mahal and the Graffiti Band, featuring none other than Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, were performing a set. As the curtain lifted, Harrison, Dylan, and Fogerty entered the little ol’ Palomino Club in North Hollywood with a view of the stage. The trio would end up on stage and make Fogerty return to some of his old tracks.
The night would offer Fogerty the chance to reconnect with his songs and for a reunion of sorts. Dylan, Davis, and Harrison had previously shared the stage at the Concert For Bangladesh. While this performance wouldn’t have the same grand foundations, it would show off what the world was missing in John Fogerty.
Fogerty had been avoiding singing his old songs following a serious breakdown of communications with his and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s label. Fantasy Records still had CCR contractually obliged to produce more albums when the band broke up. To avoid the enormous contract-breaking fee Fogerty gave the label the copyright royalties to all of his songs.
It’s a situation that left Fogerty avoiding the songs he wrote himself at all costs to avoid making Fantasy any richer than it already was off his back. That was until, during the performance, Dylan leaned over and said: “Hey, John, if you don’t do these tunes, the world’s going to remember ‘Proud Mary’ as Tina Turner’s song.”
During an interview with Uncut, Fogerty recalled: “Dylan’s words were very provocative, and he certainly put the bee in my bonnet, you could say.” Looking back at the man who wrote his neglected songs, he said: “That guy must have had a lot on his mind. He must have been a troubled person to make that sort of a decision. I daresay it has harmed me in some way.”
Adding: “I remain a bit of a mystery to a large number of people, because I wasn’t out in the world performing for about 25 years or whatever. Thankfully, I look back and think, ‘Well, I guess I’m a man of convictions, but I’m sure glad I’m over that!’”
Luckily, Fogerty is back out on the road and making music, but it all started one evening when George Harrison and Bob Dylan made him get up on stage and sing ‘Proud Mary’ for the feverish audience. While it might seem like a comparatively small moment in Fogerty’s impressive career, the truth is that the push onto the stage gave him the extra impetus needed to once again kickstart his career as a musician. Without Harrison and Dylan, Fogerty’s songs would have remained cherished memories. Now, they are given the chance to live again every time he steps on stage to play them.
