05 Sep 1997 Woodlands

Adam, my brother John, and I left for the Woodlands at around 1:15 so that we could try to catch the sound check. The venue was smaller than I thought it would be. I think it seats around 12,000 or so. Hardly anyone was there, just some cleaning crew and guys testing out equipment and instruments. At about 4:30 members of the band started getting onstage: first was Michael Canipe, then Kenny Aronoff, Johnny Lee Schell, and Bob Glaub. Glaub and Aronoff ended up switching instruments for awhile, and it wasn't too bad at all. Every time someone walked by us I was sure they were going to tell us to get out, but no one ever did.

At 5:10 the moment of truth came: John walked out onstage wearing blue jeans and a brick red shirt (one of the outfits from the "Southern Streamline" video.) He was enjoying listening to the guys jam. Then he started playing some of his songs: "Suzie Q," "Green River," "Looking Out my Backdoor," "Before You Accuse Me." It was funny only hearing a few people clap after John Fogerty plays a song :)

I don't know if I saw her first or if Adam pointed her out to me, but I looked to my right and saw Julie walking towards us. Since it was hard to talk over the music, she asked if we wanted to go backstage for awhile and talk. Well, of course! So we followed her as she attempted to find her way to John's dressing room. Julie pulled up a chair and the rest of us sat on a couch.

John was on the last song of soundcheck, "Joy of My Life", when we got back. Bob Fogerty came over after about 20 minutes and led us backstage again to wait for John to come out and talk to us. He asked if we had been to the Chicago concert and figured that's where Adam got the Fogerty shirt he was wearing. He also mentioned that we have communicated before (through snail mail). He sat us down on a sort of picnic table with a bench on each of the four sides and told us that John would be out. There was lots of yummy food back there like spaghetti and a good sized salad bar. We waited for only a couple of minutes when we saw John and Julie coming and talking to some people. As he walked up to us, I thought my nerves were going to floor me, but as soon as John shook my hand I was ok. We sat down, Fogerty was on the bench to my left, Adam was on the same bench as me, Julie was across from us, and my brother was across from John. I couldn't believe that I was there sitting next to John Fogerty and looking at him.

We mentioned the questions people ask over and over like where the name Creedence came from and will Creedence ever get back together. His answer for the latter was:

"The sensible question to a Creedence reunion would be, 'Well gee, if John doesn't want to write any new songs for those guys, and he sure doesn't, what would be the point? It'd be an oldies act, and I'm not gonna be an oldies act."

Out of years-long curiosity, I asked John about the lyrics in the second verse of "Dream/Song" (Would you like to turn the page/Fight the dragon for a fair young maid?). He said that sounded pretty good but that he hadn't listened to the song in 20 years so that he really isn't sure. He said going back to that time he did remember that he had in mind old England images when he was writing it. So if the writer doesn't even know, where does that leave me? :) Anyway, he was talking about how the JOHN FOGERTY album wasn't very good, even though "Rockin' All Over the World" and "Almost Saturday Night" are two songs he is very proud of. He said those two songs are among the best he has written. The album would have been much better, he said, if it hadn't been the one-man-band playing it. He said if the band he had now had played on "Rockin' All Over the World" then it would have been awesome. He made fun of his trombone playing on the album too. He said another reason it wasn't a good record besides him playing all the instruments was that a lot of the songs are just unfinished. He told us:

"One of the reasons I'm not real proud of that album, and Zombie too, but more so on that album, I just felt that my mind was so confused that some of the songs aren't finished, meaning I didn't do a good job, a complete job, because the computer in my head wouldn't quite find the right thing I was trying to say. I had the feeling, which we all have those inside, but I couldn't quite figure out how to express it, yet I went ahead and finished and you know, put the record out in that unfinished way. Two of those songs are really good, "Almost Saturday Night" and "Rockin' All Over the World," I'm very proud of those songs. I think they are at the high level, the songs not the record, of other songs, any song, I've written. But there were many other songs on there that I just kind of messed up because my brain matter wasn't working, we probably all know the reasons. So when you hear me say negative stuff about past records, that's usually the reason, I was depressed or unhappy, and I wasn't functioning properly enough to do a good job."

John then said: "And of course the one-man band thing, if I had a real band playing "Rockin' All Over the World," that would have been killer. Like this band, instead of me playing everything, it would have been a lot better."

Adam asked if John had planned on playing the harmonica on future albums, and John replied in the affirmative. He said he'd been playing it since 1992, he'd play to and from work in his car. He said he'd get in 45 minutes to an hour of practice time a day. He'd play corny old songs like "Bicycle Built For Two." All the practice made him get pretty good at it he said (I thought he was pretty good before.) He said none of the songs on BLUE MOON SWAMP leant themselves to a harmonica sound, so that's why it's absent there.

Adam told John what a dream come true all this was for us, and John was genuinely flattered and went on about how much stuff like that means to him. I brought a cheesy homemade sign and we showed it to John. He liked it better than if it had been some fancy schmancy thing printed out on a computer because the grass-roots approach appealed to him in this world of technology.

REVIEW PROPER

The Bottle Rockets opened for Fogerty and performed for about half an hour. After waiting for about 20 minutes, the swamp sounds came out of the speakers and then the first notes of "Born on the Bayou" rang out. Everyone jumped to their feet and started getting into the music. The set list was the same as usual, "Green River" came next, then "Lodi" (he messed up the lyrics), "Looking Out My Back Door" (he sang "tangerines" instead of "tambourines and elephants"). A lot of nonfans were sitting down but they stood up when "Suzie Q" came on.

"I Put a Spell on You," "Bring it Down to Jelly Roll," "Southern Streamline." Everyone cheered for "Who'll Stop the Rain" and sang along. John got the right section to scream, "Weeeeeeell!!" then the middle, and then the left Then it was John's turn and it was, of course, "The Midnight Special." Everyone cheered when he said "Houston" :) "A Hundred and Ten in the Shade," "Workin' on a Building." He went on about love and how great it is and how great Julie is and introduced "Joy of My Life" as his favorite song. "Big Train" minus the second verse with extended guitar jam was next. Then came "Centerfield," and everyone really got into it, just like they did for "Down on the Corner." He had the audience singing the refrain for awhile. Everyone really jammed to "Swamp River Days" too, and I was really happy about that. "Hot Rod Heart," "Before You Accuse Me" with extended guitar jam, "Long as I Can See the Light" with extended guitar jam. I think I smelled some pot when I heard that song. "Old Man Down the Road," "Blueboy," "Walking in a Hurricane," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." He sang "bathroom on the right" once during "Bad Moon Rising." The crowd ate up "Fortunate Son." Then the encores.

John did a similar thing to the beginning of "The Midnight Special" as he did for "Proud Mary." First the right part of the audience was told to sing "One, two, three, four!", then the middle, then the left, then everyone, and he broke into "Proud Mary." I think the crowd sang more of it than John did. During it, something happened with the guitar he was using, so he put it down and another was brought. Everyone sang "Rollin' on the river" a whole bunch at the end. He told us how great it feels when the audience is singing back to him, that it's something he'll tell his grandchildren. He also said the next time he comes he probably won't have that guitar with him. I would have taken it. He ended, as usual, screaming out "Travelin' Band", and everyone cheered. And that was the show. John said over and over how much he loved to perform and that it's all he's ever wanted to do. He said he's back. He signed lots of autographs and gave out a million picks during the show. It was another amazing show by John, and it was completely obvious that he was having the time of his life.

I don't remember where the band intro fell in there exactly. But Kenny Aronoff is awesome, I found myself just staring at him sometimes because of his energy and that constant smile on his face. Johnny Lee Schell playing that lead part on "Green River" was cool, it's good to hear all the intricacies of the song being played. And Glaub and Canipe were having a good time as well and did a great job. That there is one superb band.

AFTER THE SHOW

We showed the staff guys our backstage pass and were told to wait for a little bit, that someone would come get us. Ken Hoffman, a local newspaper guy who likes Fogerty and has said good things about him, was standing there, but he ignored us. Guess he didn't care what these fans have to think. Anyway, we were led backstage and told to have a seat. We sat at the same table we did before. I told my brother Bernie where Fogerty was sitting, so he quickly sat there (haha!). We marveled at the whole day, how great the show was and how we were gonna see John again. Julie came and got us, and we introduced Bernie and his wife Brandy to her. She led us to where John was talking with a lot of fans, contest winners and the like, and taking pictures with them. Everyone else was gone, so we were the last. We introduced him to Bernie and Brandy and got him to sign plenty of stuff -- baseballs, little bats, CD sleeves, the CENTERFIELD album, ticket stubs. I gave him a little present from us, an alligator magnet. He said it would find a place on his refrigerator. I gave Julie a little stuffed animal alligator, and she said it would find a place on the tour bus. They were very gracious about it all. We took pictures again. Bob Fogerty took some of the pictures, so now I can write next to them "Photo by Bob Fogerty." Too cool. His came out really well too :) We asked if we could take down all the posters that were on the wall, and Julie said sure. There were posters of the picture off the "Walking in a Hurricane" single and album sized "Blue Moon Swamp" covers. We got every last one of them, although they were stapled to the wall.

And that's the story folks. Just your everyday experience. No, it was outstanding, and I still wonder at it all in amazement. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, thanks Adam, and thank you John, Julie, Bob, and everyone else (you know who you are!) I am eternally grateful and have a great story to tell to everyone I meet. And believe me, I'll be telling it!

Steph