Telephone

Background

"Telephone" was an album track on Hoodoo, an unreleased solo album of John Fogerty that was intended to come out in 1976. The song was written, produced and arranged by John Fogerty and engineered by Russ Gary and David Coffin.  Fogerty also played all the instruments by himself. Recorded at Wally Heider studios in San Francisco, the album was the last collaboration between Fogerty and Gary. 

Critical reception

"---John sings it beautifully, complete with the high almost-yodelling bits!" -Mary P., Who'll Stop the Rain, Winter 1983. 

"Cool slow New Orleans R&B. There's still some excessive electronic noodling here and there, but Fogerty's such a natural at this stuff that you sorta of ignore the trappings 'cuse the tune itself is truly fine." -Billy Miller, The Kicks, New York, Issue 3, Summer 1984.

"A song with a strong melody, this is one of my favorites on the album. Midtempo and a great lyric make this a definite classic." -Wiebo de Wit, The CCR-Tribute, 1996

Fans' views

"Just thinking about how John sings Telephone gives me goose-pimples.  It is fabulous."