John Fogerty (1972-)

After the disbanding of Creedence Clearwater Revival in October 1972 and the dispute with his label, Fantasy, soon after, John Fogerty became embroiled in legal battles that he said severely restricted his ability to continue his songwriting and performing career. During 1975-1984, and 1986-1996 as well, he did not have a new album in circulation, and the audience speculated whether John Fogerty had retired the music business for good.

In 1972, Fogerty began a solo project in which he recorded all the instruments and vocals under the pseudonym Blue Ridge Rangers. The material comprised country and gospel. It provided two hit singles in 1973: remakes of Hank Williams' country tune "Jambalaya" and Otis Williams and the Charms' doowop "Hearts of Stone".

Before the year was out, Fogerty had become upset about many aspects of his affiliation with Fantasy. He charged that the company hadn't promoted his album properly and had other objections about matters such as distribution and royalties. He demanded a release from his contract, but Fantasy had the rights for eight more albums from him. He refused to record new material and things remained unsolved until David Geffen and Asylum Records worked out a reported $1 million deal with Fantasy allowing Fogerty to record on Asylum with Fantasy retaining overseas rights while Asylum had US and Canadian rights. That did not void other legal battles however, including one Fogerty and his old band mates eventually filed against their accounting firm, claiming it had not properly protected their investments.

Fogerty then went back into the studios and turned out a new solo album, John Fogerty, released in 1975, that was a critically acclaimed work but a commercial failure. Among its tracks were such classic songs as "Rockin' All Over The World" and "Almost Saturday Night". However, the psychological trauma of continued legal skirmishing caught up with Fogerty, and his efforts to assemble new material for a follow-up album were so far below his standards that Asylum cautioned against releasing them. The prospective third album, Hoodoo, was never issued. Fogerty decided it would be best to wait until his legal problems were resolved before trying to pick up his career full-tilt again.

It turned to be a long wait, a hiatus that took almost a decade. In 1984, Fogerty began working up tracks for his comeback album, issued by Warner Brothers at the beginning of 1985. Titled Centerfield, the comeback album proved a sensation with both critics and record buyers. It provided a hit single "The Old Man Down The Road," while the album itself became a #1 chart hit in the US.

The album also included hard-driving rocker "Mr. Greed" and experimental "Zantz Kan't Danz" which seemed to be personal attacks against Saul Zaentz, head of Fantasy Records. Zaentz responded with a $142 million lawsuit claiming he had been slandered in Centerfield and in the statements Fogerty had made in interviews. Fantasy also filed another suit claiming it was entitled to profits from the single "The Old Man Down The Road," stating the piece plagiarised a song Fogerty wrote for Creedence, "Run Through The Jungle". It took until 1995 for Fogerty to emerge from the suit “not guilty”.

In September 1986, Fogerty launched a second Warner Brothers album, Eye Of The Zombie, which failed to scale the heights of its predecessor. He also committed his first US tour in 14 years, but refused to include any Creedence songs in the set list.

After the mid-80's, Fogerty maintained a lower profile. The highlight of the era was his performance at the concert for Vietnam veterans in 1987, in which he did Creedence songs on stage for the first time since 1972.

Fogerty returned in 1997 with a release of his fifth solo album, the Grammy winning and critically acclaimed Blue Moon Swamp. It was followed by a tour in USA and Scandinavia, several appearances in the media and finally a live album, Premonition.

After a hiatus of a couple of years,  Fogerty released Deja Vu All Over Again in September 2004. The album was followed by tours in the USA, Europe and Oceania.

The sale of Fantasy Records to Concord Records in 2004 ended the decades long feud between Fogerty and his former label as the new owners took steps to restore royalty rights that Fogerty gave up in order to be released from his contract with Fantasy in the mid-1970s. Fogerty returned to Fantasy Records in September 2005. The first album released under the new contract was The Long Road Home, a compilation CD combining his Creedence Clearwater hits with solo material.

Fogerty launched his next album of original material, Revival, on October 2, 2007.  It debuted at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with sales about 65,000 copies in its first week. Revival was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album of 2008 but wasn't awarded.

On June 24, 2008, Fogerty made a return to the Royal Albert Hall, a venue he last played with CCR in 1971. The concert was filmed and was released in 2009.

On August 31, 2009, Fogerty released a sequel to his 1973 solo debut The Blue Ridge Rangers, called The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. The album includes guest artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit.

On November 17 and 18, 2011, Fogerty performed two Creedence Clearwater Revival albums, Cosmo's Factory and Green River (respectively), in their entirety at the Beacon Theater in New York (he also played Cosmo's Factory in Atlantic City on November 20). Album concerts of Bayou Country, Green River and Cosmo's Factory were followed in Australia and North America in 2012-2013.

Fogerty began recording a new album, Wrote a Song For Everyone, in 2011. It was released on Vanguard Records on May 28, 2013 -- Fogerty's 68th birthday. The album is a compilation of various songs of his catalogue performed alongside an array of the biggest superstars of the 2010's, including Foo Fighters, Bob Seger, Dawes, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Kid Rock, Keith Urban, My Morning Jacket, Alan Jackson , Jennifer Hudson, and Zac Brown Band. The album also includes two new John Fogerty compositions, "Train of Fools" and "Mystic Highway."

Fogerty released his autobiography Fortunate Son - My Life, My Music in 2015. He also began regular residencies in Las Vegas in January 2016. Fogerty is still touring outside the Vegas residencies but thw concert circuits have been a bit shorter than in 2004-2013.