Fortunate Son

Background

"Down on the Corner" backed with "Fortunate Son" was the fourth 45 rpm single Creedence Clearwater Revival released in 1969. "Fortunate Son" also opens the B-side of the original Willy and the Poor Boys album. As the B-side of the single, it peaked at #14 in the USA, #30 in Germany and #12 in Belgium. It also won the RIAA Gold Disc award in December 1970.

John Fogerty wrote "Fortunate Son" during the heights of the Vietnam War. The anti-war anthem criticizes militant patriotic behaviour and those who support the use of military force without having to "pay the costs" themselves. Fogerty was very aware that rich people got preferential treatment. It's a blast against those wealthy families who were able to keep their offspring out of Vietnam while less affluent people had less options. Fogerty wrote the lyrics in his bedroom in 20 minutes (Bud Scoppa, Interview with John Fogerty, The Uncut, March 2006).

Recording session

"Fortunate Son" was cut in the session together with the A-side of the single, "Down on the Corner". Fogerty sang the A-side first. He did all the background parts and then the lead. "By the time I got to Fortunate Son," recalled Fogerty, "my voice was a little suspect. It was a little flat all the way through." (The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years, The Rolling Stone, September 8th, 1988). 

Doug Clifford remarks the musical sound in this number had to be powerful to get people’s attention because it was a serious message. So he came out with a pounding drum pattern and kept it up through the entire tune (Interview with Doug Clifford, Forbes, June 21st, 2018.)

Equipment

John Fogerty played a Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar in the recording sessions of the song. It's not the one which currently resides in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame but the other one he bought later (see Bad Moon Rising).

Collector's notes

The "Down on the Corner" b/w "Fortunate Son" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in France, Italy, Spain and the USA. It was different from the one launched in Denmark, Germany, India, Israel, Nethelands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland. Another German release (Liberty 15283 is rare. 

In another Dutch version (Liberty 5C 006 90781) the band's name is misspelled Greedence Clearwater Revival (Peter Koers, Green River, 1999). On the labels of early original Spanish and French singles the band's name is also misspelled, reading Creedence Clearwater-Revival  (Robert Aerts).  

Trivia

In August 1970 at Shea Stadium in New York, Fogerty dedicated "Fortunate Son" to David Eisenhower and Julie Nixon who had got married in 1968 (Thomas M. Kitts, An American Son, 2016).

Music video

An official music video of "Fortunate Son" was released on June 28, 2018. Director Ben Fee travelled across the USA from Los Angeles to Miami, filming scenes of everyday Americans. The video shows the down-to-earth America, celebrating the simple joys against the idyllic backdrop of the American West and American South.

Live versions

The first documented Creedence Clearwater gig with "Fortunate Son" in the set list is the homecoming concert at Oakland Coliseum on  January 31, 1970. It also appears on The Concert album recorded that night and In Concert TV show broadcast in summer 1971. 

Another live version can be seen and heard in the video footage of the Royal Albert Hall concert from April 1970. A concert version taped in Manchester, UK, on September 1, 1971, was added to the 40th Anniversary Edition of Willy and the Poor Boys as a bonus track in 2008. The band also performed the song as playback in Ed Sullivan Show on November 16, 1969.  

The CCR trio delivered "Fortunate Son" in the closing concert of Fillmore West on July 3rd 1971. The show was broadcast live by KSAN-FM in San Francisco. The band played another version in Forest Hills, New York, a couple of weeks later, and it was aired by WNEW-FM in New York.  

During his solo career, John Fogerty performed "Fortunate Son" for the first time in the Vets Rousing Welcome Home benefit concert on July 4, 1987. It also debuted Fogerty's final scream "I ain't no fortunat-ah, I ain't no fortunat-ah,... (repeats), I ain't no fortunate sonnnnnn!!". 

After beginning regular touring in spring 1997, he has performed the protest song regularly in his concerts. It usually comes as the last number before the encore. An exception is his birthday concert in Los Angeles on May 28, 2013, when "Fortunate Son" opened the show.  

As expected, "Fortunate Son" appears on each of his three live DVDs: Premonition (1998), The Long Road Home (2006) and Comin' Down the Road (2009). 

Another live version appears on The Long Road Home: An Ultimate John Fogerty - Creedence Collection CD. It was recorded in Camden, NJ, USA on July 15, 2005. 

While performing with Dave Grohl and the Sound City players in early 2013, John Fogerty added an additional solo to "Fortunate Son". The extended solo was also heard when Fogerty performed the number with his own band in Howard Stern Birthday Bash at Beacon Theatre in New York on January 31, 2014. 

In the movies, TV series and commercials

Perhaps the most famous movie scene with "Fortunate Son" on soundtrack is the Vietnam scene in Forrest Gump (1994). Other films where the number is used include

• Battleship (2012)

• Crossing the Bridge (1992)

• Die Hard 4.0 (2007)

• Lenin Tatatino (2013)

• Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

• Logan Lucky (2017)

• Manchurian Candidate (2004)

• Melvin and Howard (1980)

• Prefontaine (1997)

• Suicide Squad (2016)

• The Epic of Detective Mandy: Book Two - Spoof of the Living Dead (1991)

• Tropic Thunder (2008)

It was also heard in documentaries Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) and Berkeley in the Sixties (1990).

"Fortunate Son" is also featured in a half dozen of TV series:

• American Dad, episode In Country... Club (2009)

• Chuck, episode Chuck Versus the Beard (2010)

• Las Vegas, episode Always Faithful (2004)

• Maltese - Il romanzo del comissario, in the prologue of episode 1 (2017)

• My Name Is Earl, episode Cost Dad the election (2005)

• Parenthood, episode The ring (2013)

• The Cinema Snob, episode Night of Horror (2011)

An edited version "Fortunate Son" was used in a Wrangler ad. After protests by John Fogerty, the advertiser eventually ceased using the song.

Critical reception

"Fogerty’s hallmark, though, was "Fortunate Son," a scathing indictment that revealed the disparity between poor young men who were shipped off to war and rich privileged sons who escaped the draft or got cozy National Guard postings." -Doug Simpson, Audiophile Audition, November 9th, 2009. 

"Although the guitar riffs "Fortunate Son" are constructed around are more basic and less memorable than those on some other Creedence hits, they're effective enough, starting with the slightly devious, curling one that opens the track. The verses are mostly a rushed three-chord background for Fogerty to spit-howl his venom against, though there's a lot of sincere soul as well, particularly when he hits the highest notes." -Richie Unterberger, All Music.

Fans' views

"I first saw CCR perform Fortunate Son on the Ed Sullivan Show in late 1969 and the power of the performance just knocked my socks off ... I was hooked on Creedence from that point on."

"Not only has a great political message but the best guitar drum cohesiveness."

"Was a song ahead of its time, but capable of lasting forever."

"Sheer energy ... if I knew what makes a great song I'd write a few and not spend my mondays at the office ..."

"Ballsy class politics with another killer riff and tremendous vocal."

"Best rock and roll protest song that says it all and is still (sadly to say) as true today as when it was written."

Legacy

In 2014, "Fortunate Son" was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The Rolling Stone placed "Fortunate Son" at number 99 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2011.  The same magazine ranked the song the eigth best single of 1963-1988 in Septembr 1988.  

The 2012 remake

John Fogerty released an alternate version of "Fortunate Son" in MP3 format on January 12, 2012. It was only made to downloaded for a short time. 

The 2013 remake

John Fogerty recorded a new version of the song alongside Foo Fighters with a punk-rock kick and an additional guitar solo by Fogerty for his collaboration album Wrote a Song for Everyone. The new version  was recorded at Foo Fighters' studio in Los Angeles on January 7th, 2012. The album came out in May 2013. 

Fogerty performed "Fortunate Son" live with Dave Grohl and the Sound City Players in concerts in early 2013. The combo also appeared in Jimmy Kimmel Show on March 5, 2013. 

Thanks to Dana.

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