On the Run

Background

"On the Run" was the closing track on Hoodoo, an unreleased solo album of John Fogerty intended to come out in 1976. The country rock number 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.

When asked about his favourite song of Hoodoo in a meet and greet in the 2000's, Fogerty answered "On the Run". He also revealed in his autobiography (2015) that he's still working with the song and trying to complete it.

Critical reception

"This one is probably my favourite of them all. It's melodic and so atmospheric. This was the song I started to hum and sing to myself first from this tape! It's a sad little story with a slightly country-ish feel, where John sings about eing cold and alone "on the run" rom the sheriff, for whatever crime...... "You know I'll keep the thing I've done inside of me, until the hangman sets me free.." As soon as it starts to fade out, you want to hear it again." -Mary P., Who'll Stop the Rain, Winter 1983. 

"This is the one! After you hear the simple, uncluttered approach to this great song, the experimental stuff becomes even more trivial. No funky white boy stuff, no synthesizer backdrops, just the incredible John Fogerty sound. Had this been the 45 and the direction of the whole LP, we might be hearin' J.C. Fogerty's music all these years he's been layin' low." -Billy Miller, The Kicks, New York, Issue 3, Summer 1984.

"This is a great Fogerty original, with strong melody and a good song to close the album. One of my favorites." -Wiebo de Wit, The CCR-Tribute, 1996

Fans' views

"A classic JF song that he will never perform or rerecord unfortuantely. It would jump off the country charts if he redid it. It is just a great song with great lyric and needs to be heard."