John Fogerty – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

John Fogerty – I Saw It On TV

The coon-skin caps, Yankee bats, the Hound Dog man’s big start
The A-Bomb fears, Annette had ears, I lusted in my heart

When I bought the Centerfield album in 1985, this was one of the first songs that I listened to. Despite the hits like Centerfield and Old Man Down the Road, the pop culture gold in this song drew me in. That shouldn’t surprise any of my readers about me, even in 1985.

This is the song that broke Fogerty’s writer’s block he had for a decade. He wrote the rest of the album after this song. It chronicles history from the 50s to the 70s. While fishing, he started to think about the things he’s seen on TV as a young boy: the Eisenhower inauguration, the Yankees, the Mickey Mouse Club, Elvis Presley, The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, etc. The story continued on through the sixties, Vietnam, and then Watergate.

Musically, it is classic John Fogerty with acoustic guitars underneath that golden voice. There is no clutter or overproduction, just the songwriter and the story. The track moves like a scrapbook, each verse turning another page. Fogerty always had a knack for pulling feelings out of memories. He does it here like he is sitting across from you around the kitchen table.

I Saw It On TV was not a hit but a very good album track. The song concludes with the riff of the intro of “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” The Centerfield album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, #13 in New Zealand, and #48 in the UK in 1985. The song was recorded at The Plant Studios in San Francisco.

Robert Hilburn from The Los Angeles Times: “The album’s most affecting tune, however, may be “I Saw It on T.V,” a look at the way television has programmed so many shared emotions into the post-’50’s generation. In the song, Fogerty traces the liberating effect of Presley’s arrival, the idealism of the Kennedy years, the loss of innocence after his assassination, the celebration of the Beatles, the tragedy of Vietnam and the corruption of Watergate.”

I Saw It On TV

They sent us home to watch the show comin’ on the little screen
A man named Ike was in the white house, big black limousine
There were many shows to follow, from ‘Hooter’ to Doodyville
Though I saw them all, I can’t recall which cartoon was real

The coon-skin caps, Yankee bats, the Hound Dog man’s big start
The A-Bomb fears, Annette had ears, I lusted in my heart
A young man from Boston set sail the new frontier
And we watched the Dream dead-end in Dallas
They buried innocence that year

I know it’s true, oh so true
‘Cause I saw it on TV

We gathered round to hear the sound comin’ on the little screen
The grief had passed, the old men laughed, and all the girls screamed
‘Cause four guys from England took us all by the hand
It was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band

But all too soon, we hit the moon, and covered up the sky
They built their bombs, and aimed their guns, and still I don’t know why
The dominoes tumbled and big business roared
Every night at six, they showed the pictures and counted up the score

I know it’s true, oh so true
‘Cause I saw it on TV

The old man rocks among his dreams, a prisoner of the porch
“The light” he says
“At the end of the tunnel was nothin’, but a burglar’s torch”
And them that was caught in the cover are all rich and free
But they chained my mind to an endless tomb
When they took my only son from me

I know it’s true, oh so true
‘Cause I saw it on TV
I know it’s true, oh so true
‘Cause I saw it on TV

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Born on the Bayou

This song is so ominous with that noise and then tremolo guitar opening. I’m ready to follow whatever comes next after that. What came after was the other instrument in the band that no other band had or could match, John’s voice. I think of Little Richard, but with a little more control. We will revisit Richard in this post. The song was the B side to Proud Mary and never did chart, but it remains one of their best-remembered songs. It should be a law, you have to wear headphones with the volume at 11 when you listen to this song. Fogerty’s voice will amaze you.

When you listen to the song, you are in a bayou, whether you want it or not. You have hound dogs barking, rolling with a Cajun Queen, running through the backwoods bare, and all the inhabitants of the bayou within your reach. Although none of the band members were from Louisiana (they were based in California), Fogerty created a vivid, swampy Southern sound that came to define CCR’s identity with this song.

John Fred was a singer (Judy In Disguise), and he played a part in this song. Fred was from Louisiana, and when Creedence played a show in Baton Rouge in 1969, he met Fogerty at a rehearsal and offered to take him to a real bayou. They drove 15 minutes to Bayou Forche, where they ate some crabs and crayfish, which helped give Fogerty the idea for this song.

The song was on their album Bayou Country, released in 1969. The album contained Proud Mary and one of my favorite CCR songs Bootleg. On making the album, John said: Everybody wanted to sing, write, make up their own arrangements, whatever, right? This was after ten years of struggling. Now we had the spotlight. Andy Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame. ‘Susie Q’ was as big as we’d ever seen. Of course, it really wasn’t that big…I didn’t want to go back to the carwash.” The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard album charts, #14 in Canada, and #62 in the UK.

I found one of the most interesting covers of this song. Little Richard (I have it below) covered it in 1971. After a 2:00 spoken intro, his voice blasts into it, and it feels just right.

John Fogerty: “We were the #7 act on the bill, bottom of the totem pole. And as the first guys to go on, we were the last to soundcheck before they opened the doors. It was like, ‘Here’s the drums, boom, boom; here’s the guitar, clank, clank.’ I looked over at the guys and said, ‘Hey, follow this!’ Basically, it was the riff and the attitude of ‘Born on the Bayou,’ without the words.”

John Fogerty: “Born on the Bayou,” “Proud Mary,” and “Choolgin'” were all connected in John Fogerty’s mind. In Bad Moon Rising, he said, “I was writing these at night, and I remember that Bobby Kennedy got killed during this time. I saw that late at night. They kept showing it over and over. ‘Bayou’ and ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘Chooglin” were all kind of cooking at that time. I’d say that was when the whole swamp bayou myth was born—right there in a little apartment in El Cerrito. It was late at night and I was probably delirious from lack of sleep. I remember that I thought it would be cool if these songs cross-referenced each other. Once I was doing that, I realized that I was kind of working on a mythical place.”

If you want to hear a live version by CCR, I couldn’t find a good video except the audio right here.

Born on the Bayou

Now, when I was just a little boyStandin’ to my daddy’s kneeMy papa said, “Son, don’t let the man get youAnd do what he done to me”‘Cause he’ll get you‘Cause he’ll get you now, now

And I can remember the fourth of JulyRunnin’ through the backwood bareAnd I can still hear my ol’ hound dog barkin’Chasin’ down a hoodoo thereChasin’ down a hoodoo there

Born on the bayouBorn on the bayouBorn on the bayou, Lord, Lord

Wish I was back on the bayouRollin’ with some Cajun QueenWishin’ I were a fast freight trainI’m just a chooglin’ on down to New Orleans

Born on the bayouBorn on the bayou, mm, mm, mmBorn on the bayou, do it, do it, do it, do itAlright

Oh, get back, boy

And I can remember the fourth of JulyRunnin’ through the backwood bareAnd I can still hear my ol’ hound dog barkin’Chasin’ down a hoodoo thereChasin’ down a hoodoo there

Born on the bayouBorn on the bayou, oh, ohBorn on the bayouAlright, do it, do it, do it, do it

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Pagan Baby

John turned his Kustom K200/A Amp up to 11 with this song. It’s a little harder than their radio hits and they dip into blues rock with this cut. It was never released as a single but has become a fan favorite, especially among those who appreciate CCR’s rock album tracks.

It featured on their 6th studio album Pendulum released in 1970. This album was the last to feature Tom Fogerty, the band’s rhythm guitarist and older brother of lead singer John Fogerty. He would leave the band band after this one. The album departed from the band’s previous work in several ways. Fogerty’s songs are strong throughout and are made more interesting by the addition of horns and keyboards

It was recorded at Wally Heider’s studio in San Francisco, it took a month to record which was a long time for a Creedence album. , was down to the fact that the initial take on each song was performed by all four members, this was then followed by overdubbing by John. The overdubs included a horn section, keyboards, and additional backing vocals, all of which were played and sung by John.

The album was met with mixed reviews from critics. Some praised the deeper sound they had in their songs. Some wanted the rawer energy they had on their previous 5 albums. It included the two hits Have You Ever Seen The Rain and Hey Tonight. Pagan Baby does have that earlier CCR energy.

Pendulum peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #8 in the UK in 1970. Their next album Mardi Gras was the only CCR album to be panned by critics and fans alike…including John Fogerty.

Pagan Baby

Pagan baby, won’t you walk with me?Pagan baby, come on home with me.Pagan baby, take me for a ride.Roll me, baby, roll your big, brown eyes.

Yeah! ooh! ooh!

Pagan baby, let me make your name.Drive it, baby, drive your big love game.Pagan baby, what you got, I need.

Don’t be savin’, spread your love on me.

Aah! mm-mm-mm!

Pagan baby, now won’t you rock with me?Pagan baby, lay your love on me.

Yeah, yeah!Aah! hey, hey!

Aah! hey! yeah!Hey! hey! haaaaaaay!

…

Brothers At Arms – John and Tom Fogerty

We all know the great album Brothers in Arms from Dire Straits, but sometimes those brothers are “at arms” rather than in them. In this part of the mini-series Randy, from mostlymusiccovers.com, talks about the “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em” Siblings of the Fogerty brothers from Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Proud Mary” written by John Fogerty was CCR’s first big hit single peaking at #2.

Tom was the elder of the two brothers, he was born in 1941 (1990) and John was born in 1945, now age 78. They were born in Berkley but grew up in El Cerrito, California. Tom signed a record contract in 1959 but had little success in terms of recording a hit. John and his band would eventually provide backing to Tom and this led to the creation of the Golliwogs where John and Tom shared lead vocals. By the time Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) had formed in 1967, John had stepped to the forefront as lead singer, guitar player, and principal songwriter.

That is Tom on the left and John on the right.

CCR would go on to what is now regarded as legendary success. Between 1968 and 1970 they released six albums, two of them charting #1. They still hold the record for having five songs reach #2 without ever having a #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Tom left the band early in 1971 to pursue a solo career. CCR would release just one more album Mardi Gras in 1972 but had recorded two of the songs before Tom left. There is no evidence that things got physical but they argued a lot and the tension was high.

Tom’s departure leads us further into the discussion about the feud between him and John was more than just that. As with any break-up, there are two sides to every story, and with this one, there are at least 5 sides, the most notorious falling out suffice to say is with John and their former boss at Fantasy Records, Saul Zaentz. I won’t get too much into that story today and most will be familiar with Zaentz taking control of the CCR music and also controlling the copyright and the infamous lawsuits. I discussed this in a post back in 2018.

John admittedly was so bitter he stopped playing music for almost 10 years. Some years after the nasty split up of CCR, Fogerty recorded two songs aimed squarely at Zaentz, “Zanz Kant Danz” and “Mr. Greed”. John would eventually emerge victorious over the lawsuits brought by Zaentz and his own subsequent countersuit.

For Tom’s part, he clearly sided with Zaentz. Early on Tom was named in the lawsuit against John and at one time referred to Zaentz as his “best friend”. The band, including Tom and Zaentz had their money invested and got a tip to pull out, they didn’t tell John and he lost almost everything. At the heart of the trouble was that Tom left CCR as he felt John had taken control of the band. This I think, is a fair statement. John wrote most all of the lyrics and the music. Certainly for all their big hits. He had the best and most distinctive voice, and at lead guitar was the best musician.

As a band member, Tom in all honesty could not, and did not do better. At their height, they were one of the most successful Rock bands and history has certainly born that out. An estimated 50 million in record sales in about five years is nothing to sneeze at. John as a solo artist has almost doubled that number.

“Have You Ever Seen the Rain”, words and music by John Fogerty and the last hit single before the departure of Tom from the band.

Now I am not saying John is blameless for the falling out, I am sure he might have handled things better, but his ego I think would get in the way. But there may have been little he could have done. Tom’s actions in many ways seem born of jealousy. He decided to leave CCR. I understand his reasoning, he felt he had some good songs and he wanted to sing lead on them, John felt that the band was doing just fine with the way things were, and he wasn’t wrong. Despite the success John brought to CCR, it seems after the breakup it was John that got the cold shoulder from everyone.

Once the band split a year or so later the acrimonious relationship(s) only got worse, with John at the center and Tom and the others all playing a part.

As mentioned, Tom would embark on a solo career with his first album charting at #78 which is the best he would do. I did hear Tom in an interview say that had he been able to do things over, he would not have left the band. John did contribute some guitar tracks on Tom’s Zephyr National (1974). John also attended Tom’s wedding in 1980 and a high school reunion in 1984, and at both they jammed a bit.

John released Blue Ridge Rangers (1973) which charted at #47 and then in 1975 his album John Fogerty had the hit single “Rockin’ All Over the World” that peaked at #27. The weight of the various lawsuits and his admitted bitterness over the feud with Tom and the others led him to withdraw from the business. He was actually barred from playing any CCR songs for several years.

Over the years that followed John made some attempts to reconcile, motivated more for their mother’s benefit. Tom would receive an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion after back surgery and the ensuing complications would lead to his eventual death in 1990. Truly tragic.

The brothers never did reconcile and for John’s part, he says he has forgiven Tom.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cotton Fields

The first time I heard this song I loved it. Many people have covered it but I know it primarily through CCR. Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, wrote this song and recorded it in 1940. Back when I was playing in a band…around one am, a couple of hours before closing we would do this song. People would be singing along with us.

Some bands and artists seem to cross genres and CCR is one of those bands. Yes, I’ve met people who didn’t love them but most like something they do. I’ve met metal heads, hard rock fans, country, bluegrass, pop, and rock fans who like them. Most can’t believe they came from California and not the swamps of Louisana. They looked like blue-collar workers going to work every day…and by their music…they were.

I visited secondhandsongs.com and found that this song has 187 versions of it. It’s been covered by Harry Belafonte, Odetta, Bill Monroe, Buck Owens, The Staple Singers, The Beach Boys, Van Morrison, and so many more.

Creedence covered it on the Willy and the Poor Boys album released in 1969. It was not released as a single in America but it peaked at #1 in Mexico in 1970. The album had the well-known hits Fortunate Son, Down On The Corner, The Midnight Special, and the fan favorite It Came Out of the Sky. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #10 in the UK.

Creedence had 18 songs in the top 100 and 9 top 10 hits yet no number 1’s in the Billboard 100 until Have You Ever Seen The Rain in 2021!

Cotton Fields

When I was a little bitty babyMy mama would rock me in the cradleIn them old cotton fields back home