John Fogerty
John Fogerty, lead singer of the infamous countercultural rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, was thought to never perform in a public concert setting again after his band’s disbandment in 1972. However, on September 22nd, 1985, Fogerty made his first concert appearance for his solo career as a performer at Farm Aid. Honoring his family history of agricultural workers, his father from rural Iowa, and his mother from Montana, respectively, Fogerty came out of the woodwork in order to raise support for a cause he found close to home.
Fogerty, son of Galen Robert and Edith Lucile Fogerty, was born on May 28th, 1945, in Berkeley, California. Moving to El Cerrito, California in his early childhood, Fogerty began his music career at a young age, forming a rock-jazz band, the Blue Velvets in 1959 at Potola Junior High. Following high school, Fogerty landed a job at a local jazz label, Fantasy Records. In 1964, Fogerty convinced the company to sign his brother, Tom, and the Blue Velvets as backup. The group gradually changed names to the Golliwogs, and finally became Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) in 1967.
Creedence Clearwater Revival found fame through their work in protest of the Vietnam War. Smashing charts with “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” CCR instantly became faces of the counterculture movement. As CCR gained momentum between 1967-1972, disputes began to erupt with bandmates regarding John’s increasing control of the band, including from his brother, Tom. CCR disbanded shortly after and never reunited except for small performances at his wedding and a high school reunion.
As the farm crisis heightened in the early 1980s, Fogerty uncovered that Farm Aid would be hosting a benefit concert in support of agricultural communities. Fogerty reached out directly to the organizational producers at JAM Productions, urging them to allow him to perform. After many phone calls and performance agreements, Fogerty made his debut performance of his solo career at Farm Aid. Prior to this concert, the vast majority of Fogerty’s performances had been as a part of CCR; however, Fogerty did not perform any of their songs at Farm Aid in 1985. Taking the stage in the early evening, he began his set list with “The Old Man Down the Road.” Reports from the Daily Illini state that this performance by Fogerty “got a fantastic ovation and got the crowd going.” While his performance consisted of only three songs, Fogerty followed “The Old Man Down the Road” with “Zanz Kant Danz,” a song written about Saul Zaentz, Fogerty's former and estranged boss at Fantasy Records. This working-class driven song features repetitious lines of “Watch him or he’ll rob you blind,” appealing to the crisis that family farmers attending Farm Aid were facing. Fogerty ended his set list with a rendition of Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd’s soul number, “Knock on Wood.” This upbeat love song concluded Fogerty’s first solo performance, serenading concertgoers with a familiar tune.
Following the Farm Aid concert in 1985, Fogerty went on to perform at Farm Aid again in 1997, finally singing songs that he had written as a part of CCR including “Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” and “Fortunate Son.” Fogerty continues his musical career to this day with performances, new music releases, and guest appearances regularly.
(Written by Morgan Paoli)
1. Garofalo, Reebee. “Making Music/Making Bread: Charity Rock for Social Change.” Essay. In Farm Aid: A Song for America, edited by Rodale, 3–10, n.d.
2. Rodale. “Farm Aid: A Song for America,” 2005.
3. Allen, David. “Farm Aid: an Outpouring of Spirit, Not Substance.” Daily Illini. September 24, 1985.