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John Fogerty music biography continued...

solo career as well. Born May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, California, Fogerty studied piano and got his first guitar when he was 12. Along with his brother Tom, and two pals from junior high school, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook, started playing together in the late 50s. They changed the band's name a few times, and finally settled on Credence Clearwater Revival in 1967. Several Fogerty compositions appeared on their self-titled debut, but cover versions of Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q" and Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" were the group's first hit singles. Beginning with the two-sided gold hit "Proud Mary" (Number Two, 1969) paired with "Born on the Bayou," CCR dominated Top 40 radio for two years without disappointing the anti-commercial element of the rock audience. Their hits during this time included "Bad Moon Rising", "Green River," "Fortunate Son," "Down on the Corner," "Travelin' Band," "Up Around the Bend," and "Lookin' Out My Back Door," and made CCR the most popular rock band in America.



Amidst internal dissention about John's dominant role in the band, CCR split up in 1972, and John started on a solo career. After the breakup he released a bluegrass/country album, The Blue Ridge Rangers, on which he played all the instruments. Two songs, the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" and "Hearts of Stone," made the Top 40. Subsequent albums were commercial failures, and Fogerty was not heard of again until 1985's Centerfield, a number one album, that sold 2 million copies and boasted the hit singles, "The Old Man Down the Road" (Number 10, 1985), "Rock and Roll Girls" (Number 20, 1985), and "Centerfield" (Number 44, 1985). In 1993, Fogerty surfaced again when CCR was admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but was dormant again until 1997's Blue Moon Swamp, which went on to win a Grammy for Best Rock Album. After that, Fogerty dropped out of sight again until 2004's Déjà Vu (All Over Again on the Dreamworks label. Since then, Fogerty has sporadically recorded, but has performed frequently, including the CCR hits in his repertoire, and attracting a whole new generation of fans.