John Fogerty has spent most of his life not singing the songs that made him famous with Creedence Clearwater Revival.
“I became a miserable human being. I wasn’t a lot of fun to be around. I’m ashamed to say I was a jerk,” he confessed on Friday from the stage of Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center.
But at 69, Fogerty appears to have put his epic battles with record labels and band-mates behind him. For two hours he roared through the CCR catalog (never mentioning Creedence by name; some habits die hard) like a man reborn.
Propelled by the volcanic drumming of Kenny Aronoff and a no-holds-barred band that included Fogerty’s son, Shane, on guitar, the Old Man Down the Road channeled the rock and roll gods to remind us mortals what is possible with a handful of chords and a few licks, perfectly placed.
And of course, there is that howling, yowling voice, like nitroglycerin one shake from combustion.
With a little help from his sound crew, Fogerty reached for — and usually found — notes on vocals that were hits when Walter Cronkite was delivering nightly news about Vietnam.
Traveling Band, Green River, Down on the Bayou, Who’ll Stop the Rain (inspired by Woodstock, which Creedence played after doing The Andy Williams Show), Fortunate Son, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, a rollicking interpretation of Lodi . . . they came fast and furious.
Mystic Highway, from Fogerty’s 2013 album Wrote a Song For Everyone, fit right in. Everyone sang along on Midnight Special, Have You Ever Seen the Rain and Proud Mary. I’m pretty sure Fogerty sang, “there’s a bathroom on the right” in Bad Moon Rising. I know I did.
All of this was punctuated by standing ovations from the packed house–Fogerty got one before playing a single note. By the time he fired up his 1985 solo smash, Centerfield, about three-quarters of the way through the concert, it was impossible to remain seated.
Throughout the evening Fogerty played a dizzying array of guitars, receiving each instrument with the manic fervor of a sports car buff: Let’s see what this one can do! He romped and stomped and wailed and flailed like a fellow having the time of his life.
Which, apparently, he was.
“I didn’t deserve it, but really good stuff happened to me, and I’m a happy guy,” said Fogerty, calling himself the “luckiest man alive” in the aptly named Joy of My Life. He dedicated the lovely ballad–his first love song–to his second wife, Julie. Thanks to her, he said, “I became the things I hoped for most–an everyday guy, a father, a husband.”
May we all find our Julie. Rock on, dude!
