And I now think that Stratocasters and Telecasters are way cool.
Bluegrass dobro can be very pretty, and I knew I wanted that sound instead of a Delta blues, National steel-body sound.
But I think beautiful is simple and elegant, like a ballad with simple harmony.
Even though I have often recorded alone, I still feel the best music is made by musicians playing off each other.
Even though James Burton was my idol, I didn't think I could carry his shoes back then.
I don't know that all the demons have been beaten, but I'm very, very proud of those songs.
I had gotten screwed, stolen from, and cheated so many times, I just couldn't seem to separate the songs from the memories.
I loved Western Swing and Hank Williams' music, and I now know that it's a 6th tuning that gives you all of those classic licks.
I played that outfit all through high school, and then I got a three-quarter scale Supro with one treble pickup. It was my first wood guitar, and I played it up until the time of the Golliwogs.
I stuck with that size because I could bend the strings so well, and somewhere along the line I must have gotten it into my mind that I had small hands, so I was thinking I'd never be able to play a full-scale guitar, but I also felt like I was cheating or cutting corners.
I thought what I was good at doing was playing real simple guitar licks, since I'd cut my teeth on what Duane Eddy was doing; licks that were simple but had staying power.
I usually destroy unreleased material. It has a way of coming back to haunt you.
I went pretty much for one tone, and I knew at that time that I wanted to play a Rickenbacker.
I work hard at that, but the fact that there are a lot of good songs means there are also a lot of really bad songs I've written that you never hear.
I wrote that song for my wife, and it's what some guy who's sitting under a tree would be singing to the woman of his life, telling her how wonderful she is. To me, that's more lasting than something that sounds like it belongs on a movie soundtrack.
I'm like a twenty-two-year-old kid in a new band trying to get noticed and break through, because the vast majority of people have never seen me play live.
I'm much more energetic now; you might say live performance is my mission.
I'm now comfortable playing a lot of the old songs, and I've gotten out a lot of the old equipment.
I've also become much more the musician I've always wanted to be.
I've studied a lot of great people over the years - Pete Seeger, James Brown - and tried to incorporate elements that I've admired, though I can't say I dance like James.
If you were to ask for a value judgement about my one-man band concept, I think I probably took it to its zenith on Centerfield, but ultimately it isn't a good idea.
In the last two years or so, I've made a conscious decision to play American guitars; I don't know of a more subtle way to say it.
In those days, I didn't know how guys like Clapton and Beck were getting that searing blues lead sound, so I developed my style to be rhythmic and chord-based, with simple lead lines that you could almost hum.
My first guitar was a Silvertone by Danelectro; the typical Masonite-and-lipstick-tube-pickup type. I got a Silvertone amp to go with it; they cost $88, including the interest over 10 months.
No, but I've always felt that with true talent, and a commitment to hard work, it is possible to achieve an enduring respect and appreciation. In other words, I don't take my fans for granted.
Now that I'm older, I like almost anything that's done well, even surf music and instrumentals; I really enjoyed the interviews with the Ventures in your magazine.
On Eye of the Zombie, I had so-called studio musicians.
On Eye of the Zombie, I just got some studio musicians who were competent, but some of them weren't right for what I was trying to do.
That song has the full extent of my mandolin abilities; I'm not a good mandolin player at all.
The ones I have got great necks; of course, all of the Fenders from that era are incredible.
The only sliding I did was on the kind of instrument that you put on your lap; no Spanish electrics.
The Telecaster doesn't really sound that good for the kind of rock and roll that a lot of people played.
There's just not a lot of guys around playing like that these days; a lot of steel players are plugging into stomp boxes, trying to sound like Jeff Beck on a steel guitar.
Washburn's an old American name, but this one was assembled overseas.
When I made Blue Moon Swamp, there was a lot of trial and error; I was trying to find people who would be simpatico with my style, and with what I had in mind for the album.
You should play with real musicians; the best music comes from real people interacting with each other.
He and wife Julie welcomed the birth of daughter Kelsy Cameron (6 lbs, 6 oz., 19 inches), at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. She joins brothers Shane, 10, and Tyler, 9, and sister Lyndsay, 17, the latter from wife, Julie's, first marriage. [10-5-01]
His first album for Dreamworks Records should be released in 2002.
Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival) in 1993.
In fall of 2004 he participated in the Vote for Change concert tour organized to encourage the defeat of George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election. It failed.
Mom: Lucile Fogerty (d. December 1988); Dad: Galen Robert Fogerty (d. 1970s). Brothers: Musician, Tom Fogerty, with whom John played in several groups, including CCR. Tom died in September, 1990 from AIDS, contracted from a blood transfusion during back surgery. Older brother, Jim Fogerty; younger brothers, Dan Fogerty and Bob Fogerty.
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 9, 2005 in New York City alongside Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman, Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, David Porter (vii) and Isaac Hayes.
Despite their great success, his band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, never had a #1 hit on Billboard's Top-10 chart! They had 9 songs on the chart, with 5 of them peaking only at #2.
Shortly after the release of his solo album "Centerfield," he was sued for plagiarizing himself. The lawsuit claimed that his song "The Old Man Down the Road" shared the same chorus as "Run Through the Jungle," a song from his CCR days. Fogerty ended up winning his case, by proving that many artists have very distinct styles that can make different compositions sound similar to unfamiliar ears.
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