John Fogerty said he was once offered the chance to buy back the guitar he played during Creedence Clearwater Revival’s glory days, but refused because of the memories connected with the instrument.
But his wife and manager, Julie, bought it anyway and gave it to him as a Christmas present, kick starting a healing process that helped him return to music.
Fogerty used the Rickenbacker, with the word “Acme” hand-painted on it, on his upcoming album, Legacy – The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years. The 20-track collection, which features meticulous recreations of CCR classics, arrives in August.
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In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Fogerty said he parted with the guitar in the ‘70s. Roughly 20 years later, he was offered the chance to buy it back for $40,000. But the guitar made him think of the bitter legal battles with his former bandmates and record label.
How Getting His Old Guitar Back Helped John Fogerty Heal
“I was hurt. I was damaged,” Fogerty said. “I started as a kid full of joy doing music, but during the time of Creedence, and shortly after that, it became certainly not joyful.”
Picking up the guitar, though, Fogerty’s feelings began to change, leading to his return to the stage. Now, with Legacy, he’s taken another step.
“The idea was to reconnect and feel that way about everything again,” he said. “The guy who couldn’t even stand to look at his own guitar in the ’90s or beyond would have never done that.”
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Although Fogerty revealed a new song titled “Weeping in the Promised Land” in 2021, he played down the suggestion of a new album of original songs, even though he’d previously said it might happen.
“Do I have a bunch of songs written and recorded? No, I don’t,” he said. But he added that he’d been inspired by receiving the American Music Honors last month, when Bruce Springsteen inducted him and Jackson Browne led a performance of the Eagles’ “Take It Easy.”
“On our drive back to the hotel with my wife I said, ‘I’m like 10 feet off the ground. I want to go write songs and record them!’” Fogerty enthused.
John Fogerty’s Three Reasons for Recording ‘Legacy’ Album
“When you’re 80 years old, you finally are given the special key to the kingdom. I guess you can do whatever you want,” he said of Legacy. “I decided this is what I wanted to do – to give myself a present.”
Fogerty offered two more reasons for making the album: “Number one, there’s probably no chance in the world I will ever have any part of the ownership of the old masters. This is kind of the Taylor Swift part. But another thing is, I think there’s a joy quite evident in the music that may not be there in the original versions.”
Ranking Every Creedence Clearwater Revival Album
There was simply one brilliant piece of songwriting followed by another from frontman John Fogerty over the course of these seven discs.
