John Fogerty and his former bandmates in Creedence Clearwater Revival are battling it out in the press, and possibly in the courtroom, as Fogerty claims his former partners are trying to stop him from performing CCR songs. For their part, they say "that idea is ridiculous" and went as far as insinuating that Fogerty is "bullying" them.
It started on Monday, Dec. 9, when Fogerty released the following statement via his PR team:
"I was driving my daughter to school yesterday and I was surprised to learn I was being sued by my former band mates who call themselves Creedence Clearwater Revisited.
"The people who come to my shows know they will hear me sing and play the songs I wrote and recorded over the past four decades of my career. Every night we play live, I'm thrilled to see all of those fans singing along to the songs that have touched them. I am at a wonderful place in my life. I am playing the music that I love and wrote, with full joy and having my son Shane joining along side of me -- it doesn't get much better than that.
"No lawyers, lawsuits, or angry ex-band members will stop me ever again from singing my songs. I am going to continue to tour and play all my songs every single night I am out on the road.
"Rockin' all over the world!"
Bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford toured as Creedence Clearwater Revisited following the CCR breakup, before Fogerty forced them to stop using the name via an injunction; courts later ruled in Cook and Clifford's favor, and they resumed touring as Creedence Clearwater Revisited.
On Thursday, Dec. 11, Cook and Clifford responded to Fogerty with the following statement:
"Because of recent inaccurate statements in the media regarding pending litigation, we want to set the record straight. We have never objected to John Fogerty performing any song he ever wrote, or performing any song recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. That idea is ridiculous. Even when he refused to play those songs, and publicly called for a boycott of CCR music, we encouraged him to perform them whenever and wherever he wanted. The facts are that Mr. Fogerty, while proclaiming joyful rebirth in the press, repeatedly has his lawyers threaten us with lawsuits and demand unreasonable concessions of our rights. Last week, the threats and demands left us with little doubt that a lawsuit would be filed by him against us for the second time. This unfortunate situation required us to take unpleasant preemptive legal action. This action is about the need to defend ourselves and rights, Mr. Fogerty's failure to perform contractual promises and unlicensed uses of the trademark 'Creedence Clearwater Revival.' The trademark is not owned by him, but by the Creedence Clearwater Revival Partnership. We have a business relationship with him and, under prevailing circumstances, chose not to be bullied."
Fogerty is known for the contentious nature of his relationships with Cook, Clifford and his late brother Tom Fogerty, an original member of CCR who quit the band in 1971. John Fogerty also frequently battled CCR's record label, Fantasy Records, which later sued him for plagiarising himself; Fantasy claimed that Fogerty's solo song, "Old Man Down The Road," was a ripoff of his CCR song "Run Through The Jungle," according to The Guardian. John Fogerty left the music business for nearly a decade after CCR broke up before he released his solo debut, "Centerfield," in 1985.
Tom Fogerty died of complications from AIDS in 1990. Tom Fogerty's last words to John Fogerty were reportedly "Saul Zaentz is my best friend," referring to the Fantasy chief and John Fogerty adversary.
