John and his brother, Tom Fogerty, formed the band in El Cerrito, California in the late 1950s as Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets. The name was changed to The Golliwogs in the mid 1960s, but the band remained unpopular.

The Government tried to draft Fogerty in 1966 but he managed to avoid it by joining an Army reserve unit. He served at Fort Bragg, Fort Knox and Fort Lee.

By 1968, things started to pick up for the band. The band released its first album, the self-titled Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also had their first hit single, "Susie Q". Other hit singles of the band were "Proud Mary", "Fortunate Son", "Up Around The Bend", "Green River", "Down On The Corner", "Travelin' Band", "Lookin' Out My Back Door", "Bad Moon Rising" and "Who'll Stop The Rain."

Upset by John's prominence, in 1971 John's brother, Tom, left the band. John subsequently demanded that Stu Cook and Doug Clifford write and sing one third each of the next album, Mardi Gras. They protested, saying it wouldn't be a CCR album, and that the fans would not understand. John replied, "My voice is a unique instrument and I will not lend it to your songs." He threatened to quit the band immediately if his ultimatum was not met; Mardi Gras turned out to be their last album as Fogerty bought himself out of his contract and officially left the band.

However, his influence was not forgotten with his departure. His guitar playing with CCR would later lead Rolling Stone to name him the 40th greatest guitarist of all time.

 (WHY ONLY THE 40TH?)

UDDRAG AF ARTIKEL FRA

NOVEMBER 2004

John Fogerty startede som bekendt karrieren i det efterhånden legendariske band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, og står bag klassikere som Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary og Wholl Stop The Rain. I 1972 gik CCR hvert til sit, og i 1975 udsendte Foggerty sit første egentlige soloalbum, hvis man ser bort fra cover-albummet the Blue Ridge Rangers. Herefter blev der stille om Fogerty i hele 9 år.

I 1984 dukkede han kort op igen, først med det anmelderroste album Centerfield, og to år efter med det knap så vellykkede Eye of the Zombie. Og så var der tilsyneladende igen behov for en pause, for de næste 11 år, kom der ikke mange toner fra Fogerty. Der skulle stå 1997 i kalenderen før sangeren igen lod høre fra sig med Blue Moon Swamp. Året efter kom Premonition, og i september i år kom så 'Deja Vu All Over Again'.

I år har Fogerty turneret med blandt andre Bruce Springsteen og R.E.M. til de såkaldte 'Vote for Change' koncerter til støtte for den amerikanske præsidentkandidat John Kerry. Nu er valget overstået, og Fogerty er klar til at indtage Europa med sit nye materiale.

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Creedence Clearwater Revival fik sit helt store gennembrud i 1969 med hits, ´´Proud Mary & Born on the Bayou´´ begge skrevet af John Fogerty. Gruppen blev lynhurtigt det mest populære rockband i USA, og i slutningen af 60´erne,fulgte flere hits, bla, Bad moon rising, Green river, Fortunate son, Down on the corner, Travelin´ band, Up around the bend, Looking out my backdoor.

Med albummet Cosmo´s Factory, nåede gruppen sit kunstneriske højdepunkt. Det var John Fogerty der skrev sangene, men de øvrige medlemmer syntes efterhånden at han dominerede gruppen alt for meget. I 1971 forlod Tom Fogerty  gruppen efter en række skænderier med lillebror John. De resterende medlemmer fortsatte som trio men uenigheden gik dybt.

Ved indspilningerne af album nummer 7 ´Mardi gras´´ bøjede John Fogerty sig for Stu Cook & Doug Clifford og lod dem skrive nogle sange. Dette var et uheldigt træk, eftersom det resulterede i gruppens absolut dårligste album. Derefter meddelte John Fogerty dem, at løbet var kørt. 1 Oktober 1972 blev gruppen opløst.

Med Creedence Clearwater Revival skabte John Fogerty en unik fusion af rockabilly, rhythm´n´blues og cajun. Han skrev nogle meget enkelte og iørefaldene sange baseret på simple og effektive guitarriffs. En lang række af de bedste numre regnes for rockklassikere. På knap fire år nåede Creedence Clearwater Revival at sætte så kraftige musikalske fodspor, at de stadig kan ses her mange år senere.

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ALBERT KING 

A Mississippi Musician

Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does — his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It's important to note that while almost all modern blues guitarists seldom play for long without falling into a B.B. King guitar cliché, Albert King never does — he's had his own style and unique tone from the beginning.

Albert King plays guitar left-handed, without re-stringing the guitar from the right-handed setup; this "upside-down" playing accounts for his difference in tone, since he pulls down on the same strings that most players push up on when bending the blues notes. King's massive tone and totally unique way of squeezing bends out of a guitar string has had a major impact. Many young white guitarists — especially rock & rollers — have been influenced by King's playing, and many players who emulate his style may never have heard of Albert King, let alone heard his music. His style is immediately distinguishable from all other blues guitarists, and he's one of the most important blues guitarists to ever pick up the electric guitar.

Born in Indianola, MS, but raised in Forrest City, AR, Albert King (born Albert Nelson) taught himself how to play guitar when he was a child, building his own instrument out of a cigar box. At first, he played with gospel groups — most notably the Harmony Kings — but after hearing Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, and several other blues musicians, he solely played the blues. In 1950, he met MC Reeder, who owned the T-99 nightclub in Osceola, AR. King moved to Osceola shortly afterward, joining the T-99's house band, the In the Groove Boys. The band played several local Arkansas gigs besides the T-99, including several shows for a local radio station.

After enjoying success in the Arkansas area, King moved to Gary, IN, in 1953, where he joined a band that also featured Jimmy Reed and John Brim. Both Reed and Brim were guitarists, which forced King to play drums in the group. At this time, he adopted the name Albert King, which he assumed after B.B. King's "Three O'Clock Blues" became a huge hit. Albert met Willie Dixon shortly after moving to Gary, and the bassist/songwriter helped the guitarist set up an audition at Parrot Records. King passed the audition and cut his first session late in 1953. Five songs were recorded during the session and only one single, "Be on Your Merry Way" / "Bad Luck Blues," was released; the other tracks appeared on various compilations over the next four decades. Although it sold respectably, the single didn't gather enough attention to earn him another session with Parrot. In early 1954, King returned to Osceola and re-joined theIn the Groove Boys; he stayed in Arkansas for the next two years.

In 1956, Albert moved to St. Louis, where he initially sat in with local bands. By the fall of 1956, King was headlining several clubs in the area. King continued to play the St. Louis circuit, honing his style. During these years, he began playing his signature Gibson Flying V, which he named Lucy. By 1958, Albert was quite popular in St. Louis, which led to a contract with the fledgling Bobbin Records in the summer of 1959. On his first Bobbin recordings, King recorded with a pianist and a small horn section, which made the music sound closer to jump blues than Delta or Chicago blues. Nevertheless, his guitar was taking a center stage and it was clear that he had developed a unique, forceful sound. King's records for Bobbin sold well in the St. Louis area, enough so that King Records leased the "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong" single from the smaller label. When the single was released nationally late in 1961, it became a hit, reaching number 14 on the R&B charts. King Records continued to lease more material from Bobbin — including a full album, Big Blues, which was released in 1963 — but nothing else approached the initial success of "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong." Bobbin also leased material to Chess, which appeared in the late '60s.

Albert King left Bobbin in late 1962 and recorded one session for King Records in the spring of 1963, which were much more pop-oriented than his previous work; the singles issued from the session failed to sell. Within a year, he cut four songs for the local St. Louis independent label Coun-Tree, which was run by a jazz singer named Leo Gooden. Though these singles didn't appear in many cities — St. Louis, Chicago, and Kansas City were the only three to register sales — they foreshadowed his coming work with Stax Records. Furthermore, they were very popular within St. Louis, so much so that Gooden resented King's success and pushed him off the label.

Following his stint at Coun-Tree, Albert King signed with Stax Records in 1966. Albert's records for Stax would bring him stardom, both within blues and rock circles. All of his '60s Stax sides were recorded with the label's house band, Booker T. & the MG's, which gave his blues a sleek, soulful sound. That soul underpinning gave King crossover appeal, as evidenced by his R&B chart hits — "Laundromat Blues" (1966) and "Cross Cut Saw" (1967) both went Top 40, while "Born Under a Bad Sign" (1967) charted in the Top 50. Furthermore, King's style was appropriated by several rock & roll players, most notably Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, who copied Albert's "Personal Manager" guitar solo on the Cream song, "Strange Brew." Albert King's first album for Stax, 1967's Born Under a Bad Sign, was a collection of his singles for the label and became one of the most popular and influential blues albums of the late '60s. Beginning in 1968, Albert King was playing not only to blues audiences, but also to crowds of young rock & rollers. He frequently played at the Fillmore West in San Francisco and he even recorded an album, Live Wire/Blues Power, at the hall in the summer of 1968.

Early in 1969, King recorded Years Gone By, his first true studio album. Later that year, he recorded a tribute album to Elvis Presley (Blues for Elvis: Albert King Does the King's Things) and a jam session with Steve Cropper and Pops Staples (Jammed Together), in addition to performing a concert with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. For the next few years, Albert toured America and Europe, returning to the studio in 1971, to record the Lovejoy album. In 1972, he recorded I'll Play the Blues for You, which featured accompaniment from the Bar-Kays, the Memphis Horns, and the Movement. The album was rooted in the blues, but featured distinctively modern soul and funk overtones.

By the mid-'70s, Stax was suffering major financial problems, so King left the label for Utopia, a small subsidiary of RCA Records. Albert released two albums on Utopia, which featured some concessions to the constraints of commercial soul productions. Although he had a few hits at Utopia, his time there was essentially a transitional period, where he discovered that it was better to follow a straight blues direction and abandon contemporary soul crossovers. King's subtle shift in style was evident on his first albums for Tomato Records, the label he signed with in 1978. Albert stayed at Tomato for several years, switching to Fantasy in 1983, releasing two albums for the label.

In the mid-'80s, Albert King announced his retirement, but it was short-lived — Albert continued to regularly play concerts and festivals throughout America and Europe for the rest of the decade. King continued to perform until his sudden death in 1992, when he suffered a fatal heart attack on December 21. The loss to the blues was a major one — although many guitarists have tried, no one can replace King's distinctive, trailblazing style. Albert King is a tough act to follow.

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FROM FOR EXAMPLE

"BOSTON" AND "RTZ": 

BARRY GOUDREAU

(TELLS HIS OWN STORY:)

I remember having a keen interest in music from an early age, standing in the back seat of my mother's car, jumping up and down to the sounds of Elvis and Roy Orbison. This was pre-seat belts of course! I decided I wanted to play guitar and asked my parents to buy me one. They felt it was just a phase I was going through and refused. By the time I was eleven years old, they had given in and borrowed and acoustic guitar from a friend and let me take lessons. As the song goes, I played it ‘till my fingers bled, and they realized I was serious, and had the drive to continue. They bought me my first guitar, a white '62 Fender Stratocaster. Boy, I wish I still had that one! The first time I played guitar in front of and audience was at a church affair. I played “Jingle Bell Rock”.

At age 13, I joined my first band. We called ourselves the “Tornadoes”. My father brought us around to our gigs in a VW bus with our name on the side. We had arrived!

At age 15 I joined band with Sib Hashian on drums, Johnny V, the other guitar player, seemed to know every song there was. He would often call out a key and a song title, count it off, and off we would go. It was a real learning experience. We would sometimes play in a nightclub 7 days a week, 7 sets a night. The go-go dancers were very friendly though. Sib and I are still playing together to this day, although the venues have changed.

It was around this time that I met Fran Sheehan and Brad Delp. Fran's house was the place musicians went to and jam. We had some great times there, refining our chops until the wee hours. I'm sure the neighbors didn't appreciate it as much as we did. I met Brad when I auditioned for his band. The guitar player had decided to leave and brought me there as his replacement. Brad sang Led Zepplins' “Communication Breakdown”. I had never heard anybody sing like that before, I will never forget it. Unfortunately, I did not get the gig.

When I started college I tried to put music aside to concentrate on my studies in Geology. That didn't last long though and soon I had a band with an old high school friend. I was at Boston University and he was across the river at MIT. We practiced in the basement of his fraternity house and played their parties. This was the real “Animal House”! We decided to add a keyboard player, and I put an ad in the Boston Phoenix. Tom Scholz answered the ad. He had just graduated from MIT with a master's degree in 5 years and was looking to do something musical outside the corporate world he had entered.

Although Tom joined as the keyboard player, he was picking up guitar quickly and was starting to write songs. The first song he wrote that we played was a piece that would become “Foreplay”. We soon were looking to record and since Tom had a “real” job, he began to finance it. The first song we recorded in the studio was “San Francisco Day” which would later become “Hitch A Ride” on the first Boston record. To defray the costs of recording Tom began to put together his own studio. We worked with a couple of different singers through this time, with mixed results. I remembered having auditioned for Brad, and arranged to have him meet Tom and me at a club on Revere Beach for an afternoon jam session. The first song we ever played together was the Alman Brothers song “Whipping Post” with me on guitar and Tom on the Hammond organ and Brad singing. It was magical!

Eventually we put together a demo tape, and brought it to New York to shop for a record contract. I remember sitting in waiting rooms, not able to get past the receptionist. I think it was these several years of constant rejection that drove Tom to continue to refine the songs and recordings to a point where they could no longer be denied. The fact that both of our original managers were radio promotion guys certainly helped. They had radio convinced it was a hit, before anyone had ever heard it! Of course it didn't hurt that the songs and recordings were everything they promised.

We were signed to Epic Records in 1975. The first album was released in August 1976. We had hopes that the record would sell 200 thousand copied, because that was what we felt we had to sell in order to do another record. When the record sold that many in the first few weeks, we knew we had arrived.

We began to do shows that were booked before the record had come out. They were mostly in night clubs. There was such a buzz about the band and the record, that the lines often circled for blocks. It was really trial by fire. We didn't have the equipment we needed, or the personnel to run it. We hired people on the spot to fill out our road crew. Early on we even set up our own gear. That would soon change as we quickly went from playing in nightclubs to opening in arenas, to headlining arenas, all in the course of 6 months. The pressure was enormous on us, but our first tour was everything a rock player could ever ask for.

After the second tour ended in Europe in the fall of 1979, Tom had a group meeting and told us he was taking a year off, and suggested that if we wanted to do another project, solo record or whatever, now was the time.

Although I hadn't really thought too much about it before, I decided to try a solo record. I began to write some songs with Brad. The ideas came quickly and soon we had several songs. We brought them to Tom to see what he thought. To my surprise he asked to produce the record. I had hoped he would say he had an interest in using the songs for a Boston record. Brad and I felt that the record label would not allow Tom to produce a solo record when they were waiting for another Boston record. We continued writing. It was at this time I met Fran Cosmo through a crew member. He contributed several songs and lead vocals to the record. It was the beginning of a long relationship. The record was done in 6 months and released in 9 months. I felt I still had enough time to promote it and still be in the year long time frame. When the album was released the label ran an ad campaign that said “millions of people have heard his guitar, we would like to introduce you to its owner”. Tom felt as though they were promoting me as the “force” behind Boston and was furious. I suppose the fact that both Sib and Brad appeared on it , made Boston comparisons inevitable.Looking back with 20/20 hindsight,I probably would have handled things differently. The album was pulled, and Tom and my relationship suffered.

In January 1980 Tom called a group meeting and asked me to leave the band. I felt as though I had no support in the band and I needed to leave. The band thought I wanted out. In recent months Tom Scholz and I have been in touch again after more than 20 years. I think the most difficult part for me has been realizing that if I had taken the time to cool off and gotten back in touch, things might have turned out differently.

In 1985 Fran Cosmo and I hitched up again and began Orion the Hunter.We enlisted Bruce Smith, a bass player that Fran had been working with, along with former Heart drummer Michael DeRosier. I had met Michael on the road at one of the many shows we did with Heart. Keyboardist Brian Maes rounded out the band when it was time to tour. We recorded a record for CBS, toured opening for Aerosmith on their Back in the saddle tour, and had a video on MTV. The band didn't have the success we had expected and when it came time to follow up with a new record, the band folded. It was back to the drawing board again.

Brad and I had stayed in touch through this time and had continued writing songs. He was my brother-in-law after all!

I had worked with a couple other singers during this time, but it was Brad I really wanted to work with. In 1990 Brad left Boston to record and tour with our new band, RTZ. Brian Maes joined as keyboardist, and he introduced me to drummer David Stefanelli and former New Man bassist Tim Archibald. In an ironic twist, Tom replaced Brad in Boston with singer Fran Cosmo. RTZ released a record on Warner Brothers and toured extensively. When it came time to follow up the first record, which hadn't achieved the success we had hoped for, and without a record label, spirits sagged and Brad left to return to Boston . The grunge era had bitten us in the ass. The demo recordings from before the release of RTZ and the demos for the follow up cd are available on the site. (Lost / Found)

In recent years I‘ve produced two CDs with singer/guitarist Lisa Guyer and have done some shows with her to promote them. She's a talented artist I hope breaks through soon. I also sit in with bluesman James Montgomery from time to time as well as being a member of Ernie and the Automatics with Sib Hashian, Tim Archibald and “car guy” Ernie Boch, Jr. As you can see by looking at the website, Brad and I maintained a good relationship and have recently done another record. The Delp/Goudreau cd is available on the site.

My best,

BARRY

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 Gary Moore Biography 2006
 
Gary Moore is acknowledged as one of the finest musicians that the British Isles has ever produced. In a career that dates back to the 1960s, there are few musical genres that he has not turned his adroit musical hand to, and has graced the line-ups ever several notable rock bands, Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II and Skid Row to name but three.

Gary was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 4th
1952. Like many others, he was turned on to rock and roll first through hearing Elvis Presley, and then via The Beatles. Seeing the likes of Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in his hometown in the mid-60s opened up to him the rich world of The Blues. Hearing the art of the Blues guitar performed by such lauded exponents as Peter Green fired Moore's nascent talent, and it wasn't long before he was being hailed as a teen musical prodigy. Indeed, it was Green himself who helped foster Moore's career, a debt that was repaid handsomely when Gary cut his warm and heartfelt tribute to his mentor, the 'Blues For Greeny' album, released in 1995.
 
         Gary's first band of note, the power trio Skid Row, secured a record deal with the CBS label in 1970. By this time, Gary had moved to Dublin, and befriended Phil Lynott, who filled the vocal role with Skid Row until shortly before the CBS deal was signed. Gary cut three albums with the band, and toured the USA supporting The Allman Brothers Band, and Mountain amongst others, before he split Skid Row to embark on a solo career. This proved short-lived, as Gary was soon to reunite with Phil Lynott as replacement for Eric Bell in the Thin Lizzy line-up. Although he was in the band for a relatively brief tenure, he would rejoin their ranks following the departure of Brian Robertson in 1977, and again, finally, for the 'Black Rose' tour in 1978.

In 1979, Gary's solo career began in earnest with the evocative hit single, 'Parisienne Walkways', which pitched Gary's tasteful, blues-soaked lead guitar with a moody Phil Lynott guest vocal. The single reached the UK Top Ten in April of that year, and the subsequent album, 'Back On The Streets' was similarly well received. The late 1970s and early 80s were characterised by Gary's restless search for the best musical settings for his talents; a reunion with Phil Lynott produced the powerful 'Out In The Fields' hit single (1985). He explored his Celtic roots on the album 'Wild Frontier' (1987), but it was with the 1990 album, 'Still Got The Blues', that Gary arrived at a rich musical vein within which his creativity could flow freely. This and its successor, 'After Hours' saw cameo appearances from the likes of such Blues guitar greats as Albert King, BB King, and Albert Collins, and it is a testament to Gary's own remarkable talents that he more than held his own amongst such august company. In 1994, Gary worked alongside Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce in the band BBM, cutting one accomplished album, before resuming his solo career.

The, 'Back To The Blues' (2001) album saw this consummately talented musician revisit The Blues with renewed vigor and determination, after the more experimental 'Dark Days in Paradise' (1997) and 'A Different Beat' (1999) albums. A ten-track collection that mixes excellent Moore originals with gritty and intense covers of standards such as 'Stormy Monday', 'You Upset Me Baby' and 'I Ain't Got You', the album is nothing less than a resounding return to form. Gary effortlessly mixes and matches contrasting styles within the idiom whilst displaying awesome feel for the music and dazzling technique. 'Back To The Blues' swings and rocks, and shows Gary Moore to be a True Keeper of the Blues Flame. 

         
         But, in the tradition of keeping his fans and critics guessing, 2002 saw Gary Moore crashing back onto the music scene with what has to be his heaviest collection of songs to date, once again forcing people to reassess any opinions and preconceptions they may have of him. That time round though, Moore had decided to share the limelight, joining forces with ex-Skunk Anansie bassist Cass Lewis and Primal Scream drummer Darrin Mooney to form "Scars", a true power trio in every respect. The "Scars" album was completed in early 2002 and that line-up, then went on to record the "Live at the Monsters of Rock" 2003 live CD and DVD, which featured the band's set as performed on two separate nights on the UK Tour of the same name in May 2003. That live set encompassed a diverse range of material, from across Gary's playing career.