A glorious thing is waiting for us up around the bend. John Fogerty has rerecorded a full album of Creedence Clearwater Revival classics, out on August 22. The guitarist told Rolling Stone that the impetus for the record, titled Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, occurred two years ago when he finally gained the majority stake to the publishing rights for his band’s catalogue — a victory that came after decades of failed attempts. “I’m still kind of waiting to hear feedback,” Fogerty said. “But the first five or six people I’ve talked to who have listened to it all say it sounds ‘fresher.’ Maybe what they’re saying is it’s clearer, or the fidelity is better or something? That may be something I hadn’t even counted on, but there’s more dimension to it, more depth.” You can listen and decide for yourself with the first “(John’s Version)” track.
Taylor Swift, who has been on a multiyear crusade over the ownership of her masters and has rerecorded several albums to assert her artistic autonomy, gave Fogerty the boost of confidence to pursue this project in the studio. All of the greatest CCR hits Fogerty wrote, from “Proud Mary” to “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” have been dutifully redone. “I wanted to call it Taylor’s Version. I lobbied very much to the record company,” he explained. “But there’s a couple of things. No. 1, 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.” Fogerty added that he “understood her plight” amid Swift’s ongoing battle to buy back her life’s work. Until then, maybe they can meet down on the corner sometime.
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