John Fogerty
b. 28 May 1945, Berkeley, California, USA. As the vocalist and composer with Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the most successful acts of its era, Fogerty seemed assured of a similar status when he began a solo career in 1972. However his first release, BLUE RIDGE RANGERS, was a curiously understated affair, designed to suggest the work of a group. The material consisted of country and gospel songs, two tracks from which, Jambalaya (On The Bayou) and Hearts Of Stone, became US hit singles in 1973. Despite the exclusion of original songs and its outer anonymity, the work was clearly that of Fogerty, whose voice and instrumentation were unmistakable. 
The first of many problems arose when the singer charged that his label, Fantasy Records, had not promoted the record sufficiently. He demanded a release from his contract, but the company claimed the rights to a further eight albums. This situation remained at an impasse until Asylum Records secured Fogerty's North American contract, while Fantasy retained copyright for the rest of the world. JOHN FOGERTY was duly released in 1975 and this superb collection contained several classic tracks, notably Almost Saturday Night and Rockin All Over The World’ which were successfully covered, respectively, by Dave Edmunds and Status Quo. However, Fogerty's legal entanglements still persisted and although a single, Comin Down The Road’, was released from a prospective third album, HOODOO, it was never issued. It was 1985 before the artist re-emerged with the accomplished CENTERFIELD, which topped the US album charts and provided an international hit single in The Old Man Down The Road. The set also included two powerful rock songs, Mr. Greed and Zanz Kan't Danz, which Fantasy owner Saul Zaentz assumed was a personal attack. He sued Fogerty for $142 million, claiming he had been slandered by the album's lyrics, and filed for the prof its from The Old Man Down The Road, asserting the song plagiarised CCR's Run Through The Jungle. Fogerty's riposte was a fourth album, EYE OF THE ZOMBIE which, although failing to scale the heights of its predecessor, was the impetus for series of excellent live performances. Since then the artist has maintained a lower profile, and successfully secured a decision against Zaentz's punitive action.