Fortunate Son

I am a John Fogerty fan from way back, and I bought his book, Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, the minute it came out. It is a truly good autobiography and takes us through both the highs and lows of his life and musical career. John is brutally honest in it. He has always been known for his high principles, his honesty and integrity, as well as for his incredible talent, unique singing voice, and songwriting genius. The book lets us get to know the kind of person John Fogerty is inside and gives a clear inside story of the rise and fall of Creedence Clearwater Revival, the group that became the best band in the land (even surpassing the Beatles) before They imploded from internal conflict at the pinnacle of their career. Like a shining star, they burned brightly for about 5 years and then they were extinguished (by themselves, sadly.) I like his simple, easy-to-read style, and John is very open about his feelings in the book. Most of his life he has been a poor communicator and could only seem to say what he felt in music and songs. He seems to have overcome his communication problem, thanks to his second wife, Julie, who always reminds him to just "speak from his heart." John is still pretty much of a perfectionist at heart with an awesome work ethic, but that plus his incredible talent and passion for music have gotten him where he is today. He is the reason CCR soared to such great heights so quickly.I loved reading all about his early childhood in El Cerrito and could just see him as a little boy...a little boy who loves music and especially loves rock-n-roll. I feel deep sympathy for him over all the adversity he has to endure and overcome in order to finally get back to his dream. The abandonment of their family by his alcoholic father deeply affects him. Then comes all the betrayals by the evil record label, and by his band mates, even by his own brother. Zaentz cheated CCR out of millions in royalties and then used theCCR money to become a millionaire himself. Zaentz and his Fantasy cronies and accountants also cause CCR to lose their life savings in an overseas bank scam. Then come the lawsuits...litigation after litigation by the label against John---even Zaentz suing John for plagiarism, saying he sounded too much like himself. (I love the way John wins that lawsuit. It is great to hear him tell about the trial.) But the worst thing to John is that he does not even own his own CCR songs. Zaentz and the label own them and can do wha they please with them plus they won't release John from the contract like they released the other members. John would owe them songs for the rest of his life. John's anger and bitterness are consuming him. He loses his songwriting gift due to stress and depression and can't even write new good songs anymore. He is overwhelmed. He cannot or will not sing his CCR songs and make Zaentz more money. He finally turns to alcohol in order to cope and goes through an awful and very long dark period of his life. When he finally makes a great comeback with Centerfield, that's when the vindictive Zaentz sues him again. I understand John's anger and bitterness, but I think he holds onto it too long, too many years. He cannot let it go. The fact of his turning to alcohol was quite surprising and disappointing to me because as leader of CCR, he allowed no drugs and demanded the band stay clean. He had principles and expected the members to all abide by them. They were known as the cleanest rock-n-roll band of that psychedelic era of druggie bands back then. CCR was known as "the Boy Scouts of Rock-n-Roll." But they were the best! Turning out hit after hit and rising to the top.In his book, John gives a good explanation of his creative process, how he writes songs, his musical influences, and his instruments.His wife, Julie, adds some more information to the story from her point of view.. Julie brings out the best in John, I am so happy that he found the love and trust with her that he had been seeking all his life. He credits her for his having emerged from that terrible dark pit in which he was wallowing for so long. And he is now in a happy place in his life, his music career is again going strong, and he even gets to perform with his son Shane playing guitar by his side. John deserves this happiness.This is a well-told honest story of the life and music of a famous, multi-talented, legendary much loved superstar, and I give it 5 stars. John Fogerty fans will love it. Most CCR fans will too, as wll anyone from that generation, especially the VietNam vets. CCR appealed to people from all walks of life back then and still does today. John has sell-out crowds of both old and young at all his concerts and he enjoys performing as much as they love hearing and seeing him. It's never too late for renewal of life. This is a very good book and I highly recommend it.

Great read, slow start but worth it. Now I know how bad the music business was and puts a big bulls eye on American business practices today too! Good business means screwing someone or everyone! Music will always be a healer and a way out of daily grind due to big business and greed. I say no longer believe your political elected people today for it is not about freedom but profit and scare tactics! John had allot of headaches but came through. His songs will be remembered as his songwriting talent not some bull crap ownership. Talent is talent. The rest of CCR were knuckleheads for sure.

The book starts with Fogerty’s childhood and continues to the date of publication

John fogerty is a pretty awesome guy this is a amazing story of how he wrote some of his biggest hit songs the drama of being in one of the world's biggest rock bands and the drama that comes with being in the music business and a lesson to be careful what you sign i loved this book it's amazing I would've given this ten stars if I could

John Fogerty… with Creedence Clearwater Revival… and on his own… is one of the greatest selling Rock And Roll stars of all time. During the couple of year’s span of Creedence… they outsold the Beatles. Before this book was released I saw a P.R. video that said John was going to tell the truth and not hold anything back… and in my opinion… he followed through on that with flying colors!The author takes us back to his early childhood… and people near his age… will find that highly nostalgic. It’s amazing… how very young children were allowed (not really “allowed”… but what other way was there???) to walk unattended to school and other places. Way before his teen years he was taking multiple bus connections on his own to some schools. As far as my aforementioned statement of the truth John tells… much of it… must have been unpleasant to retell. Such as the fact that both his parents were alcoholics… and his Father was even committed once for mental issues. The author shares his very early connection and love of music… and to a non-musician… I found it fascinating how he constantly educated himself… and even all the “Rube-Goldberg” musical inventions he hodge-podged together to get different unique sounds. (This was way before the time when you simply touched a key on a computer).I’m a few years younger than Fogerty… so I definitely loved Rock And Roll… but about twenty-five years ago… I fell in love with true electric blues… and have completely immersed myself in it and learned everything possible about it. So imagine my exuberant surprise… when I found out in this book… that John loved the blues… and was immensely influenced by the blues. John says: “I got into the blues at seven.” Some of the all-time great Electric-Blues men he mentions are… Albert King… Freddie King… Howlin Wolf… Muddy Waters… Junior Wells… B.B. King… and many others. I was shocked/surprised… when I even learned that… in August 1968… Howlin Wolf was actually… the opening act for Creedence! One reason I might of missed that is because that’s when I went into the military during the Viet Nam war… which leads to another part of the book…As I am a very proud Honorably Discharged Viet Nam Veteran… (I must use the same honesty in my comments here… as John so ably did in this book) I was getting very upset as I was reading the portions about the lengths he went to… to be discharged from the Army Reserve… until… perhaps the author’s (in my opinion)… most straight forward truth telling…At a post-Viet Nam charity event where Fogerty donated handwritten lyrics of “Bad Moon Rising” with his autograph. There he met a Viet Nam Vet who had an extremely dangerous (in other words dangerous on top of war dangerous)… mission… where at night his group would go out in the jungle and engage “Charlie” (the enemy). He told Fogerty that they would turn the lights on… and blast “Bad Moon Rising” on the PA system as loud as they could… just before they went into the jungle.The veteran said: “Anyway John, I just want to thank you, because your song really helped a lot of us in what we had to do over there.”…“I shook his hand. I wish I could remember his name. he had done what was asked of him and didn’t cry or whine about it, as opposed to me. He had done something I didn’t do, something I’m not sure I could’ve ever done. And he certainly had my respect. In his heart he has a connection with that song and me. And to hear from others like him that my music helped them in some way, helped GIs endure what they had to go through? You feel a little sheepish in the presence of something like that. I sure wasn’t taking any bows.”“I just looked at him and said, “I’m really glad you made it through.”That to me was the epitome… of delivering straight forward honesty… as promised! There is so much about the hard work the author put in to become a Rock Star… and there is the untold damage to his professional and personal life due to untold years of lawsuits… and resulting depression and alcohol abuse… there’s also the joy to fans like me… in the actual behind the scenes creation of songs and lyrics… that will make you smile… thinking of the millions of times you’ve listened to these songs and had no idea of their true incubation period.You will not be able to stop “toining” the pages. (That was for John… I know he’ll get a kick out of it!)

There are 3 major books written on CCR on the market. I read all three. The other two may have more info but this one was more feeling. And what a feeling it has! John. complains a lot & I totally believe him & back him in his story. - A lot of hate going down & I don't blame him. After all, he was lead singer, lead guitar player, wrote all the songs, when in the studio for days mixing them when the other 3 complained about coming back in to redo their parts. He even said he taught him how to play he criticized their playing as he was a perfectionist. - He was the band & they betrayed him - a must read for rock fans - if your interest is spurred - then read one of the other two like I did.

Probably the best music autobiography I've read. John Fogerty tells it like it is, in his own words and his own style. He is extremely critical about the other band members including his own brother, for their lack of loyalty and their limited musical abilities, and rightly so as the legal wrangling dragged on for many years after the band split up. He is critical too (again for very good reason) about the disgustingly greedy owner of Fantasy Records, Saul Zaentz and other associates at that time at Fantasy Records whom he calls crooks - surely a risky thing to do in America's litigious society, however true.Despite the pain that he had to bear and the fortune that he was cheated out of, Fogerty bears no malice and the book is a positive affirmation of his passion for music and for life itself.If you have ever heard a Creedence Clearwater Revival track or a Fogerty song, as I am sure you have, read this great story and discover the music that has touched the author along the way.A personal footnote: I finished reading the book late one night in bed. I started reading the last few pages where he talks about the song Mystic Highway - a song I wasn't familiar with, so I found it on my phone and listened to it as I finished reading the last words of his incredible journey. I was there at the start of his musical journey with Creedence and I'm here near the end. Mystic Highway is an upbeat, positive song in true Fogerty style - typical of the man, his music, and his attitude to life.

I read this as a relatively interested Creedence listener. I knew some of the back story on Foggary's fight with his band and promoter. However this book really gets into the issues and shares some amazing and interesting facts that make the story so compelling and tragic. The way John writes about his life struggles and how he obsesses about recording his songs gives clear insights into maybe why he took such a hard road to settlement of the differences. Its a scream to read how he talks about 'the band' being a united unit when it comes to doing the deals and why he is so shitty when the individual members break this solidarity pacy and go off and do deals 'behind his back', but then talks incessantly about MY songs, recordings, productions, promotions etc etc. A brilliant read and you dont have to be a CCR fan to enjoy the story.

Anyone with a love of music should read this, especially if you write songs. John Forgerty has written some great songs and he has surely suffered for his art. In some ways this is a cautionary tale. He gets ripped off, he spends years struggling against the record company. Eventually he is redeemed, both by his own hard work and self belief but also by finding the love of his life, Julie, who takes over writing some passages herself in the later part of the book.I wanted to buy all of John's albums after reading this book, and hear every one of his songs, because he gets to the heart of what songwriting and music-making is all about. You have to read this book to get it. It's a mystic highway...

I've waited a while before writing this review because Creedence is still my all time favourite band, and this book has been so long awaited. Some years ago I interviewed Stu Cook of the band and he put his side of the story. So John's side of the story is something I've been looking forward to reading for decades.Firstly, I'd say that this book delivers. Where the band is concerned it could so easily have been "it's all their fault" right the way through, but what comes across throughout is John's honesty. And fascinating to read about the lengths this guy went through to create those hits.There were certain gaps in the story which I didn't know about. How the turning down of Hoodoo in 1976 by the record label affected John. Why he disappeared from public life (or at least recording) for so long, and what was the truth about the dreadful Mardi Gras album. Stu and Doug said John refused to do more than one third of the songs, but the story is clarified here.Dare I suggest this story would make a great film?And could things have been different? By his own admission in this book, John is a control freak. He says that during the Creedence hit period, he had a lot of difficulty getting the other guys in the band to do what he wanted, suggesting their musicianship wasn't what it should have been. Yet later he auditioned thirty world class musicians for the Blue Moon Swamp solo album before he found the right ones. That kind of suggests that maybe the CCR guys weren't as bad as he found, and that it was his drive for perfection that brought him to that conclusion. Certainly I can envisage the others thinking "well it's no good me bringing any ideas to the table. He'll only turn it down".Whatever, this book is top notch. All my questions were answered, and I feel I know the genius that is John Fogerty a little.

I must say that I was apprehensive about this book, as I've been put off latter-day John Fogerty by his outpourings about his 'wonderful' wife and the way he keeps going on about Creedence being 'his band', and belittling the contributions of the other band members. However, after reading what he went through in his artistic battles with his bandmates, his legal battles with Fantasy and his nemesis Saul Zaentz, losing all his money in dodgy offshore banks used by Fantasy, his lack of reconciliation with his Brother Tom prior to the latter's death in 1990, and battles with his own perfectionism and determination to 'do it all alone' (playing all the instruments on some albums), then I shall certainly give him a 'free pass' on some of his outpourings. He fought the world on his own terms and came through, and not many artists do that. Yes, it's a bit 'yucky' when his wife appears front and centre near the end of the book, but this is a guy who so nearly became one of rock 'n' roll's greatest tragedies, and was saved by his feelings for this woman to get back in touch with his Creedence mojo.