John Fogerty announced on stage at his 80th birthday concert on May 28 in New York City that he’ll be releasing an album of newly recorded versions of the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival songs he wrote later this year. As previously reported, Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years is a 20-track collection that’s due out on August 22.
Videos by American Songwriter
Fogerty co-produced the album with his 33-year-old son Shane, who plays in his dad’s backing band, as does John’s 32-year-old son, Tyler. The siblings also lent their musical talents to Legacy.
Coinciding with the album announcement, three songs from Legacy were released as advance digital tracks—updated renditions of the CCR hits “Up Around the Bend” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” and of the deep cut “Porterville.”
Fogerty has shared a new video feature on his social media pages offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the recording of one of Legacy’s tracks.
John Shares How His on Shane Helped Recreate a Classic CCR Riff
In the video, Fogerty discussed how he tried to make the new recording of “Up Around the Bend” sound as close as possible to CCR’s original version. He noted that he tasked Shane with recreating the lick he played at the beginning of Creedence’s 1970 rendition.
“I very unashamedly got to rely on Shane doing it, ’cause I’d wanted him to do it, and it didn’t quite sound like the old man at first,” John maintained in the clip.
What seemed to do the trick was having his son learn the lick on Fogerty’s old Rickenbacker guitar from the CCR days, which his wife, Julie, had recently purchased for John as a gift.
“I sent Shane home for the weekend with that guitar,” Fogerty shared. “[And I told him,] ‘All right, here’s your assignment. You’ve got to learn how to put the shake on that certain note on “Up Around the Band.”’ And he came back Monday, and we were rocking. We were ready to record.”
The video also includes footage of Fogerty recording his vocals for the track, interspersed with clip of him and Shane performing together.
More About the Legacy Album
As Fogerty explained in a recent Rolling Stone interview, he decided to rerecord the Creedence songs after he acquired a majority interest in the publishing rights to those tunes in 2023.
On top of that, in recent years Fogerty had been reunited with the Rickenbacker guitar he used while in CCR. He gave the instrument away in the ’70s, but his wife, Julie, purchased the guitar in 2015 and gave it to him as a gift.
Besides celebrating his acquisition of the rights to his CCR songs, Fogerty noted that the new collection was a joyful experience because he recorded it with people he loved, namely his sons Shane and Tyler.
There also was a business aspect to doing the new versions. Similar to Taylor Swift, who, until recently, didn’t own the master recordings to her early albums, Fogerty doesn’t own the masters to his CCR songs.
Other musicians who played on Legacy include drummer Matt Chamberlain, keyboardist Bob Malone, bassist Bob Glaub, and sax player Rob Stone. The album was mixed by legendary recording engineer Bob Clearmountain.
You can pre-order Legacy now.
Fogerty’s Upcoming Tour Plans
Fogerty has 12 upcoming concerts on his 2025 itinerary. In late June, Fogerty will head to Europe for five concerts, including a June 28 performance at the famed Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, U.K.
He also has six additional U.S. concerts scheduled for later in the summer. They span from a July 6 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles through an August 3 gig in Quincy, Massachusetts.
In addition, Fogerty has just been confirmed to perform at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 20 in Las Vegas.
Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years Track List:
- “Up Around the Bend”
- “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
- “Proud Mary”
- “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”
- “Lookin’ out My Back Door”
- “Born on the Bayou”
- “Run Through the Jungle”
- “Someday Never Comes”
- “Porterville”
- “Hey Tonight”
- “Lodi”
- “Wrote a Song for Everyone”
- “Bootleg”
- “Don’t Look Now”
- “Long as I Can See the Light”
- “Down on the Corner”
- “Bad Moon Rising”
- “Travelin’ Band”
- “Green River”
- “Fortunate Son”
(Photo by Mike Morgan/Ripe Melon Photography)
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