John Fogerty is gearing up to release a new solo studio album titled Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years. The 20-track collection, which is due out August 22, is made up of new versions of songs he wrote Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Videos by American Songwriter
To promote the album, Fogerty has been posting video features on his socials in which he discusses and/or offers a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of some of the tunes appearing on Legacy. The latest video focuses on “Porterville,” a tune featured on CCR’s 1968 self-titled debut album.
In the clip, John explained the interesting circumstances that led him to write “Porterville,” revealing he’d been serving in the army reserve at the time the idea for the song came to him.
“In the summer of 1967, I had been on active duty in the army, and I got sent back home, back to the army reserve,” Fogerty recalled. “While I had been in the army, I had discovered how to write a new form of song. Out on [the] parade field, which was a great, big mile square of asphalt in Fort Lee, Virginia—and it was like 110 degrees and 99-percent humidity—they would have us marching all day, and I’d begin to hallucinate.”
John then noted that while marching along in that state of mind, “I began to write a song. The song eventually became ‘Porterville.’”
More About “Porterville”
Fogerty and his band actually recorded “Porterville” while the group was still known as The Golliwogs. The song was released as a Golliwogs single in November 1967, becoming the last song the band released before changing its name to Creedence Clearwater Revival. It subsequently was included on the Creedence Clearwater Revival album, which was released in May 1968.
“Porterville” is rocking tune with some soul influences that’s said to be semi-autobiographical. The song is sung from the perspective of a young man who’s apparently left his hometown to escape some debts accrued by his jailbird father and his family’s bad reputation.
Fogerty’s new version “Porterville” is one of three Legacy tracks that’s been issued in advance of the album. The others are renditions of the CCR hits “Up Around the Bend” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.”
You can pre-order Legacy now.
The Porterville that gives the song its title is never mentioned in the song. Fogerty likely is referring to Porterville, California, a city located in the state’s Central Valley in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains.
A Side Note About Fort Lee
Fort Lee, the U.S. Army base where Fogerty said he came up with the idea for “Porterville” is now known as Fort Gregg-Adams.
The installation originally was named after General Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 2023, the post was renamed to honor Lieutenant General Arthur J. Gregg and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams Earley. It’s the first U.S. military base to be named for African Americans.
Fogerty’s Upcoming Tour Plans
Fogerty has 14 upcoming concerts on his 2025 itinerary. First up, he’ll kick of a series of six European shows with a June 18 show in London. John’s European outing wraps up with a June 28 performance at the famed Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, U.K.
Fogerty also has eight U.S. concerts scheduled for later in the summer. They span from a July 6 show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles through a September 20 performance at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.
(Photo by David McClister)
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