Why John Fogerty was sued for sounding like himself (2024)

John Fogerty has lived a wild and eventful life, far beyond his role as the leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). His journey includes being drafted into the US Army Reserves during the Vietnam War and performing at the legendary Woodstock festival in 1969. Fogerty’s life has been filled with twists and turns, rivalling even the most celebrated rock stars of his era known for their debaucherous lifestyles.

While Fogerty was a vital part of the immense cultural developments that the 1960s and early 1970s enacted, he’s also experienced other things that some of his most prominent peers have not, including having first-hand experience of the artistic ownership debate. In fact, Fogerty’s experiences in this realm reflect not only how suffocating long-term deals with major labels can be for artists but also how absurd the legal state of play they produce is, particularly back in an era when they hadn’t really been challenged.

CCR ended acrimoniously in 1972 after inner disputes shrouded the band’s previous four years of immense success. Pitting John Fogerty against the other three members, his brother Tom, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, over artistic control and business, it became clear they could not go on. Lawsuits followed, and Fogerty also opened up a spat with the band’s label Fantasy Records, decrying the quality of their contract.

In 1973, Fogerty embarked upon his solo career withThe Blue Ridge Rangers, a one-man blend of country and gospel. However, the ghosts of the recent past would come back with a vengeance. Still under the CCR contract, he owed Fantasy eight more albums, eventually forcing him to refuse to work. However, things changed when David Geffen, the mind behind Asylum Records, bought Fogerty’s contract for $1million in 1974. The following year, he releasedJohn Fogerty.

After that, Fogerty had a lengthy hiatus and would not return until 1985’s Centerfield. This hit record and return to form was his first on Warner Bros, who had since assumed co-ownership of his Asylum contract. On tour, though, he came under fire from long-term fans for omitting CCR songs, which he blamed on the ongoing legal disputes, and maintained that he would have to pay performance royalties to Fantasy owner Saul Zaentz.

Regardless, another legal bout with Zaentz was on its way—two tracks on the record, ‘Zanz Kant Danz’ and ‘Mr. Greed’, were widely believed to be thinly veiled attacks on his old boss. The former is about a greedy pig stealing money, with Fogerty leaving little to the imagination with his lyrics. This led to a lawsuit from Zaentz, leading Fogerty to issue a revised version, ‘Vanz Kant Danz’, in which he changed the character’s name.

Things took an even stranger turn when a separate lawsuit alleged that the Centerfield opener, ‘The Old Man Down the Road’, borrowed the same chorus as the CCR classic ‘Run Through the Jungle’, a song still owned by Fantasy Records. Despite the similarities between the two tracks, Fogerty emerged victorious, successfully demonstrating their differences and, most bizarrely, arguing that sounding like himself on his own songs did not amount to plagiarism. The court agreed, and Fogerty then countersued for attorney fees, ultimately winning his case in the Supreme Court.

While the entire ordeal was something Fogerty would rather forget, the aspect that stands out most is being sued for sounding too much like himself. The absurdity of the claim has left many in disbelief that Fantasy Records even attempted such a thing. Fogerty addressed the situation during a 2020 interview with The Washington Post. When asked if it was true that such a bizarre scenario played out in the courtroom, he confirmed that it was absolutely accurate—he was indeed sued for sounding like himself.

He recalled: “Well, the band broke up. Then [the owner of the record label] let everybody else in the band out of their contract immediately, but he kept me because he could see more golden eggs down the road. That was really hard for me because I began to feel I owed them so many records. It would have taken me about 20 years to fulfil that contract.”

It was nothing short of oppressive, Fogerty maintained. When he strived to find enough energy to kick back with Centerfield, and it was a success, he claims they wanted retribution for not sharing it with them. His style is his style, he asserted, and they cynically combed through his work to find any possible excuse to take him to court. As one final indignity, they still own his songs.

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