“The spectre of being sent to the jungle and getting killed – getting relief from that was a big deal. So after my discharge, I ran in my house and picked up my guitar”: John Fogerty on the origins of Creedence Clearwater Revival mega-hit Proud Mary
Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on a river… Whether you’re thinking of the original Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 1969 roots rock classic, or the Grammy-winning 1971 Tina Turner cover, Proud Mary is an undeniable classic. But it wouldn’t have been written if John Fogerty hadn’t had a six month stint in the army…
In a new interview with Classic Rock, the CCR frontman reflects on his time in the army in 1967. While it isn’t an experience he looks on fondly, his eventual honourable discharge encouraged him knuckle down on his creativity. “There’s nothing like having something taken away to make you appreciate it,” he reflects.
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“In the army, you’re not free, you’re not self-determining. And so, when you get back home and you now have time to decide your own schedule, you also decide to be a little more careful what you spend your energy on.”
For Fogerty, his priority was channelling his energy into his music. “I decided, for one, ‘Wow I gotta get more organised about my songwriting,’ because I’d always kinda done it haphazard – not really a specific approach,” he explains.
“So, I went and got a little notebook… I guess the idea in my mind was simply, ‘Well, you’ve got to have a place where you write every down so it’s all in one place’… and that was a big change in my life.”
With the help of his new notebook and creative determination, Fogerty would help piece together Proud Mary. It’s his own musical ode to freedom. “It’s a strange story behind the song that not many have as their motivation, I suppose,” he says. “But, for me, the hype of the Vietnam war and the spectre of being sent to the jungle and possibly getting maimed or dying, getting relief from that was a very big deal.”
“So, getting my honourable discharge, I ran right in the house and picked up my guitar, and the first line of Proud Mary is, ‘Left a good job in the city/Working for the man every night and day’. I mean, that’s exactly it. I felt relieved and elevated that I was finally free.”
Last year, Fogerty reflected on the importance of Proud Mary, noting it as a pivotal moment in his musical career. In fact, it was the first time he had ever fully finished a song. “When I finished Proud Mary, that was such an amazing experience — almost like being abducted by a flying saucer,” he told Guitar Player. “I had never really written a great song before, even though I had tried many times.”
“When I finished, I was holding that piece of paper in my hand, almost 90 percent of it was on the page there, and I had a title and a chorus,” he continued. “And I could just hear it… and I realised I had just written what you’d call a classic. I was awestruck.”
“I was excited, trembling. I was almost scared of it! It was almost as if you’d walked into a room and discovered some amazing treasure and secret. And at that first moment, I was terrified that this might be it, that I would never get to do this again.”
The post “The spectre of being sent to the jungle and getting killed – getting relief from that was a big deal. So after my discharge, I ran in my house and picked up my guitar”: John Fogerty on the origins of Creedence Clearwater Revival mega-hit Proud Mary appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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