It's a happily-ever-after ending for the long and sordid tale of John Fogerty and the songwriting publishing for his Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) songs. Fogerty has purchased a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his legendary song catalog from Concord for an undisclosed sum. For years, Fogerty had refused to play his Creedence hits rather than line the pockets of the late-Saul Zaentz, who owned the band's masters through Fantasy Records. In an effort to extricate himself from Creedence's back-breaking contract, Fogerty sold his publishing to Zaentz in 1980.
John Fogerty said in a statement, "As of this January, I own my own songs again. This is something I thought would never be a possibility. After 50 years, I am finally reunited with my songs. I also have a say in where and how my songs are used. Up until this year, that is something I have never been able to do. I am looking forward to touring and celebrating this year! I want thank Concord for helping to make all of this happen. And, I am excited for new ideas and a renewed interest in my music. . . like a revival."
Wife and manager Julie Fogerty added: "I was always hoping for a miracle that John would own his songs, and I’m so blissful knowing that this has finally come true for him. The songs he wrote for CCR were going to start reverting in approximately three years, continuing for each year forward. I thought to myself that if there was anything I could do to make that happen now, it would be that miracle that we have been waiting for more than 50 years. I began to produce a plan to purchase his publishing right now. In doing so, I enlisted the help of Irving Azoff, Jason Karlov, Susan Genco and we were able to secure the U.S. Rights in addition to Worldwide Rights, which would not have been part of the copyright reversions. I am so joyful, grateful, and excited for John."
After years of ignoring his CCR hits in concert, over the past two decades, John Fogerty has embraced his past and now includes nearly all of the band's biggest hits in his concert set lists: ["I still realize that by far all around the world I am most known for the Creedence era. And those are songs that I love to play. I'm very happy at this stage in my career that people still, y'know, really get a big kick out of hearing "Green River" and "Who'll Stop The Rain," and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain." It's a really cool thing (laughs). Sometimes I'm pretty much in awe of the whole situation."] SOUNDCUE (:26 OC: . . . the whole situation)
