With a gruff yet sweet voice, like silken sandpaper, a knack for writing hits that almost matched The Beatles, and a tone that he can call all his own, there aren’t many things that John Fogerty can’t do.
But perhaps his finest feat was doing all of those at once.
This gave Fogerty a rather singular viewpoint as a musician. He thought of songs holistically. He was looking to capture a certain mood and energy with them. Thus, the anthems that best define him dovetail somewhere between his own individual spirit and an air of the revolutionary times that he was writing in.
When he happens upon that perfect blend, it’s not just in the lyrics, the perspective, the searing hooks or even in his rumbling vocals, but also the singular sound he was capable of capturing with his guitar. There’s always something sharp yet soothing about Fogerty’s guitar at its best, like ceviche or spicy soul food.
In his own esteemed opinion, he pitched this perfectly with ‘Suzie Q’. As he recently told Vulture, “‘Suzie Q’ nails it pretty well for my abilities. I was sailing with the equipment I had at hand, meaning the special amplifier and guitar.” But with those rudimentary tools, the working-class musician, who was just trying to make it at the time, mustered a raw power in his steady strumming.
“My style isn’t ‘technically challenging’,” he admits, “especially later having lived through the era of Eddie Van Halen, who is one of my idols, and the big-hair music of classical prog rock.” But his style was his style, and it suited ‘Suzie Q’. This made the anthem a classic in time, once a legion of other artists recognised its strength, covered it, and this allowed Fogerty’s own version to later flourish.
“As far as using emotion and the tones my equipment was able to produce, that was a good template for what I was able to do at the time,” the ‘Proud Mary’ man continued. “Many guitar players aren’t singers — or at least don’t sing professionally — so they put all of their heart into how they play guitar. I understand that, because I consider myself a guitar player first before a vocalist or songwriter.”
In truth, I think even people who aren’t major fans would consider Fogerty a rare trifecta on that front. And his songs showcase that musical confidence. When I recently spoke with Neil Hannon, he said his issue with certain strands of modern music is that you never get the sense that it is “life and death”, but you do get that with Fogerty. It feels like he is giving his all in all departments.
However, his guitar work was the department he valued the most, concluding, “You go to another place, that’s all I can say. Sometimes the song would be over, and I felt like I had traveled across the room and woke up. A good solo should be able to grab your attention and take you on a journey. You don’t get tired or bored of it. And then when it’s over, you feel exhilarated.”
‘Suzie Q’ took him from the couch to the spotlight, never mind another spot in the room.
