John Fogerty reclaims ownership of his Creedence Clearwater Songs

Fogerty has acquired majority stake of publishing rights to historic song catalog

Flying against the current trend of musical artists selling their publishing rights, legendary singer-songwriter and founder of Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR), John Fogerty, has acquired a majority interest of the worldwide publishing rights to his historic song catalog from Concord Music Group.

For Fogerty, the composer of iconic songs that have inspired generations – “Proud Mary,” “Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” among many others – the chance to own his compositions has been both a decades-long dream and a personal mission. For over 50 years, the copyrights to Fogerty’s classic songs were the property of Saul Zaentz, the owner of Fantasy Records, who sold the label and its publishing portfolio to the former Concord Music Group in 1995.

Fogerty, who extricated himself from Fantasy in 1974, re-signed with the label upon its purchase by Concord. Even so, he was not able to gain ownership of his songs – until now.

“As of this January, I own my own songs again. This is something I thought would never be a possibility,” Fogerty shares. “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.”

Concord and Fogerty recently partnered on the official release of Creedence Clearwater Revival At The Royal Albert Hall on Concord’s Craft Recordings. More than 50 years after the legendary 1970 show, the original multitrack tapes have been meticulously restored and mixed by Grammy-winning producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell. The accompanying documentary takes viewers from the CCR’s earliest years together in El Cerrito, CA through their meteoric rise to fame and is the only concert footage of the original CCR lineup to be released in its entirety.

With an eye toward 2023, Fogerty notes that he is writing new material and is looking at recording soon. “There’s definitely more to come,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I happen to like the songs a lot.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn