Tom Fogerty

Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival.<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref> He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Fogerty was born in Berkeley, California.<ref name="Larkin"/> He began singing rock and roll in high school with Spider Webb and the Insects, which featured Jeremy Levin, later of the Seeds. The group signed a recording contract with Del-Fi Records but broke up in 1959 before releasing any records. Tom's younger brother John had his own band, the Blue Velvets, who began backing Tom, who later joined the band. The group recorded three singles, with Tom on lead vocals, for Orchestra Records in 1961 and 1962.Template:Sfn During this era, Tom sometimes used the pseudonym "Rann Wild" for songwriting credits while John used "Toby Green".Template:Sfn

By the mid-1960s, the group had signed with Fantasy Records and was renamed the Golliwogs, with Tom and John sharing lead vocal duties.<ref name="Larkin"/> In 1967, the band was redubbed Creedence Clearwater Revival, with John as the lead singer and primary songwriter,<ref name="Larkin"/> prompting Tom to begin learning to play the guitar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although Tom's Golliwogs-era collaboration with John, "Walk on the Water", appeared on CCR's debut album, the subsequent lack of vocal and songwriting opportunities, compounded by long-standing animosity toward his brother, led Tom to leave the band in early 1971 after the completion of Pendulum.<ref name="Larkin"/>

Solo career

After leaving CCR, Fogerty began a solo career.<ref name="Larkin"/> His 1971 debut album, Tom Fogerty, reached No. 180 on the Billboard 200 chart.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While the single "Goodbye Media Man" did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100,Template:Sfn it reached No. 3 on the Bubbling Under chart and No. 93 on the Cash Box singles chart.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="cash">Template:Cite book</ref> Robert Christgau of The Village Voice disliked the song, calling it "unextraordinary musically, simplistic lyrically, and also Tom doesn't sing too good".Template:Sfn

In 1971 and 1972 Fogerty played rhythm guitar in the Saunders-Garcia band, mostly in Bay Area clubs, and Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders played on Fogerty's follow-up album, Excalibur.<ref name="Larkin"/> Fogerty's former CCR bandmates Stu Cook and Doug Clifford performed on the 1974 follow-up album, Zephyr National, which spawned the single "Joyful Resurrection", which reached No. 84 on the Cash Box singles chart.<ref name="cash" /> The song "Mystic Isle Avalon" featured all four former members of CCR, though John Fogerty recorded his parts separately. Cook and Clifford also backed Fogerty on his fourth LP, 1974's Myopia.Template:Sfn

Throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, Fogerty continued to record as both a solo artist and as a member of Ruby.<ref name="Larkin"/> At his October 1980 wedding reception, all four members of CCR reunited and performed for the first time in a decade.Template:Sfn They took the stage for the final time at a school reunion three years later.Template:Sfn

Personal life and death

At the age of 18, Fogerty married his high school sweetheart Gail, and they had two children before divorcing.Template:Sfn In 1980, he married Tricia Clapper,Template:Sfn and they settled in Scottsdale, Arizona,<ref name="Larkin"/> where Fogerty died of tuberculosis on September 6, 1990.<ref name="Larkin"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the time leading up to his death, Fogerty suffered from AIDS, which his family believed he contracted from a blood transfusion he received while undergoing back surgery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had six children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Discography

• Tom Fogerty (1972)
• Excalibur (1972)
• Zephyr National (1974)
• Myopia (1974)
• Deal It Out (1981)
• Sidekicks (with Randy Oda) (released posthumously in 1992)
• The Very Best of Tom Fogerty (1999)

with Ruby

• Ruby (1977)
• Rock & Roll Madness (1978)
• Precious Gems (1984)

References

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:AllMusic