John Fogerty Files Civil Claim Against Former CCR Bandmates
John Fogerty filed a civil claim against his former bandmates for breach of contract regarding their use of the moniker Creedence Clearwater Revisited. In the claim, which was filed Friday in California, Fogerty said that former Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford haven’t paid him for the use of his songs as well as his share of their “touring and merchandise” since December 2011, The Associated Press reports.
The parties initially came to an agreement in 2001 regarding the name Creedence Clearwater Revisited as well as the performance of CCR’s songs, but Fogerty’s civil claim says Cook and Clifford have refused to honor the agreement. Additionally, the agreement stated that the name Creedence Clearwater Revisited could only be applied to performances featuring both Cook and Clifford onstage simultaneously.
“The people who come to my shows know they will hear me sing and play the songs I wrote and recorded over the past four decades of my career,” Fogerty said in December 2014. ” “Every night we play live, I’m thrilled to see all of those fans singing along to the songs that have touched them. I am at a wonderful place in my life.”
In December 2014, Cook, Clifford and the widow of rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, John’s brother, preemptively sued Fogerty over what feared was “pending litigation.” “The facts are that Mr. Fogerty, while proclaiming joyful rebirth in the press, repeatedly has his lawyers threaten us with lawsuits and demand unreasonable concessions of our rights,” Creedence Clearwater Revisited said in a December statement. “Last week, the threats and demands left us with little doubt that a lawsuit would be filed by him against us for the second time. This unfortunate situation required us to take unpleasant preemptive legal action.”
Following Fogerty’s latest legal battle, the singer reissued the same statement he made in December. “No lawyers, lawsuits, or angry ex-band members will stop me ever again from singing my songs,” Fogerty said. “These frivolous lawsuits in the past took me away from the music I loved. I am going to continue to tour and play all my songs every single night I am out on the road. No matter how anyone else sees it, they are my songs.”
Fogerty’s 1969 tour resumes July 15th at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. The rocker also promises that “the whole story will be told” in his upcoming memoir Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, due out on October 6th.