John Fogerty � Comin' Down The Road is a DVD project that represents both the artist's music and his personal saga, a musical and personal celebration of an immense talent unbound. The film, produced by digital technology pioneer George Johnsen (Babylon 5, Star Trek Borg Invasion), uses Fogerty's June 24, 2008 concert at London's Royal Albert Hall as a point of departure. That performance, marking his return to the venue after having last performed there 37 years earlier, was the culmination of a lengthy European tour. The tribulations that befell the journey that took him from the first Albert Hall concert to this summer's return could not have been foreseen by the rock legend back in 1971. The issues that beset him over those years nearly rendered him unable to ever write another song.
The concert was filmed by director Ted Kenney (U2 3D) as a twelve camera HD shoot and highlights songs from throughout Fogerty's life in music.
Songs associated with his tenure as Creedence Clearwater Revival's singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer such as "Proud Mary," "Born on the Bayou" and "Fortunate Son" are featured as well as material from his solo career including "Old Man Down the Road" "Old Man Down the Road," and "Rockin' All Over The World" are part of the song set as is "Creedence Song" from his recent Grammy-nominated Revival album. Backing musicians seen and heard include Kenny Aronoff (drums), Billy Burnette (guitar), Hunter Perrin (guitar), Jason Mowery (fiddle) and Dave Santos (bass). Fogerty's teen-aged sons, Tyler (15) and Shane (16), also join the band on guitar during the course of the concert.
The film offers a look back over the years between his Royal Albert Hall performances and chronicles Fogerty's struggles as a man who was forced to deal with a plethora of issues that sidetracked his brilliant career and documents his ultimate triumphed over adversity, finding comfort in family life and vindication as an artist and creative force. It examines his creative journey that was sidetracked for lengthy periods of time by his having to deal with the business side of the music business including the court case wherein he was sued for plagiarizing himself. While Fogerty was ultimately vindicated in that case which set an important legal precedent from which his fellow artists have benefited he faced and triumphed over other legal, financial and business issues that cleared the way for him to come back as one of this era's most vital creative forces in music.
Much more than a concert film, Comin' Down The Road, tells the story of Fogerty's personal "revival" that is the culmination of a life-long journey. Highlights include Fogerty's recollections prompted by visits to his childhood homes in El Cerrito, CA, a visit to the site of "Cosmos Factory," the storied rehearsal facility and studio that begat his hits for Creedence Clearwater Revival and a location shoot at the headquarters of Fantasy Records in Berkeley where his recording career began in earnest with Creedence, known earlier as The Golliwogs. He provides insight into the creation of his classic songs including a trip to the location that inspired "Green River."
Recalling the era when he churned out six Creedence album over the course of little more than two years, Fogerty is now in the studio working on a new album, following the late 2007 release of Revival, tentatively titled John Fogerty: The Return of The Blue Ridge Rangers. Fans will recall that in 1973, Fogerty appropriated the Blue Ridge Rangers persona after the break-up of Creedence Clearwater Revival with an eponymous album of country/rockabilly classics that included two Top 40 hits: "Jambalaya" and "Hearts of Stone."
"This seems like the right time for the Blue Ridge Rangers to come back," Fogerty remarked. "The last time around, it represented something of a clean slate for me and that country rock sound is still something I hold dear. We're really excited about revisiting the whole sensibility that Blue Ridge Rangers represent."
While Fogerty anonymously transformed himself into his own backing band, playing all of the instruments heard on the original Blue Ridge Rangers album the new project, finds him backed by an array of stellar outside players. Among those who participated in the new Blue Ridge Rangers sessions at Village Recorders in Los Angeles were Buddy Miller, Dennis Crouch, Jay Bellerose, Greg Leisz, Jason Mowery, Jodie Kennedy, Kenny Aronoff and Hunter Perrin. In the studio, Fogerty worked with fellow producers T Bone Burnett and Lenny Waronker on the project. It is expected that post-production work will get underway after the holidays with a mid-2009 release date projected. Song titles are being kept under wraps until closer to the release date.
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