John Fogerty Flat out Rocks.

Yes, this is a fact to which I personally have been a witness. I just attended the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo; two weeks in March that feature a huge rodeo, carnival, livestock show and best of all concerts following the rodeo. While many of the acts are indeed both Country and Western, we do get some other performers as well. I have seen ZZ Top at the rode, and Lynard Skynard, while Beyonce, Fergie, and even Tony Bennett have also played the rodeo. Wednsday night was the show I had wanted to see since I was just a small boy riding in my dad's 67 Thunderbird (metalflake blue paint, I recall, white seats and plenty of power).

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last 40 years, you have heard John Fogerty. He was the singer and songwriter for the band Creedence Clearwater Revivial. John fronted the band that his (now) late brother formed, and soon became so much the focus of the media on the band that tension caused them to break up. John was not allowed to play any of the songs he had written and recorded as CCR due to contract disputes. He was even called in to court in the mid eighties because his new song "The Old Man Down the Road" sounded too much like his old song "Born on the Bayou". But times must heel or at least mellow old wounds, becuase John and his old label, Fantasy Records, have reached an agreement, and now John can play the same songs that thousands of bar bands, and most beginner guitar players have been for the last 40 or so years.

And he does it with a vengence. John must be approaching 60, but his set list started out with the classic Good Golly Miss Molly, and then rocked into a mix of the old, the middle, and the new songs. In fact his new songs on the album Revival are pretty darn good. It is amazing how a guy can play pretty much the same types of songs, and yet they still sound fresh coming from him. I thought it was great to hear these songs live, and to see him hit the stage with so much energy and vitality. I think playing these old songs live for a crowd that loved them as much as the Houston crowd did would have brought tears to my eyes. The thing that was great is that we all knew the words to the songs. They have been in our childhood radios, movie soundtracks and commercials, and in garages and bars across the world.

And let me tell you, John has not let the time he has not been touring go to waste. One big surprise was at the beginning of a new song called Keep On Chooglin'. Armed with an Ernie Ball Axis guitar, similar to Edward Van Halen's, John did a fingertapping, tremelo divebombing amazing intro. EVH would have been proud. And if you are a guitar geek, like me, you can read more at Guitar Player magazine. There is a good review of the album Revival which also mentions some of his gear. Too bad he is heading out of the country for a while, because this is a show that needs to be seen by more people. And as good as a DVD is, it is not being there.

Keep On chooglin'!