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John Fogerty's Musical Journey

The Creedence Clearwater Revival icon reflects on his long road from heartbreak to hope and joy.

By Jordan Runtagh in People

or Christmas 2016, John Fogerty received a special gift from his wife, Julie: his long-lost 1969 Rickenbacker guitar. The instrument had accompanied him during the glory years of Creedence Clearwater Revival, when he used it to play classics he'd written like "Proud Mary," "Fortunate Son," and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" on stages around the world -- including a legendary appearance at Woodstock. Between 1969 and 1971 the group was one of the hottest acts in America, scoring an astonishing 14 Top 10 singles and five Top 10 albums in just two years. Their songs became the soundtrack to a turbulent era, echoing through the war zones, protest rallies and jukeboxes across the country.

With his gritty howl, blues-soaked guitar licks and southern-steeped storytelling, Fogerty crafted an enduring sound that felt like it crawled straight out of a Louisiana bayou, despite his California roots. But when CCR splintered amid bitter legal and personal battles -- including an estrangement from his bandmates, among them his brother Tom -- Fogerty gave away the guitar, a symbol of his painful past. Seeing it under the Christmas tree more than 40 years later as a gift, he cried. "But they were happy tears," Fogerty, 80, says. "So much has started to open up and flow since then."

The gift marked the beginning of a reckoning with his history, and Julie, 65, played a central role in that healing. Acting as her husband's manager, she engineered another life-changing surprise: a deal that allowed Fogerty to obtain the publishing rights to the CCR catalog in 2023. For the first time in his life, he owns the rights to the very songs that helped define the rock and roll canon.

That victory led to Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, a new album (released Aug. 22) on which Fogerty remakes his past from a place of love. Working from his home studio with sons Shane, 33, and Tyler, 32, Fogerty revisited his Creedence-era catalog using his beloved Rickenbacker. He jokingly compares the project to Taylor Swift's "Taylor's Version" rerecordings -- note-for-note remakes born of hard-fought artistic battles. "There were so many unpleasant memories connected to those songs," he says, "but doing this project and reinflating the memories with so much love soothed my soul." Here the rock icon opens up about what he's learned about music, forgiveness and the joy of passing the torch.

One song can change your life.
My mother sat me down when I was 3 and gave me my first record. One side was "Oh! Susanna," the other "Camptown Races." It made a big impression . I'd start discussing music with her; that became our shared thing. A lot of the little tributaries I would take in music were her influence.

Creativity can be a lifeline.
I discovered my honorable Army discharge on the steps of my apartment in the summer of 1968. It was the height of the Vietnam War, and I was very happy my military career was over. I ran inside and started playing chords on my Rickenbacker. I came up with "Proud Mary" right that minute. The first line is, "Left a good job in the city working for the man every night and day." That's how I translated my Army experience into a song. In about an hour it was finished. It was far above anything I'd ever done. I was scared it might never happen again!

It's never too late to forgive.
[My brother Tom and I] were estranged when he passed away [in 1990]. Many years later I made it a point to forgive Tom. If he'd survived, I think he would've come to the place where we'd let it go. We didn't get that chance, but I feel positive toward Tom. Meeting him in the afterlife would be a joyful thing.

Time and patience bring great things.
During the dark days I felt like a fool. I was embarrassed that I'd been hoodwinked and my songs were stolen from me. Getting them back and being able to stand up straight in front of the world, I'm truly humbled. I'm old enough to realize things can go south and just stay that way. But I was allowed to live long enough, and it turned around.

Love can rewrite old memories.
Despite the joy I felt being with Julie, there was always that shadow of the past. Starting this project and having my family involved was such a nice alternative to the way I had remembered it. It was almost like an antidote! I felt joy every day.

Passing it on is the greatest reward.
When we started this record, it was at my son Shane's insistence. He played some guitar licks on the album; it was wonderful to teach him how they went. When we hear the new recording on TV or the radio, I turn to Shane and go, "How's it feel to hear yourself on the radio, man?" It's Dad passing on the musical baton.

The best work might still be ahead of you.
I view my career as very forward-looking. I don't want to just be a living museum piece. I want to create new music. That's a wonderful way to open myself and be receptive. Bring it on!  

1975's Kotter Craze

Gabe Kaplan remembers how his stand-up comedy act turned into a high-school set classic '70s sitcom.

By Barb Oates and Gerry Strauss in Remind magazine

elevision has provided us with plenty of hilarious and heartfelt classroom moments over the years, but there's only one school-set sitcom that dared to immortalize the ultimate burn, "up your nose with a rubber hose": Welcome Back, Kotter.

The show, which debuted 50 years ago this month on September 9, 1975, was cocreated by and starred comedian Gabe Kaplan as Mr. Kotter, a Brooklyn-based high school teacher placed in charge of a rough and rowdy remedial class known as "the Sweathogs." Lasting four seasons on ABC, the show introduced us to a diverse cast of characters, including cocky Vinnie Barbarino (played by new-on-the-scene John Travolta), oddball Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), ultra-hip Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) and tough guy Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes).

With plenty of jokes focusing on their various upbringings and ethnicities, Welcome Back, Kotter was a popular look at the types of under-the-radar teenagers who normally didn't get to be the heroes on our TV screens.

Kaplan, who still has his character's infamous green corduroy jacket, along with all the scripts, graciously took time to chat about the series and what's next for him.

In addition to starring in the series, you were also the creator (along with Alan Sacks). The sitcom was progressive in many ways, especially with the diversity of the characters -- how did it come about?
Gabe Kaplan: In my stand-up act in the mid '70s, I talked about the students in my old school. During the 1950s, in most NYC schools, there were five classes in every grade. They would put you in a specific class depending on how bright they thought you were. For instance, in sixth grade, you had 6-1 to 6-5. 6-1 were the brightest kids in the sixth grade, down to the 5s. I was always in the 4s, which was next to the dumbest. Actually, the 4s were the dumbest. Because the 5s were criminals. I would say the Sweathogs were between 4s and 5s.

Alan Sacks, the producer of Chico and the Man, came to the Comedy Store one night with Freddie Prinze and he happened to catch my act. We got together the next day and tried to fashion a sitcom based on my material... We came up with the concept for Welcome Back, Kotter in one long lunch. The difference was the adults -- Mr. Kotter, Mrs. Kotter (Marcia Strassman) and Mr. Woodman (John Sylvester White). The students were all based on the ones in my act. There were originally five students including a Puerto Rican and a Jew. ABC thought five was too many and Michael Eisner suggested we make one a Puerto Rican Jew. We liked that, and enter Juan Epstein.

When you look back at the four seasons of Welcome Back, Kotter, what episode is your favorite?
My favorite episode is one where Kotter's father comes to school to see his son teach. The great character actor Harold J. Stone played and actually looked like my father. My dad didn't think I'd be successful as an entertainer and Kotter's father thought he was wasting his time as a teacher. Although my father watched the show every week, we never discussed that episode.

Share a funny prank or moment you remember.
After the first episode, I falsely told John Travolta he had a lot of fan mail in the office. The office wasn't close to the rehearsal hall, but he trudged over and asked for his letters. He came back disappointed and empty-handed. Everyone laughed a little and he said, "Very funny." A few weeks later he got a whole canvas sack of fan mail.

How often do you keep up with your surviving castmates John Travolta and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs?
Larry, John and I had a lot of fun together doing the show. I've seen Larry frequently over the years and have seen John at reunion events. I talked to him for the [September 2025 Kotter] article in Emmy Magazine and it was like we didn't miss a beat, we had a great time reminiscing. Marcia Strassman's daughter and my daughter wound up in the same school. One day I heard someone yell "Gabriel" across the schoolyard. I knew instantly who it was. We stayed friendly until she passed [in 2014]. Cancer finally got Marcia but it had one of its hardest battles. Bobby Hegyes and I did a play about Groucho Marx together. Unfortunately Bobby, Ron and John White are also gone now.

You've had such a diverse and fascinating career -- from originally wanting to play baseball to working as a bellman and then successfully launching a stand-up career... and then moving into acting and writing/recording music.. to playing poker professionally! Catch us up on what you are doing now.
I still do a little stand-up and play a little poker. I'm still pretty good at stand-up but a lot funnier at poker. I've also written a movie based on a summer I spent in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when I was 14. It's a coming-of-age story. I have the financing, so look for it in about a year. It's called Lucky Feinberg. I wanted to play the juvenile lead but the producer thought it was a bad idea.  

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