Bob Seger – "Fortunate Son" (1986)

It ain’t me, it ain’t me

I ain’t no millionaire’s son

John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival is the guest host on the Sirius/XM “Classic Vinyl” channel this week.

Today, Fogerty told his audience a story about hearing a live version of “Fortunate Son” while doing his weekly grocery shopping many years ago.  

At the time, he and his record company were in the midst of a long-running feud, and he assumed that the bast*rds had released that recording without bothering to tell him.

But later Fogerty found out that the live “Fortunate Son” he had heard at the grocery store was actually a 1986 recording of the song by Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band.

John Fogerty and Bob Seger in 2013

Fogerty and Seger – who both turned 80 in May – are old friends, and Fogerty liked Seger’s cover of CCR’s greatest song.  However, when Fogerty combined with a number of other artists to record covers of CCR’s biggest hits, he chose to record “Fortunate Son” with the Foo Fighters rather than Seger.  (Fogerty and Seger did join forces to record a new version of “Who’ll Stop the Rain.) 

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I mentioned above that John Fogerty and Fantasy Records – CCR’s record company – feuded for years.

In fact, Fantasy sued Fogerty in 1987, alleging that “The Old Man Down the Road” – a 1984 hit for Fogerty – infringed Fantasy’s copyright on “Run Through the Jungle.”  (Fogerty had written “Run Through the Jungle” – so the lawsuit essentially accused him of plagiarizing himself – but Fantasy owned the copyright on the song.)

The judge in that case ruled in favor of Fogerty, who then sued Fantasy to recover his attorney’s fees.  That case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ordered Fantasy to reimburse Fogerty for the money it cost him to defend Fantasy’s copyright infringement lawsuit.  Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517 (1993).

By the way, Fogerty recently purchased the publishing rights to his CCR songs from the company that acquired Fantasy Records after Fantasy’s founder, Saul Zaentz, died in 2014.  

Later this year, he will release a new album consisting of re-recordings of 20 well-known CCR songs – including “Fortunate Son.”

Click here to read my 2018 post featuring Creedence Clearwater Revival’s original recording of “Fortunate Son,” a member of the original group of inductees into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

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Click here to hear Seger’s cover of “Fortunate Son,” which was released on the Like a Rock album in 1986.

Click here to order that recording from Amazon.