John Fogerty
And I now think that Stratocasters and Telecasters are way cool.Collection: Cool
I'm much more energetic now; you might say live performance is my mission.
I'm now comfortable playing a lot of the old songs, and I've gotten out a lot of the old equipment.
I'm like a twenty-two-year-old kid in a new band trying to get noticed and break through, because the vast majority of people have never seen me play live.
I wrote that song for my wife, and it's what some guy who's sitting under a tree would be singing to the woman of his life, telling her how wonderful she is. To me, that's more lasting than something that sounds like it belongs on a movie soundtrack.
I've studied a lot of great people over the years - Pete Seeger, James Brown - and tried to incorporate elements that I've admired, though I can't say I dance like James.
But I think beautiful is simple and elegant, like a ballad with simple harmony.
Even though James Burton was my idol, I didn't think I could carry his shoes back then.
You should play with real musicians; the best music comes from real people interacting with each other.
The Telecaster doesn't really sound that good for the kind of rock and roll that a lot of people played.
Even though I have often recorded alone, I still feel the best music is made by musicians playing off each other.
I don't know that all the demons have been beaten, but I'm very, very proud of those songs.
I stuck with that size because I could bend the strings so well, and somewhere along the line I must have gotten it into my mind that I had small hands, so I was thinking I'd never be able to play a full-scale guitar, but I also felt like I was cheating or cutting corners.
I thought what I was good at doing was playing real simple guitar licks, since I'd cut my teeth on what Duane Eddy was doing; licks that were simple but had staying power.
I usually destroy unreleased material. It has a way of coming back to haunt you.
I went pretty much for one tone, and I knew at that time that I wanted to play a Rickenbacker.
I work hard at that, but the fact that there are a lot of good songs means there are also a lot of really bad songs I've written that you never hear.
I've also become much more the musician I've always wanted to be.
No, but I've always felt that with true talent, and a commitment to hard work, it is possible to achieve an enduring respect and appreciation. In other words, I don't take my fans for granted.
Now that I'm older, I like almost anything that's done well, even surf music and instrumentals; I really enjoyed the interviews with the Ventures in your magazine.
On Eye of the Zombie, I had so-called studio musicians.
That song has the full extent of my mandolin abilities; I'm not a good mandolin player at all.
The ones I have got great necks; of course, all of the Fenders from that era are incredible.
The only sliding I did was on the kind of instrument that you put on your lap; no Spanish electrics.
There's just not a lot of guys around playing like that these days; a lot of steel players are plugging into stomp boxes, trying to sound like Jeff Beck on a steel guitar.
Washburn's an old American name, but this one was assembled overseas.
When I made Blue Moon Swamp, there was a lot of trial and error; I was trying to find people who would be simpatico with my style, and with what I had in mind for the album.
All the really great records or people who made them somehow came from Memphis or Louisiana or somewhere along the Mississippi River...And singers like Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters gave me the feeling that they were right there, standing by the river.Collection: Rivers
Sometimes I think life is just a rodeo, the trick is to ride and make it to the bell.Collection: Philosophy
I'm just made differently. Man, I just love being an American, I love my country. But it happened to me during the Nixon time, especially pre-Watergate, that as I watched Nixon for the first time in my life I felt shame. I had to analyze myself. What is this emotion? I realized that my government was separate from my country. It was the first time I ever felt ashamed of the government, not the country.Collection: Country
Playing guitar is a never-finished journey.Collection: Music
Long as I remember, rain been comin' down; Clouds of mystery fallin', confusion on the ground; Good men through the ages, trying to find the sun; And I wonder, still I wonder: Who will stop the rain?Collection: Rain
As a songwriter, I try not to be sloppy; same with the music. You can be very lean, very efficient, so you're not wasting a lot of time getting' to the point. You're saying it with as pure a word or phrase as you can. That's the part that was craft. You refine and refine and refine. Maybe that's why the songs still hang on, because they're very pure. For one thing, they're very short. "Bad Moon Rising" is like 2 minutes and 12 seconds. I would try to do everything as quickly and with as little extra as possible. It was a challenge.Collection: Song
When I'm standing at the Pearly Gates, I want to say to God, 'Don't look at the records. Look at my family. I'm much prouder about that part.'Collection: Inspirational
I ain't got no time for a Caribbean cruise, just give me a song and a beer.Collection: Song
I've long ago learned that if an idea will stand on its own, it'll stand having the light shone on it. But if you shine light on it and it kind of withers, then it probably wasn't a very good idea.Collection: Light
There's a bad moon on the rise.Collection: Moon
Other people want a career or success because they think that will help them find their personal life somewhere. I've done it the other way around. What I have is what everybody else is looking for. I know I've got it made. I know I'm a very lucky man. That came first. Then the music and the career just kind of took care of themselves.Collection: Men
Let the people know my wisdom, fill the land with smokeCollection: Land
With the Michael Moore movie, certain conservative talk show hosts call him un-American. Him and anybody else who says anything about the war... To question your country's policy, especially in a war that kills people, is definitely not un-American. It's probably the most patriotic thing you can do.Collection: Country
Four guys from England took us all by the hand.Collection: Hands
Usually I just let my songs do the talking. As a matter of fact I have long had an aversion to celebrities endorsing politics, and in some cases even other causes. I wonder about their motives. And I have to admit when celebrities get involved in political campaigns I tend to get a little bit sarcastic about it.Collection: Sarcastic
I think at times the very strong feelings I have about my country coincide with my musical ability, and I'm able to actually turn it into music, a song or even hopefully a memorable song, sometimes. You may find it surprising, but I'm a very intense, proud American. I love being an American.Collection: Country
For years I walked around with the phrase "Green River" because I had seen that on a soda fountain drink when I was probably 8 or 9 years old, and I went, 'Gee, I like that.' Another one was "Lodi", which I thought sounded really cool. I got this cheap little empty plastic notebook at my local drugstore, and bought a little slab of filler paper and the very first title I wrote in it was "Proud Mary". I had no idea what that title meant.Collection: Notebook
You got to hidey-hide, you got to jump and run again. You got to hide-hidey-hide, the old man is down the road.Collection: Running
I loved Western Swing and Hank Williams' music, and I now know that it's a 6th tuning that gives you all of those classic licks.Collection: Swings
Mr. Greed, why do you have to own everything that you see?Collection: Philosophy
Big train from Memphis, now it's gone gone gone, gone gone gone. Like no one before, he let out a roar, and I just had to tag along.Collection: Gone
In those days, I didn't know how guys like Clapton and Beck were getting that searing blues lead sound, so I developed my style to be rhythmic and chord-based, with simple lead lines that you could almost hum.Collection: Simple
Vanz can't dance, but he'll steal your money.Collection: Stealing