Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

. He was posthumously inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

in 1993.

Biography

Tom Fogerty was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, United States. He began singing

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

in high school. He and his younger brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, had separate groups. Tom's band, Spider Webb and the Insects (which featured Jeremy Levine of

the Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single " Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savag ...

), signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Del-Fi Records Del-Fi Records was an American record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958, but the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' fi ...

but broke up in 1959 before releasing any

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

. The Blue Velvets—a group led by John—began backing Tom. Eventually Tom joined the band, and the group recorded three singles (with Tom on lead vocals) for Orchestra Records in 1961 and 1962. By the mid 1960s, the group had been renamed The Golliwogs and were recording with

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

, with Tom and John sharing lead vocal duties. In 1968, the band was again renamed—this time to

—and John had become full-time lead singer and primary songwriter. During the few years of the life of CCR, Tom sang backing vocals and wrote songs, but only one of his songs from when CCR was named

the Golliwogs Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

("Walking on the Water") was re-recorded and chosen to be put on CCR's debut album. This lack of vocal and songwriting opportunity, along with festering, long-standing animosity with his brother, led him to leave the band in early 1971, after finishing the recording of ''

Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

''. After leaving the band, Fogerty began performing and recording as a solo artist. He had minor hits like " Goodbye Media Man", "Cast The First Stone", "Joyful Resurrection", and "B.A.R.T". He remained with

and his 1971 solo debut album, ''

Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Biography ...

'', reached No. 78 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

chart. In 1971 and 1972 Fogerty played rhythm guitar in the Saunders-Garcia band, mostly in Bay Area clubs. On his follow-up album, ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'',

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

and

Merl Saunders Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008) was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ. Biography Born in San Mateo, California, United States, Saunders attended Polyt ...

played on the sessions.

Stu Cook Stuart Alden Cook (born April 25, 1945) is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work in the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Career Cook, along with Doug Cliff ...

and

Doug Clifford Douglas Raymond Clifford (born April 24, 1945) is an American drummer, best known as a founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. After the group disbanded in late 1972 ...

(CCR's former bass guitarist and drummer) as well as John Fogerty performed on the 1974 follow-up album, ''

Zephyr National ''Zephyr National'' is Tom Fogerty's third solo album. His brother John played on the album, but recorded his parts separately from former CCR band members Doug Clifford and Stu Cook on the one song ("Mystic Isle Avalon") on which they all perfor ...

''. The song "Mystic Isle Avalon" features a complete reunion of CCR though John Fogerty recorded his parts separately. It was the only song that John played on and the last time all four members of CCR would play on the same studio album. Cook and Clifford also backed Tom on his fourth LP release of 1974 titled '' Myopia''. Throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, Tom Fogerty continued to record, both solo and as part of the group

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...

. Later, Tom re-signed with Fantasy. At the October 1980 reception for Tom's marriage to Tricia Clapper, all four members of CCR reunited and performed for the first time in a decade. They took the stage once more for a final time at a school reunion three years later. Tom Fogerty lived in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, for the remainder of his life.

Death

At some point in the 1980s, Fogerty underwent back surgery, and was given a blood transfusion that was not screened for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

. This caused him to become infected with the virus and subsequently resulted in his contraction of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

alongside his ensuing complications with tuberculosis, all of which eventually led to his death on September 6, 1990. After his death, a music compilation titled '' The Very Best of Tom Fogerty'' was released. Fogerty was survived by his second wife Tricia Clapper and six children.

Discography

* ''

'' (1972) US 180 * ''

'' (1972) * ''

'' (1974) * '' Myopia'' (1974) * ''

Deal It Out ''Deal It Out'' is Tom Fogerty's fifth and final solo album, though he would release one album, ''Precious Gems'', as "Tom Fogerty + Ruby" and record an album with Randy Oda, '' Sidekicks'', that was released posthumously. Track listing All son ...

'' (1981) * '' Sidekicks'' (with

Randy Oda Randy Oda (born 1953) is a composer and musician who performed with Tom Fogerty and the band Ruby (Ruby album), Ruby, recording the albums ''Ruby (Ruby album), Ruby'', ''Rock & Roll Madness'' and ''Sidekicks (album), Sidekicks''. He composed the ...

) (released posthumously in 1992) * '' The Very Best of Tom Fogerty'' (1999) ;with Ruby * ''

'' (1976) * '' Rock & Roll Madness'' (1978) * ''

Precious Gems A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

'' (1984) ;Other appearances

Citations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fogerty, Tom 1941 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis AIDS-related deaths in Arizona American male guitarists American rock guitarists Creedence Clearwater Revival members Guitarists from California John Fogerty Musicians from Berkeley, California People from Contra Costa County, California Rhythm guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Tuberculosis deaths in Arizona 20th-century American male musicians