KFIX Rock News: John Fogerty Sued By Ex-CCR Band Mates

It looks like the historically contentious relationship between John Fogerty and his former Creedence Clearwater Revival band mates has led to a new lawsuit over usage of the group’s name.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, bassist Stu Cook, drummer Doug Clifford and the widow of late CCR rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty have initiated a suit in Nevada claiming that John is in breach of contract with regard to a settlement the band members reached in 2001 and also charging him with trademark violations.

The lawsuit alleges that John is in breach of contract because he made negative remarks in a January 2011 interview about Cook and Clifford’s current group, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, after he accepted a 2001 agreement that his ex-band mates could perform under the Revisited moniker while paying Fogerty a fee for using the name.

As for the trademark violations, the lawsuit claims that John’s own use of “Creedence Clearwater Revival” in promoting some of his recent tours is unauthorized and could cause confusion amongst fans about whether Cook and Clifford’s current band is involved.

Cook, Clifford and Tom Fogerty’s widow appear to be attempting to turn the tables on John, who launched a 1996 lawsuit against them after they began touring with the band Creedence Clearwater Revisited. A California court initially issued an injunction against Cook and Clifford from using the moniker, but that ruling was overturned in 1997, which led to the aforementioned 2001 settlement.

Meanwhile, the new lawsuit also claims that John has been threatening to sue Cook and Clifford over alleged unpaid monies from performances dating back to December 2011, including shows that the two Creedence Clearwater Revisited members feel shouldn’t fall under the agreement. The suit brought by Cook, Clifford and Tom Fogerty’s widow seeks unspecified damages and requests that the matter be decided by a jury trial.

In a statement issued Tuesday morning through his publicist, Fogerty acts unbothered by the suit, while also both confirming that there’s still no love lost between him and his former band mates, and reminding the world that he considers the Creedence catalog to be his. Fogerty writes: “I was driving my daughter to school yesterday and I was surprised to learn I was being sued by my former band mates who call themselves Creedence Clearwater Revisited.”

The statement continues, “The people who come to my shows know they will hear me sing and play the songs I wrote and recorded over the past four decades of my career. Every night we play live, I’m thrilled to see all of those fans singing along to the songs that have touched them. I am at a wonderful place in my life. I am playing the music that I love and wrote, with full joy and having my son Shane joining along side of me — it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Fogerty concludes, “No lawyers, lawsuits, or angry ex-band members will stop me ever again from singing my songs. I am going to continue to tour and play all my songs every single night I am out on the road. Rockin’ all over the world!” The statement put the word “my” in italics for emphasis.

Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up in 1972, and Fogerty and his old band mates have been involved in various legal disputes and other conflicts over the years. John reportedly was estranged from his brother, Tom, at the time of the elder Fogerty’s death in 1990.

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