Who’s more country, John Fogerty or Lionel Richie? You be the judge…It’s certainly not a stretch to say that country music was an influence on John Fogerty’s music. It is however a loooong stretch to say it was an influence on 80’s pop star Lionel Richie. Each veteran music artist will be releasing an album in 2012 with some help from current country stars. One sounds promising, the other, not so much. First up, Fogerty.
John’s first band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, is one of the greatest country rock bands in the history of popular music. Although the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame group (inducted 1993) formed in the San Francisco Bay area, their music was most often southern in feel and subject matter, with Fogerty often writing and singing about swamps, bayous, the Mississippi, and other southern U.S. elements. If CCR’s music was to be released today it would probably wind up on the country charts. Classic songs like ‘Proud Mary,’ ‘Lodi’, ‘Bad Moon Rising,’ and ‘Who’ll Stop The Rain,’ would once again be #1 hits, just this time on a different chart.
Fogerty’s solo work since the break up of CCR includes loads of country influences. His most recent release, the excellent album Revival (2007), contains all kinds of country and country-blues songs including ‘Broken Down Cowboy,’ ‘River Is Waiting,’ and ‘Don’t You Wish It Was True.’
So it makes sense that Fogerty would invite a couple of country artists to guest on his upcoming album. Both Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert will be featured on separate tracks on the new album to be released sometime in 2012. Brad was in the studio with the legendary artist last month and tweeted Dec. 14, “Got to record with one of my heroes, John Fogerty. He’s got great taste in amps and guitars too.”
Brad posted this pic of the two of them in the studio.
Fogerty told Billboard magazine, “Brad Paisley is a person I really admire for a whole bunch of reasons and he’s a heck of a nice guy too.” He’s also a fan of Lambert saying, “She’s a great voice and a great, soulful presence in music.”
Miranda’s side project is the Pistol Annies, of which she is a member along with Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley. Fogerty made a surprise appearance at the trio’s concert at House of Blues in Los Angeles recently to sing his classic ‘Bad Moon Rising.’ Here’s Fogerty rehearsing with The Pistol Annies in the dressing room and then surprising the fans at the House of Blues.
John Fogerty’s new album of original songs does not have a release date yet but the singer and songwriter plans to head out on tour in March.
Ok, so John Fogerty inviting some country stars to sing on his record sounds cool. It makes sense and to be honest, it sounds a hell of a lot more promising than the latest Lionel Richie project. Richie was a member of Motown act The Commodores in the 70’s, an R & B act that sold millions of records with hits like, ‘Brick House,’ ‘Sail On,’ and ‘Easy.’
After The Commodores disbanded Lionel Richie went on to a hugely successful solo career as an R & B / pop balladeer in the 80’s (although in recent years he’s probably become more well-known as the father of reality star Nicole Richie) with hit songs including ‘Truly,’ ‘Hello,’ ‘All Night Long,’ and ‘Say You, Say Me.’
The singer’s latest project is an album titled Tuskegee (after his hometown of Tuskegee, Alabama). Perhaps he should have titled the album Jumpin’ On The Country Music Bandwagon. The album will be a collection of duets with well-known country stars including Shania Twain, Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, and Rascal Flatts. On the album the singers will be re-interpreting some of Richie’s best known songs (oh oh). They’re also taping a TV special Lionel Richie & Friends: A Lifetime of Hits, to air on CBS later this year. Here’s a preview from last year’s CMA Awards, Richie sings with Little Big Town, Darius Rucker, and Rascal Flatts. Not a lot of country influences to be heard.
