John Fogerty

I’m much more energetic now; you might say live performance is my mission.

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.

Washburn’s an old American name, but this one was assembled overseas.

But I think beautiful is simple and elegant, like a ballad with simple harmony.

I’ve also become much more the musician I’ve always wanted to be.

I went pretty much for one tone, and I knew at that time that I wanted to play a Rickenbacker.

I usually destroy unreleased material. It has a way of coming back to haunt you.

The only sliding I did was on the kind of instrument that you put on your lap; no Spanish electrics.

The Telecaster doesn’t really sound that good for the kind of rock and roll that a lot of people played.

The ones I have got great necks; of course, all of the Fenders from that era are incredible.

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.

Even though I have often recorded alone, I still feel the best music is made by musicians playing off each other.

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.

On Eye of the Zombie, I had so-called studio musicians.

I’m now comfortable playing a lot of the old songs, and I’ve gotten out a lot of the old equipment.

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.

And I now think that Stratocasters and Telecasters are way cool.

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.

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.

Even though James Burton was my idol, I didn’t think I could carry his shoes back then.

I don’t know that all the demons have been beaten, but I’m very, very proud of those songs.

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.

That song has the full extent of my mandolin abilities; I’m not a good mandolin player at all.

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.

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.

You should play with real musicians; the best music comes from real people interacting with each other.

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.