ON SONGWRITING
sit down and play bass, and then drums, and
then guitar – his one-man band, was getting
better. I worked on this every day in my little
studio in Albany [in California] – usually first
recording a little rhythm guitar track to a click,
and then putting drums on that. Once I had the
drums – that was the wood frame of the house.
And then everything else went on top of that
drum track.”
Fogerty realized patience and persistence
served major roles in furthering both his playing
and his songwriting. “When you’re not very
good and you’re starting out on an instrument,
you’re usually about eight years old. And your
frame of reference – your ears – are also
about eight years old, and it sounds pretty
good to you. You think you’re pretty good.
Your mother is older and she knows better.
But when you decide to do this and you’re 35,
you can also hear that you’re not very good!
That’s the hardest thing in the world – to keep
going and play like you’re eight even though
“Old Man Down the Road” by John Fogerty
AUG/SEPT
DIGITAL EDITION
59