John Fogerty is ready for full-throttle run at the Venetian

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Mark Damon / Las Vegas News Bureau

John Fogerty arrives at the Venetian on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016.

Tue, Jan 5, 2016 (7:45 p.m.)

Venetian Welcomes John Fogerty

The Venetian welcomes new headliner John Fogerty on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

John Fogerty Arrives at Venetian

John Fogerty arrives at the Venetian on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Launch slideshow »

John Fogerty arrives at the Venetian/Richard Corey

The Kats Report Podcast

KWTD — John Fogerty preps for the Strip

The legendary singer and guitarist from Creedence Clearwater Revival talks of his upcoming residency at Venetian Theater, which starts on Jan. 8, saying, "That's Elvis's birthday. I don't know if anyone else realized that, but I did." He also recalls how the name of CCR supplanted the original — the Golliwogs.

John Fogerty showed up for his headlining gig at the Venetian in a luxury vehicle.

If a Harley-Davidson motorcycle can be considered a luxury vehicle.

Forever a biker and rocker, the legendary co-founder of Creedence Clearwater Revival is revved up (and you knew that was coming) for his run of eight shows at Venetian Theater. “Fortunate Son in Concert” is the title of this series and what also was emblazoned on the back of a leather jacket custom-designed by Fogerty’s wife, Julie.

The show is to borrow freely from the still-impressive list of CCR hits. The band issued many hit singles in 1969 and 1970, all of them to be featured in the shows at the Venetian (“Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Green River,” “Down on the Corner,” “Travelin’ Band,” “Up Around the Bend” and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”). “Fortunate Son” reached No. 14 in that stretch.

The “Fortunate Son” show dates are Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13, 15-16, 20 and 22-23. Tickets start at $59.50 (absent fees) and are on sale at any Venetian or Palazzo box office, online at Venetian.com/entertainment/shows/john-fogerty and by phone at (702) 414-9000 and (866) 641-7469.

Recently, I have twice talked with the still-sprightly 70-year-old Fogerty, first on an episode of “Kats With the Dish” on KUNV 91.5-FM, and today in a suite at the Venetian after his arrival. Highlights of those chats:

Playing the Venetian Theater, which for him is an unknown venue, presents no new issues for Fogerty entering his first Las Vegas residency:.

“The challenges are the ones you always have when you’re doing a live show,” Fogerty said. “You want to go out and communicate and entertain. All those values are in there. In the end, you just really want to have a great experience together. That is true for the audience and the person who stands up in front.”

That said, he is aware of the rich entertainment lineage of Strip headliners:

“Now that I’ve had a chance to warm up to performing here, I’ve become aware of a lot of the other artists, people like Elvis and The Rat Pack, the people you saw for years and who were part of the whole Vegas thing,” Fogerty says. “At this stage of my life, I have a great deal of respect for that legacy. In all sincerity, I want to do a great job. If you’re going to go there, you’ve got to be able to cut the mustard. You’ve got to entertain.”

He does not see the same type of cultural activism today as he experienced in the late ’60s:

Hardly a surprise, as Fogerty noted, “I wish there would be a lot more of that, artists who make a statement with their music, and I don’t actually know why there is not more of that,” Fogerty said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I’m a big guru of culture. But I do find sort of a lacking of that, at least in the pop vein — there are artists who are bubbling up on the edges rather than in the middle of pop music.”

Fogerty allowed he is a fan of Ed Sheeran, and his kids and he have listened to Taylor Swift together. “Every once in a while, something comes up that is a little more thoughtful, but certainly not to the extent that was going on in the '60s.”

He has never fully accepted the use of CCR songs in commercials:

“I was always upset, and even recently that has happened. I won’t name names, because it would seem disingenuous, but way back in time, I would write letters and call corporations and stuff like that to complain,” Fogerty said. “The environment with the audience has changed, too, and I don’t want that to seem like a copout. But lots and lots of artists and songwriters have their songs used in a commercial way. Hell, I’ve heard kids today say, ‘I just wish I could get a car commercial!’ That’s not how it used to be (laughs). Our crowds would throw rotten tomatoes at us if we said that way back in the day. That sounds funny to me now, but the audience accepts that more today than they used to.”

Even so, the name Creedence Clearwater Revival was taken, in part, from a beer commercial:

As the story goes, the Fogertys had a friend named Creedence Nuball, who inspired part of the name. Revival had to do with the rebirth of the band, once named The Golliwogs, after Fogerty returned from serving in the Army in the Vietnam War. As for Clearwater, Fogerty said, “I was watching TV, and a beer commercial came on talking about the clear water used to make the beer,” Fogerty said. “It sounded good, so we used that.”

The beer? Olympia.

He still wants to make a statement:

“There is still a lot to write about and talk about, but I try not to beat my audience over the head with that stuff,” he said. “I say whatever I need to say in my songs. I really think the show should be entertaining, and if you want to say something, say it through your music.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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