80 Year Old John Fogerty Plays a Wonderful NPR Tiny Desk Concert With His Two Sons in the Band

The great John Fogerty, who is 80 years old, played a wonderful NPR Tiny Desk concert with a talented band that included his two sons Tyler and Shane.

For his Tiny Desk, John Fogerty brought what means the most to him. Family was accounted for: his sons, Tyler and Shane, played in the band, while his wife, Julie, was in the audience. There, too, was Fogerty’s distinct brand of patriotism.

The affable Fogerty started the concert with “Proud Mary”, a song that had great meaning to him.

Fogerty tells the crowd that he was inspired to write “Proud Mary” on the day he received his honorable discharge from the Army Reserve in 1968. “I opened my discharge [papers] up, and I was really, really, really happy,” he says. “I went right in the house, picked up my Rickenbacker guitar and started strumming, and the very first line that came out of me was, ‘Left a good job in the city. Workin’ for the man every night and day.’ “

Fogerty and band then continued with “Change in the Weather”, “A Hundred and Ten in the Shade”, and “Long As I Can See the Light”. They finished the set with the 1971 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” at which time he invited the audience to join in.

At the Desk, he plays some of his solo work, then closes the set with “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” with some help from the audience.