John Fogerty and George Thorogood, who will be touring together starting in June, share their mutual appreciation of late guitar legend Jimi Hendrix in a new video clip posted on both artists’ social media pages.
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In the clip, Fogerty and Thorogood are captured chatting as they’re sitting next to each other on a stage.
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“After I saw Jimi Hendrix, I picked up my guitar and never put it down,” Thorogood declared.
“That’s how I felt,” the founding Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman responded.
Added Thorogood, “Of course. What else was I gonna do?!”
Fogerty then talked about a famous performance by Hendrix that happened in October 1966. As the story goes, shortly after he relocated from the U.S. to the U.K., Hendrix attended a Cream concert and asked the band if he could jam with them. He then proceeded to blow everyone away with a performance of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor.”
[RELATED: John Fogerty Announces Extension of Celebration Tour in 2024]
“I never got to talk to Eric Clapton about that, but apparently when Jimi first hit England, he got onstage with Cream,” Fogerty noted. “Somebody finagled that to happen. And Jimi went right into ‘Killing Floor,’ and started playing behind his back and playing with his teeth and doing flips and everything else.”
Fogerty continued, “Cream was kind of busting out [at that time]. It was sort of the beginning of their debut. And [Eric] kind of went [dropping his jaw], ‘What?’”
Clapton Was “Gobsmacked” by Hendrix’s Performance
Clapton wrote about the incident in his 2007 autobiography, sharing that everyone there was “completely gobsmacked” by Hendrix’s performance.
“I remember thinking that here was a force to be reckoned with,” Clapton wrote. “It scared me, because he was clearly going to be a huge star, and just as we are finding our own speed, here was the real thing.”
Fogerty’s 2019 Hendrix Tribute
Interestingly, during Fogerty’s 2019 tour, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of Woodstock by including songs in his set that were performed by various artists at the historic festival. The shows featured a Hendrix-inspired instrumental rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that was played by John’s son Shane.
Fogerty’s and Thorogood’s 2024 Tour Plans
As previously reported, Fogerty will soon launch a U.S. tour featuring George Thorogood and the Destroyers as his opening act. The trek kicks off June 2 in Simpsonville, South Carolina, and is mapped out through a September 1 show in Santa Barbara, California.
Fogerty also will play a series of European gigs in July. In addition, he has a few late-summer U.S. performances lined up without Thorogood and his band.
Tickets for Fogerty’s tour dates are available now via various outlets, including StubHub.
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