Springsteen to Back Fogerty

The Vote For Change tour has very impressive lineups and is generating a big buzz – of the six different touring units, I think the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band / R.E.M. / John Fogerty / Bright Eyes group the most impressive.

It just got a little more enticing:

In what promises to fulfill a classic rock fan’s dream, Bruce Springsteen (news) says he and the E Street Band will play with John Fogerty on the upcoming Vote for Change tour.

“We’re gonna back John,” Springsteen told Jay Lustig in Thursday’s edition of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger newspaper. “John’s coming, he doesn’t have a band right now, so we’re gonna do our best for him.”

Asked if he would be on stage for that part of the show, Springsteen said, “Are you kidding me? I’m going to be playing those John Fogerty songs. You better believe it.”

….Unabashed fans, Springsteen and the E Street Band have frequently covered Fogerty’s Creedence Clearwater Revival-era songs in concert, including tapping “Who’ll Stop the Rain” during bad weather at outdoor stadium shows. Springsteen also spoke at Creedence’s 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and jammed with Fogerty at the Los Angeles event.

In the midst of a handful of solo dates that wrap Sunday in Houston, Fogerty is readying the release of a new album, “Deja Vu (All Over Again),” due Sept. 21 via Geffen. The title track is a sharp critique of the war in Iraq, with such lyrics as “Day by day we count the dead and dying / Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score.”

The album includes guest appearances by Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Kenny Aronoff, dobro master Jerry Douglas, and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler. [Billboard]

While Creedence was underrated as a band, this will be the best band John Fogerty has ever played with.