Gibson | 1974 Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty”

John Fogerty and his son Shane have been out touring together in 2016 under the “Fortunate Son” banner and, in an interview with Billboard, the Creedence Clearwater Revival legend has been talking about his favorite Gibson guitars.

He still has the Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” associated with “Bad Moon Rising”. These days, it remains a totem for him and ultra-valuable – even though he picked it up for just $545.
“I still take them out because they sound better with age,” says Fogerty who owns upwards of 300 guitars. “Through the years I’ve kept the ­directive that when a song is crying for a certain ­guitar, get that guitar. Make what you’re doing more interesting.” The Beatles, he adds, “did it naturally; it always made sense — Madonna just changed her hair.”

But even more precious to him is a new Gibson Les Paul in a custom blue plaid finish. It was gifted by his wife and manager, Julie, whom he married in 1991. “The plaid represents so much to me, especially in her eyes. She thinks it defines a lot of my unspoken character traits. It kind of stands for me — the simplicity, the quality, the consistency. So she had this guitar made.”

Fogerty has worn blue plaid since he was a kid delivering newspapers in El Cerrito, California, and now he has a Les Paul to match his lifelong apparel. “When I put this on… There is a lot of feeling here. It’s a love letter between her and I.”

“I remember being in a cappella in high school and one of the boys saying, ‘Jeez, on the hottest day of the year, Fogerty wears a flannel shirt.’ I had never thought of it as being hot or cold, it was just what I liked. But it sticks out in my mind — I felt possessive about it, like defending the plaid!”

See the pictures of John Fogerty’s Blue Plaid Les Paul at Billboard. Fogerty is currently recording a new solo album due for release in 2017. His memoir, Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music, was recently published in paperback.