We're not sure if John Fogerty had Saul Zaentz in mind when he recorded You Rascal You (I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal, you...) or whether he is, in fact, happy the former owner of Creedence Clearwater Revival's record company is dead, but he had ample reason to resent the man. Zaentz, a shrewed business man, ended up owning everything the band recorded while under contract to the label, earning himself tens of millions in royalties that, otherwise, would have gone to Fogertyand other members of CCR. Determined to reduce the royalty stream bypassing him, Fogerty refused for decades to perform the songs he'd written and recorded while in Creedence. After John extracated himself from the label, Zaentz sued him seeking $140 million in damages for recording solo songs on which Zaentz said Fogerty sounded too much like he did on songs he'd sung while at Fantasy. Fogerty prevailed, recouping his legal costs in the settlement and later writing two scathing songs about Zaentz, Zanz Can't Dance and Mr. Greed. The first song triggered another suit against Fogerty, resulting in a title change to Vanz Can't Dance. Well, Fogerty can now dance on his grave. Zaentz died at 92.
VintageVinylNews.com
