CENTERFIELD
“Centerfield” is the title track from John Fogerty’s album Centerfield, Fogerty’s first solo album after a nine-year hiatus. The song, whose title refers to the baseball position, is commonly played at baseball games across the United States. Along with “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”, it is one of the best-known baseball songs. In 2010, John Fogerty became the only musician to be celebrated at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony when “Centerfield” was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. (More from Wikipedia)
When David Geffen’s Asylum Records purchased his recording contract for $1,000,000 from Fantasy Records (later joined by Warner Bros. Records) – though those rights applied only for North America; Fogerty’s worldwide rights remained with Fantasy – John Fogerty finally was able to re-establish himself as a major rock artist with his 1985 hit album Centerfield. The title track, “Centerfield” quickly became one of the best-loved baseball songs in the country. Fogerty couldn’t resist tweaking his old nemesis Saul Zaentz at Fantasy with two other tracks, “Mr. Greed” and “Zanz Kant Danz” (about a pig who can’t dance but would “steal your money”); after a while, he was forced to change the name of the latter song to “Vanz Kant Danz”.
(January 2013)
