George Thorogood: 'The world has enough rock'

- read article at Bakersfield.com -

By DANIELLE C. BELTON, Californian staff writer
e-mail: dbelton@bakersfield.com

Posted: Wednesday September 14th, 2005, 11:49 AM
Last Updated: Wednesday September 14th, 2005, 11:51 AM

George Thorogood is bad and he’s only getting worse.

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With his band, aptly named The Destroyers, he is seeking to wreak musical havoc across the land using only “one bourbon, one scotch and one beer” as a weapon.

That and songs like “Who Do You Love?” and “Bad to the Bone.”

Thorogood, a rock ’n’ roll bad boy, isn’t afraid to admit it — he’s got three solid hits (and three more if you stretch a little) and he’s not afraid to use them.

“I was watching Leno and there was a guy on with a great shirt that said ‘No New Rock.’ Perfect,” Thorogood said in a phone interview with The Californian. “Rock has ran its course over 25 years ago. Like jazz in the ’20s, every art form has its run. Between ’55 and ’75, it was everything (rock) was going to be.

“I think the world has enough rock right now.”

Because of that, Thorogood says he and the Destroyers are putting out only one more album. (He actually wouldn’t bother putting out one more, but he’s under contract.)

But after that, Thorogood says it’s nothing but live shows. Playing his hits and living the life of a third-tier rock star, opening for legendary acts and playing hard blues rock gigs for the rest of his days.

And that’s all the rocker cares about.

That and the notion that sometimes musicians should just give the people what they want — the hits.

“If Van Morrison never made another record but ‘Moondance’ would you care? ... You don’t need another record. Just play your stuff already,” Thorogood said.

ON WHAT MAKES A ROCK GOD:

“If you have one (hit) song you have a job. If you have three songs you have a career. If you have five songs you’re a legend. If you’ve got more than that like the Stones, you’re a god.”

ON OPENING FOR LEGENDS:

“Let me do my three (expletive) songs that I do. I just want to be part of the party. Give me a uniform and I’ll come to first base.”

ON BEING THE OPENING ACT:

“I say, better to be a stooge in heaven than a king in hell. I figure my cup runneth over years ago.”

ON HIS HITS AND THEIR VALUE:

“If you’d covered those songs, I’d be opening for you. You do the math. Everybody knows it and I’m one to admit it.”

ON JOHN FOGERTY AND JUST PLAYING THE HITS:

“I know John (Fogerty) and we have this argument all the time. You’re set for life. You were set for life when you were 30, pal. God, what more do you want?”

ON NO ONE KNOWING HE SINGS HIS SONGS:

“The song is bigger than the personality and that’s how it should be. Music should come first and the artist should come secondary to it. That’s just the way art is. I’m merely what you call a servant to that theory. That, whatever you call it, concept of making it in the world.”

ON THE COOLEST THING AN OLD HITMAKER CAN SAY:

“Jerry Lee Lewis was playing with an all-new band and all the new guys came in. He sits at the piano and (the band) are like, here it goes. It’s the ‘Killer.’ And he says, ‘Y’all know my tunes?’”

ON WHAT GEORGE THOROGOOD WANTS TO BE:

“I want to be a rock ’n’ roll star like every kid since 1965. I want to be a rock ’n’ roll star.”