In his inimitable way, Thorogood remains thoroughly good

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By Tracy Rasmussen
Reading Eagle Correspondent

Whatever you do, don't ask George Thorogood to characterize his music.

“I'm just a B.S. artist,” he said. “I learned the very basics of blues, but that was all. I wanted to keep up with Bo Diddley and Clapton and Keith Richards and all those cats. So I had to learn the blues.”

But the truth is that Thorogood and the Destroyers, who will be in Reading for a concert Friday at 8 p.m. at the Sovereign Performing Arts Center, are very closely tied to the blues. In fact, after nearly 30 years in the business, the group was named Top Blues Artist by Billboard magazine in 2005, on the strength of the band's compilation album “George Thorogood: 30 Years of Rock,” which was named the No. 1 blues record in 2005 by the same magazine.

It's easy to see why Thorogood wouldn't want to pigeonhole himself. What he really likes, he said, is good music and the chance to play it.

“It's like learning Shakespeare if you're an English major,” he said. “I had to learn the blues to get started, but I took it from there.”

And take it, he did.

The band first played together in the 1970s, at Lane Hall at the University of Delaware, before quickly gaining the stature to open for blues greats Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, among others.

Then, of course, the Rolling Stones needed an opening act, so Thorogood and the Destroyers went on the road, eventually leaving only to complete their own endurance feat by doing the 50/50 tour that took the band to 50 states in 50 days.

That dedication (and craziness), coupled with the band's ability to find hits including “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Move It on Over,” and “Bad to the Bone,” have kept the band touring for decades.

“So far, so good,” Thorogood said, adding that his success is as likely due to what he knows he can't do as what he can.

“I know that I can't just stand there like Dylan and sing,” he said. “I can't sing like he does. And I can't entertain the way Willie Nelson does. I'm no Aretha Franklin. But I can move around on stage and I can B.S., so that's what I do.”

Thorogood said working stages today isn't that much different than 30 years ago, although he finds that he does need to pay more attention to his physical being, if not his art.

“I eat three meals a day and I get eight hours of sleep,” he said. “I have to.”

But he doesn't have to practice.

“Practice is hard,” he said. “I like performing. I like a crowd in front of me.”

He ticked off a list of performers who never practiced (Jackie Gleason, Roberto Clemente, Paul Butterfield.)

“If I'm going out on tour I might start getting my left hand in shape a couple of weeks before, but I don't practice every day. Randy Newman told me he never practiced, and when he plays his first gig of a tour, everyone can tell, but three days later only he can tell. It's easy for me to get right back in the groove.”

He added that you do have to practice when you're young.

“When you're in seventh grade, you do have to,” he said. “You gotta do it, just the same way as you gotta brush your teeth. But by the time you get to my age, you don't have to practice. You just do it.”

When Thorogood is performing, he's not thinking about practicing, either. Or much of anything.

“I'm thinking about getting through this without anyone getting hurt,” he said. “I'm thinking about everyone getting their money's worth.”

He said he knows his audience is made up of many different types of people, most of whom have plunked down their hard-earned money to hear him. He doesn't want to disappoint.

“I think it's my job that for 100 minutes, nothing bad happens,” Thorogood said. “A good night is when everyone goes home safe and happy.”

Toward that end, Thorogood wants to leave his fans with a final musical thought:

“Just remember that rock 'n' roll never sleeps,” he said. “It just passes out.”