George Thorogood at the Mann: Still bad to the bone

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By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER, Times Music Columnist
08/14/2008

It's so easy, bordering on lazy, to play the "Bad to the Bone" angle when doing an article about George Thorogood. Sure, it was a big hit, and to this day is even bigger as part of the pop culture lexicon, appearing on shirts, license plates and as tattoos for guys usually named Bud or Spike.

But there was a moment of confusion when Thorogood confessed to Rock Music Menu from the outset that he was doing "Baaad" this week.

Bad meaning good or bad meaning bad?

"No! It's an expression, 'Bad to the Bone,' I'm doin' bad!" Thorogood howled. "You get it? It's kind of like a moniker, like a thing you do."

Lesson learned. And if anyone is still allowed to reference "Bad to the Bone," it's the man who coined it, or at least is responsible for the enduring popularity of the phrase.

More than three decades in, the Delaware native and his Destroyers are still tearing up the road, hitting the Mann Music Center tonight with Chicago blues master Buddy Guy. "Buddy is such an incredible entertainer and performer. I have to really pick it up a notch, raise the bar a little bit," Thorogood said. "Playing with Buddy Guy is like a combination of B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix put together. Following that every night, you have to give the people something really special, because that's what they came to see: two dynamite live acts."

Guy is one of the few remaining blues legends, with the likes of Robert Lockwood Jr. and Henry Townsend passing in 2006. Hitting closer to home was the June death of Bo Diddley, whose song "Who Do You Love?" Thorogood covered.

He later featured the guitarist in the video for "Bad to the Bone," which lifted its signature riff in part from the Diddley composed "I'm a Man."

"I like all those effects he used when he started," Thorogood said. "He was pretty much ahead of his time, the way Jimi Hendrix blew everybody's mind in 1967; Bo Diddley was doing that in 1953 with the reverb and the tremolo, and flipping all over the stage and playing the guitar between his legs and all that stuff."

"What really got to me when he passed away. ... I loved the guy; we were partners, we were pals and we got along well. Every time I'd see him, if I hadn't see him in awhile, I'd walk in and say, 'Hiya Bo,' and he'd lean back and give me a suspicious look with those big thick glasses and go, 'Are you crazy?!' That's how he greeted me all the time. He was like that -- a lot of laughs, a fun guy."

Thorogood, at 58, is done trying to carry that old-school blues torch, saying he has, "completed the course." "I did my share," he said. "Now I just go out there and play the fan favorites."

It's a shame, because there isn't really anyone left to carry the blues forward. Sure, guys like John Mayer, Jack White and Jonny Lang can play the riffs, but they don't have the musical pedigree.

"Maybe one or two of them have seen John Lee Hooker play because he didn't pass away until 2001, and he was active right up until his death," Thorogood said. "But a lot of the heavy dudes, Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor and Howlin' Wolf, if a kid is 22, you were 3 years old when they died!

It's not your fault, but we have firsthand experience. It's a limited experience, but firsthand experience nonetheless." "They can learn it off the record, but Jeff (Simon, Destroyers' drummer) and I actually played with Muddy Waters. We opened for him and for Howlin' Wolf and met him and saw him perform. We're the last band to do that, 'cause they all passed away right after we got to know them."

And while Thorogood might just be doing the fan favorites live, he's still got some rocking to put down on wax. The word has slipped that next year, he'll be putting out an album of all blues covers, duplicating the feat of his 30-year-old sophomore classic, "Move It On Over." "The world's not ready for my originals," Thorogood laughed. "Only in small doses."

That might be for the best, as rarely has someone been able to take either a blues classic or a an obscure old record and stamp it with bristling swagger and attitude like Lonesome George can.

"I think I grabbed the maybe one or two left that no one is aware of yet, or that didn't appear on an old Yardbirds record," he said. "There probably might be one or two you've heard before, then there will be some you never heard of, and some you'll probably never want to hear again."

One subject unlikely to be covered, literally, is the time-honored drinking song, which Thorogood has been noted as the master of, despite the fact that they make up only three numbers in his catalog.

"I kinda steer away from that," he said. "Unless the song is really good, but even then; I did 'I Drink Alone,' 'If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave),' 'One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,' which isn't really about drinking, it's about a guy who can't pay his rent."

"I've covered that subject. It was never a dominating idea in my repertoire to begin with; it just happened that way. People will say, 'I got this great song about a real bad guy in a bar,' and I go, 'I think the world has enough songs like that.'"

Thorogood goes back to his beginnings on cover album

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Thorogood continues rocking to his own beat

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10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 31, 2008

By VANESSA FRANKO
The Press-Enterprise

Throughout his career, blues rock guitarist George Thorogood has shared the stage with the likes of the J. Geils Band, ZZ Top, Steve Miller and even Coachella Valley Resident Eric Burdon.

"I only work with the best -- why else do it?" Thorogood said in a recent telephone interview.

His latest tour is no different, as Thorogood stops at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles tonight and at Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella on Saturday with none other than Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Buddy Guy.

"Buddy Guy is the greatest," Thorogood said. "That guy, he's got both worlds covered. He could open for the Rolling Stones or to 100,000 people or pack the House of Blues for the rest of his life because not only does he play blues, but he's a vibrant entertainer."

Thorogood is a veteran in the live front as well, playing the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in February.

But Thorogood is selective about touring and only does about 80 shows per year.

"Other bands do 300 dates a year -- that would kill me. I couldn't make it to 90 or 100, I'd be dead," he said.

Thorogood, originally from Delaware, gained popular acclaim with his band the Destroyers in 1978, when his raucous, bluesy cover of Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" became a radio hit, shortly followed by Thorogood's version of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" and his biggest hit, 1982's "Bad to the Bone."

"We play better than we ever did," Thorogood said. "You do something for 30 years and eventually you're gonna get good at it. The venues keep improving and improving all the time so that keeps us very upbeat with what we do."

Thorogood is happy playing the hits for his fans.

"Nobody ever gets tired of having their work appreciated," he said.

He's got ballads, rockers, heartache songs and a fraction of drinking songs in his catalog. And the ones about suds and the hard stuff are some of his best-known work, such as "I Drink Alone" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."

But don't expect any more liquor-themed songs from what Thorogood himself describes as, the "world's greatest bar band."

"I'm not going to write or record any more. We have enough. There's enough drinking songs in the world, I think," he said, breaking out into a laugh.

Despite touring and working with some of the greats, Thorogood still seems floored when his idols and heroes want to meet and talk with him.

A few years ago, he was performing at the Love Ride, where Peter Fonda was hosting and when he came off stage, Fonda introduced him to Steve Miller.

"I'm standing here with Captain America and Stevie 'Guitar' Miller. I'm going out of my mind," Thorogood said, recounting how one summer he played Steve Miller's album every day and hitchhiked into town to see Fonda in "Easy Rider" twice every day and hitchhiked back out of town, listening to Miller.

"And here I am, standing here and Steve's going 'Why don't we do a tour together?' and Peter Fonda's going 'Yeah, that's great. Can I go?' " as Thorogood stood there incredulous. "Are you kidding me?"

With his hits and working with some of the greatest musicians and guitarists of all time, Thorogood is just happy to be in the game.

"I'm just proud to be part of it in some small way. If I was on a baseball team I'd say, 'Just get me a uniform. I don't care where I play, where I bat in the lineup, just get me a on a team,' " he said.

Bo Diddley, Rock Innovator, Influence on Stones, Dies

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June 2 (Bloomberg) -- Bo Diddley, the rock 'n' roll originator with the rectangular guitar whose signature beat influenced musicians from Buddy Holly to the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen, has died. He was 79.

Diddley died at his home in Archer, Florida, early today, according to his publicist, Susan Clary. The cause was heart failure. In May 2007, he suffered a stroke during a performance in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

He scored only a few hits in more than 40 years of recording, yet Diddley's impact on the development of rock 'n' roll places him in a pantheon with Chuck Berry and Little Richard. The maracas-fueled sound he introduced in 1955 on the song ``Bo Diddley'' evolved into what Rolling Stone magazine called ``the most plagiarized rhythm of the 20th century.''

The beat -- bomp a-bomp a-bomp bomp bomp -- became the driving force on songs such as Holly's ``Not Fade Away'' (1957), which the Stones recorded and the Grateful Dead used in live shows for years; Johnny Otis's ``Willie and the Hand Jive'' (1958); the Strangeloves' ``I Want Candy''(1965); The Who's ``Magic Bus'' (1968); the Stooges' ``1969'' (1969), Springsteen's ``She's the One'' (1975); and U2's ``Desire'' (1988).

The Stones' version of ``Not Fade Away'' in 1964 became their first top-10 hit in the U.K. and first U.S. release. In its early days, the band often opened its shows with the number.

``We did it with a Bo Diddley beat, which at the time was very avant garde for a white band to be playing Bo Diddley's stuff,'' said Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. ``It was a very popular rhythm for us in clubs.''

Guitar Sound

The distorted tremolo sound Diddley achieved on his guitar, which was souped up with electronic gadgets, expanded the instrument's range and influenced a generation of musicians such as Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds -- which made Diddley's ``I'm a Man'' one of its show-stoppers -- Keith Richards of the Stones, Jimi Hendrix and a legion of 1960s fuzz-tone garage rockers.

Diddley's ego was legendary. Who else but Bo Diddley would name his first recording after himself? His boasting and sexual bravado on songs like ``I'm a Man'' presaged American rap music by decades. Diddley, who spent years complaining that he had been overlooked by the public and the media, remained bitter about all the attention given to Elvis Presley.

``Elvis was not the first,'' Diddley told Neil Strauss of Rolling Stone magazine in 2005. ``I was the first son-of-a-gun out there. Me and Chuck Berry. And I'm very sick of the lie. You know, we're over that black-and-white crap, and that was all the reason Elvis got the appreciation that he did. I'm the dude that he copied, and I'm not even mentioned.''

Born in Mississippi

The man who would become Bo Diddley was born Ellas Otha Bates on Dec. 30, 1928, in McComb, Mississippi. His mother, who was about 15, asked her first cousin, Gussie McDaniel, to raise the child. Diddley never knew his father.

After Gussie McDaniel moved her family to Chicago during the Great Depression in 1935, she changed the child's last name to Bates McDaniel. Ellas McDaniel attended public school, where he learned how to box. At one point, he dreamed of becoming a prizefighter.

Like B.B. King and other great blues and rhythm-and-blues artists, Diddley's first exposure to music came from church, in this case the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side. He learned to play the violin and the trombone. At age 12, Diddley took up the guitar after hearing John Lee Hooker's 1949 rhythm-and-blues hit, ``Boogie Chillen.''

``Diddley claimed that playing the violin influenced his muted-string, choke-neck style of rhythm -- an early forerunner of funk that can be heard on songs like `Pretty Thing,''' the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame says in its official Bo Diddley biography.

Origin of Name

Diddley formed a band called the Hipsters, which played on street corners before landing a regular spot at a South Side juke joint called the 708 Club. He electrified his guitar using old radio parts and other gadgets, which created the famous vibrating tone. He gave bandmate Jerome Green maracas that he jerry-built from the floating rubber balls found inside toilets, and black- eyed peas. Diddley's thick black glasses completed the look.

The derivation of his stage name is the subject of debate. Some say it came from his days as a boxer; others say it's based on the one-string folk instrument called the diddley bow. Chess Records found that another Bo Diddley had been performing in Chicago in 1935. There are about a dozen versions of the story.

``I would love to know where the sucker came from,'' Diddley said in a 1995 interview, when asked about the name.

First Release

In 1955, Diddley signed with Checkers, a subsidiary of Chess, the label that featured Berry.

``Bo Diddley and I were signed to Chess records at the same time,'' Berry said today in a statement. ``He was a great artist and will be missed.''

Diddley's debut single was the two-sided ``Bo Diddley'' backed with ``I'm a Man.'' The A side featured the nursery school rhyme-like verse ``Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley, have you heard?'' while the B side had Diddley boasting ``All you pretty women, stand in line, I can make love to you baby, in an hour's time.''

The beat used on the A side, now known as the Bo Diddley beat, has been traced to West African drumming, the rhumba, the novelty rhythm ``shave and haircut -- two bits'' and a 1950s body-slapping street craze among black teenagers called the hambone.

The record, which topped the R&B charts for two weeks, is cited as one of the cornerstones of rock music and one of the most influential two-sided singles ever. A string of groundbreaking songs that combined rhythm-and-blues and rock 'n' roll followed, including ``Road Runner;'' ``Pretty Thing;'' ``Mona,'' also covered by the Stones; ``Who Do You Love?'' and ``You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover.''

TV Appearance

His appearance on the Ed Sullivan's ``Toast of the Town'' on CBS in 1955 is now regarded as one of the first rock 'n' roll performances on television.

A novelty song, ``Say Man,'' which featured verbal sparring between Diddley and Green, became a crossover hit in 1959.

In 1963, he toured the U.K., playing with the Stones, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers. A teenage Robert Plant, who would become the singer and co-songwriter for Led Zeppelin, attended one of the shows.

``Although the Stones were great, they were really crap compared with Diddley,'' Plant said in a 1990 interview with Q magazine. ``All his rhythms were so sexual, just oozing, even in a 20-minute spot.''

British Invasion

After the Beatles led the British invasion, Diddley's popularity waned, though he continued to tour relentlessly for the next four decades. In 1966, he released ``The Originator,'' an album where he staked his claim as one of rock 'n' roll's founding fathers. In 1967, after moving to California, Diddley made his debut at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, bringing his electrifying sound to the Summer of Love crowd.

Even though rock music changed, Diddley's influence never subsided. The Clash, the seminal British punk band, asked Diddley to open for the group on its first major U.S. tour in 1979. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer called Diddley his hero.

In 1982, Diddley was introduced to the MTV generation through the video of ``Bad to the Bone'' by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Thorogood and Diddley play a game of pool while billiards legend Willie Mosconi looks on. In the end, Thorogood wins when he flicks his cigar ash, making the eight ball fall into the pocket. Three years later, the two artists appeared together at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia.

In 1987, Diddley was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame at the Cleveland museum's second annual ceremony. The members of ZZ Top were his presenters. Two years later he appeared in a Nike commercial, telling baseball and football star Bo Jackson, ``Bo, You Don't Know Diddley.''

Speaking Out

Diddley continued to speak out against what he called the exploitation of early rock 'n' rollers, including himself, by record companies, promoters and music publishers.

He was married four times, most recently in 1992 to Sylvia Paiz, according to the Internet Movie Database Web site. Three prior marriages ended in divorce. He also had four children.

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards in Los Angeles in 1996. The same year he released ``A Man Amongst Men,'' his first on a major label in years. It featured Richards and Ron Wood of the Stones. He also was honored with a lifetime Grammy Award.

``Age ain't nothing but a number,'' Diddley told the Morning Call newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 2006, when he was 77. He said that disc pain in back had forced him to play while seated. The stage strutting and karate kicks were no more. ``But, he said, ``I'm just as dangerous sitting down.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Schoifet in New York at mschoifet@bloomberg.net.

Thorogood simply bad to the bone

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By ANN MARIE McQUEEN - Sun Media

George Thorogood is thoroughly committed to being George Thorogood.

For example, when answering the simple question "How are you?" he has this response: "I'm bad."

I groan. But at the same time, what I really want to say is, "Bad to the Bone," Mr. Thorogood?"

I reckon he wouldn't mind. This is the sort of performer who perpetuates his reputation for a particular sort of mainstream mediocrity, the cleverly constructed kind. Who, when asked about his shrewd tendency to self-deprecation, says quickly, "Self-deprecation. Is that when you wet your pants?"

The 56-year-old Thorogood, who is set to play the Ottawa Bluesfest mainstage tonight, knows exactly what self-deprecating means.

A quote on his website bio sums it up: "My biggest thrill is when someone says I've got George's new CD and it sounds exactly like the last."

The blues-rock mainstay from Wilmington, Del., has clearly figured the game out to achieve a steady, reliable sort of success. Mostly that has happened by giving rock fans exactly what they want, something that was evident when he played the Bluesfest in 2004.

"The reason you guys bring me to Ottawa is 'cause you need a rock band," he said. "You need a rock band and we're one you can afford. You can't afford Tom Petty. You can't afford Bruce Springsteen."

Thorogood has ridden his waves of popularity out, first assembling his band The Destroyers, releasing his debut album in 1974 and peaking with hits and three gold records in the 1980s.

And unlike some of his peers, Thorogood isn't about to complain about the current paralytic state of the music industry.

"Things change all the time," he says. "You have to adapt to the changes that go on or you don't stay in the business."

One thing of the changes he's witnessed slowly, over a 30-year career, is the state of the crowds that come to see him.

"They're much more behaved now. The ticket prices change all that ... someone pays $2 to get in you're taking your chances. Somebody pays $50 to get in, they are going to be on their best behaviour."

Thorogood says not only are his original fans grandparents now, there are often kids in his crowd. That means these days, when it comes to being "bad," he has to have just the right balance.

"There are people who are nine, 10, 11 years old out there, and then there are grandparents out there," he said. "I have to keep my rough-and-rowdy image going, but at the same time, I can't be vulgar or anything and be crude.

"There's children here."

The soft side of rock's wisecracking rebel

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Lynn Saxberg, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, July 06, 2007
If there's one thing about the music business George Thorogood would like to change, it's the expectation that an album/disc/record must contain a dozen or more tracks.

"That's a concept I'd love to change in the music industry," says the veteran singer-guitarist, who headlines Bluesfest's main stage tonight.

With his latest disc, Hard Stuff, he found it a challenge to gather enough obscure blues songs that he could rework to suit his down 'n' dirty, rock 'n' roll style.

"The Hard Stuff is not a bad record," Thorogood said during a recent phone interview, his demeanour alternating between disruptive wisecracks and surprisingly sensitive insight. "But there's nothing obscure anymore."

"I don't know if you've noticed but they have a thing called the Internet now, and you can get anything you want," he cracks.

"You can find out anything. That's why to find obscure material, like I used to base my career on, is a thing of the past.

"And I've been playing a certain way for so long that I really can't play anything different. When we did Ride Til I Die (his previous studio disc), the songs were falling out of the sky. Something was just going right for me then -- there was material that I'd never heard, material that I could play, material that I enjoyed playing, material I could introduce in live concerts. But the last one was tough, very, very tough to pull that thing together."

Thorogood established his career with a string of hard-edged, testosterone-dripping blues-rock anthems, including One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer, Bad to the Bone and I Drink Alone. His bluesy bluster about drinking and leaving conjured a rebellious image that holds great appeal with many of my biker friends.

They might be surprised to hear that their swaggering hero went through a period of self-doubt, and that he makes no secret of the fact that he's a sensitive guy. As a boy, he liked poetry and would get emotional over spotting the first robin of spring.

"You know how sensitive I am," he says. "I think that's the key to being an artist, whatever type of artist you are. I'm a performing artist, that's what I do. There has to be a level of sensitivity here. I'm not a bricklayer, I'm not a policeman. Policemen can't afford to be sensitive."

Thorogood eventually found enough material to fill Hard Stuff, including a couple of his own songs, as well as covers of tunes by Fats Domino and John Lee Hooker. There's even a sweet, soulful take on Dylan's Drifter's Escape that proves the sensitivity theory. But the Holland K. Smith track, Rock Party, makes a fun, upbeat song for Thorogood, and earns my vote as the Bluesfest song of the day. Sample lyric: "Come on everybody, there's a rock party tonight, everybody's dancing, everybody feels alright."

That's what it's all about for Thorogood -- the live show. In these days of endless entertainment options, he wants those who attend his concert to feel they've made the right choice.

"These people are paying money," he says. "There's other things to do. You gotta be aware of that. Basically you want everybody to leave saying 'I'm really glad I did that tonight.'"

He's just as adamant about getting them home safely.

"I think the most important issue of the night is that everybody goes home safely. No injuries, no auto accidents, safety first."

So if you can't resist hoisting a cold one when George growls the words bourbon, scotch or beer, leave the car (or motorcycle) at home. There's no parking anyway.

George Thorogood plays the MBNA stage at 9:30 p.m. Tickets & times, www.ottawabluesfest.ca

Thorogood makes no bones about his signature song

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By WAYNE BLEDSOE, bledsoe@knews.com
April 13, 2007

It doesn't bother George Thorogood one bit that's known to most of the world by one song - "Bad to the Bone."
"One time a writer asked me how it felt to be a one-hit wonder," says Thorogood. "I told him, 'Well, it's better than being a NO-hit wonder!' "

Thorogood laughs, over the cell phone.

Of course, Thorogood was wowing crowds before "Bad to the Bone" became a hit in 1982, but the number became a signature song not only for Thorogood, but for the idea of a tough guy. It now makes regular appearances in movies and television shows.

"What makes it work is that it's a total fantasy," says Thorogood. "Remember James Bond or you see a Clint Eastwood movie? Everybody wants to be that guy. Women say, 'I want to be with that guy!' Even if it's just for an hour. Somebody gets on a motorcycle, and maybe they crash the motorcycle, but for maybe 45 minutes they thought they were that guy."

A native of Delaware, Thorogood and his band the Destroyers (at one time called the Delaware Destroyers) made a name for themselves in the 1970s as one of the hottest bar bands in the game.

Thorogood says he had a plan for success:

"I don't have the voice of Aretha Franklin or Dean Martin or Barbra Streisand. I'm not like Jeff Beck or Carlos Santana where I can just go out there and wow them for two hours with my guitar playing. When I started out, it was when Led Zeppelin was big. Well, nobody could sing like that guy. I had to just do what I can do."

He says his inspirations were John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley, because their music was simple and could communicate to a wide audience.

"Then you had the Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Canned Heat and all those guys going strong. I said, 'Well, here's something I can get a piece of before it's too late. I can get a little attention with this slide-guitar thing.'"

The group first made a dent in 1978, with a rocked-up cover of Hank Williams' "Move It on Over."

Thorogood says he wanted a sound that could fit into as many situations as possible.

Thorogood knew he had something special when he wrote "Bad to the Bone," but his first picks to perform the song were legends.

"I wanted Muddy Waters to do it, and he refused," says Thorogood. "Then I wanted Bo Diddley to do it, but he didn't have a recording contract."

That turned out to be lucky for Thorogood. His recording of "Bad to the Bone" was buoyed by a video that received regular airplay on the recently launched MTV.

While he's continued to make new recordings through the years, none have matched the sales of his early material. He finds no shame at all in that.

"Did Johnny Cash or does B.B. King or Eric Clapton need to make another record? For bookings, to play, do they need to make more records? No."

He points out a time when he was recording a new album and a promoter was insistent that Thorogood perform for a festival.

"My manager told him, 'He can't talk about it right now because he's in the studio making a new record.' You know what the guy said? He said, 'Why?'

"Seventy-five to 80 percent of the people who come to my concerts just want to hear stuff off the first two records. I should've just stopped right there!"

He is a little bothered that so many people associate his music with drinking songs.

"We've done 11 studio records, each album has around 10 songs, that's 110 to 115 songs altogether, and only three of those songs have to do with drinking, and only one was written by me," says Thorogood.

He does have goals - acting jobs might be part of that, despite, he says, a lack of "talent or ability."

"I'm in a new movie," he says. "It's directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Elmore Leonard, stars Robert De Niro and Jon Voight. I play a bad guy. It's called 'The Ballad of Lonesome George."

Really?

"No, but I can dream."

STILL 'BAD' AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: Thorogood and the Destroyers to rock Sundown

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thanks for the hat tip, DMF

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

For blues aficionados and casual music fans alike — at least, for those around when MTV was in its infancy — there's an iconic image of George Thorogood burned into the brain:

A fat cigar, a game of pool, a satisfied and shark-toothed grin as the 8-ball drops, giving him victory in a game of pool against blues guitar legend Bo Diddley.

It's a simple storyline, made for a music video at a time when there were few music videos period, much less ones stocked with special effects, dance moves and scantily clad, gyrating girls. It propelled the song for which it was made — "Bad to the Bone" — to the top of the charts, and established Thorogood as one of the early stars of MTV.

Thorogood, however, was around long before MTV hit the airwaves. And though he may not outlast it, he'll certainly be the sort of iconic rock star that's sorely lacking on the channel these days. "Bad to the Bone" may have been co-opted as the song to countless commercials and movie scenes, but it's still inextricably tied to Thorogood. It's who he is, and when he talks, it's with a confidence that the listener can't help but accept as fact.

"I'm the last one — I'm it, the last of the old school,"
Thorogood told The Daily Times in a recent interview. "Let's say I'm about 50
or 60 (the Web site Wikipedia lists his birthday as Dec. 31, 1951); I'm the
last of the card-carrying bunch that saw Muddy Waters play. I played with him. I opened for him. Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker … we're the last band of that time, and it's not the fault of the young people who came after me — those guys have just died and passed on.

"I think sometimes these younger people think I'm younger than I actually am, and that I only have two records out. Some of these young guys can really play, but unfortunately because of the time that they came along, they didn't get a chance to see the real deal. Seeing it, witnessing it, experiencing it — that's something you can't learn off of listening to a record.

"Granted, I heard Robert Johnson on a record, but I saw Muddy Water play a Robert Johnson song two feet in front of me," Thorogood added. "The whole time, I was saying, 'This is it, George; this is as close as you're going to get to the real thing.'"

George Thorogood and the Destroyers came blasting out of the 1970s with "Better Than the Rest," released in 1974. On the strength of powerhouse covers of songs by Chuck Berry, Elmore James, Hooker and Diddley, the group signed to Rounder Records after moving to Boston, releasing "Move It On Over" in 1978, the title track of which was a cover of the 1947 Hank Williams Sr. hit. In 1979, another cover followed — Diddley's "Who Do You Love," with Thorogood cranking up the electric guitar firepower to the boiling point and stirring the pot with his trademark growling, swaggering vocals.

In the 1980s, a combination of exposure and hard work helped the band earn a reputation as a workingman's blues-rock outfit that churned out the ideal soundtrack to Saturday nights spent drinking, fighting and loving at roadhouses along America's blue-collar backroads. In 1981, the band made several appearances opening for The Rolling Stones; and in the early part of that decade, the band undertook an ambitious, 50-states-in-50-nights gig run that kicked off with a show in Hawaii followed the next night by one in Alaska.

Almost 40 years later, Thorogood and the Destroyers are still doing what they've always done best — play hard, rock hard and work hard. It's something Thorogood said he never grows tired of, and while songs like "Who Do You Love," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" and the aforementioned "Bad to the Bone" may have given many folks the impression that he's some sort of eternal hell-raiser who sleeps beneath the bar at places in which he plays and has spilled more liquor than today's young Turks will ever drink, he's very much a family man.

"That song ("Bad to the Bone") — half of it is reality and half is fantasy," he said. "You watch movies with James Bond and Sean Connery playing him, and you think, 'I'd like to be that guy,' but that's not reality. Certain songs of mine are reality, and certain ones are fantasies, and I guess I'm a little bit somewhere in between the two of them.

"Since my daughter has been born, I've been going to more parties than I ever have in my whole life — birthday parties, Halloween parties, you name it. It's a lot safer, though — all kids and no booze."

Not that Thorogood's pace these days is all play and no
work. According to his publicist, he's following up 2006's studio album "The
Hard Stuff" with his first-ever acoustic album (although Thorogood, when asked
about it, plays coy, feigning ignorance of such a project). In addition, his
greatest hits compilation, "30 Years of Rock," was named the No. 1 blues album
of 2005 and 2006 by Billboard magazine, meaning there's an ever-steady demand for his hits.

Despite the success, he remains grounded in the reality of his place in the grand scheme of things — a torchbearer, the last man standing at the fabled crossroads where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul. The ghosts of his predecessors are there to keep him company, and the young guns who have followed in his wake stop by to pay homage ... but in the end, it's Thorogood, standing tall, still smoking that fat cigar and grinning like a wolf.

"The music is bigger than me, and it'll go on long after I'm not here," he said. "The songs made me famous; I didn't make them famous. I know where I stand in this thing. I always say, I went to the same school as Keith Richard and Eric Clapton; the only difference is that they graduated.

"I'm the last person to go to that school before they shut the school down. I got the chance to see the best, and you can never replace those people. Sure, there are guys out there now that might sell as many records and become icons of their own generation, but they'll never do for music what somebody like Jimi Hendrix did.

"I'm so fortunate to have seen what I saw and got to be a part of," he added. "It was a gold mine of education, and it can never be replaced or duplicated."

Beyond 'Bad to the Bone,' Thorogood offers blues-based rock 'n' roll

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Blue-collar blues-rock is one way to sum up the music of George Thorogood and the Destroyers, who will be kicking off the fourth leg of their 2006 tour at Sandia Resort and Casino on Wednesday.

Thorogood and the Destroyers, who once played 50 shows in 50 states in 50 days, have built a reputation over a 30-year career as a band that works hard and plays hard.

This year's tour — in support of their 12th studio album, "The Hard Stuff," released in May — has already taken them to 10 countries and 13 states. But the 55-year-old Thorogood never grows weary of playing hard-driving blues-based rock 'n' roll.

"I get tired, but I don't get tired of it," he said in a recent phone interview with the News-Bulletin. "What else is there besides playing in a rock band? Nothing."

Thorogood, who grew up in the industrial town of Wilmington, Del., has an affinity for his blue-collar fan base.

"I'm just a working stiff and family man. I spend as much time with my wife and daughter as possible," said Thorogood, who will be coming off a month-long break from touring.

A family man, OK. But a working stiff? Man, you're a rock 'n' roll star.

"I've got that going, too," he said. "I'm a rock star on the bandstand, and there's nobody badder at it than me."

Thorogood and the Destroyers erupted onto the music scene in the late 1970s with their self-titled debut album, which included the much-reveled "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" — a cover of an old John Lee Hooker tune. The album also included rocked up versions of songs by blues kings Bo Diddley, Elmore James and Leadbelly.

The band's second release, "Move It On Over," took its title from a song on the album first done by Hank Williams, who modified it from a song originally done by bluesman Charley Patton. "Move It On Over" and Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" were huge hits that established Thorogood as one of America's preeminent rockers.

"I didn't make those songs famous; they made me famous," he said.

Thorogood cemented his place in the hearts of working class Americans — and the American pop culture — with "Bad to the Bone," a song he wrote, in 1982. Tunes like "I Drink Alone," and "I Really Like Girls" followed on subsequent albums, adding to his blue-collar appeal.

The new album includes covers of songs by John Lee Hooker ("Huckle Up"), Jimmy Reed ("Little Rain Falling") and Fats Domino ("Hello Josephine"), as well as original songs, such as the title track and "Anytown USA."

In addition to some of the newer material off "The Hard Stuff," Thorogood promised the Sandia show would include the songs that made him famous.

"The new songs we put in the show are very groovy," he said, adding those attending Wednesday's show at Sandia won't be disappointed. "They'll witness the greatest rock 'n' roll show on the planet."

George remains good at being bad

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By Deanna Dowlin, Journal Staff Writer

As one might expect, George Thorogood is definitely bad to the bone, just as his music proclaims. But what you might not expect is his softer side — a charming, compassionate, low-tech, rebel-with-a-cause — and the man is also incredibly funny.

This self-proclaimed, glorified-bar-band player has been generating loud, angry blues-rock more than 30 years and is best known for his seductive slide guitar and growling vocals. His band, the Destroyers, has Jim Suhler on guitar, Buddy Leach on saxophone, Billy Blough on bass and Jeff Simon on drums. Their “Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock” album was named the No. 1-selling blues album of 2005, after running 50 weeks at the top of the charts.

Personally, you’ll find songs by George Thorogood and the Destroyers in my workout playlist and of course, my Harley cruisin’ playlist. Nothing goes together better than a little testosterone-fueled music and a Harley ride through the Black Hills. George Thorogood and the Destroyers will be rocking the Buffalo Chip on Monday, Aug. 7, with honky-tonk band Montgomery Gentry opening.

Thorogood has performed at the rally only once before, two years ago, but he has been to the Black Hills several times, including at Saloon No. 10 for a Badlands benefit in 1989 and at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in 1981 during his 50 states in 50 days tour.

“I love the Black Hills,” Thorogood said. “If you made it through Sturgis once, you’re a vet.”

Thorogood even remembered that the 1981 show fell on Halloween night, which tells me that it must have been one heck of a show. I would imagine a tour that covers 50 states in 50 days — a feat that has yet to be duplicated — would become one big blur. He also confessed that he and the band read up on the history of the Black Hills before visiting and still remembers their visit to the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok on Mount Moriah. “You don’t even have to do the sightseeing,” he said. “The whole area is so historic.”

Thorogood doesn’t ride a motorcycle — he claims that he’s waiting for Harley-Davidson to donate one — but he does appreciate them. “My brother is a big biker,” Thorogood said. “He used to have an Indian 61 Triumph with a teardrop gas tank. Man, that sucker could really fly.”

Thorogood is on a tour to promote his new album “The Hard Stuff” that’s reminiscent of the passionate and angry Thorogood of the glory days. The album includes the gritty, rumbling title track “Hard Stuff” that leaves your ears ringing no matter how loud you play it; a Fats Domino cover of “Hello Josephine” that is Thorogood gone zydeco; a John Lee Hooker cover of “Huckle Up Baby” that you can’t help groovin’ to; a Johnny Shines cover of “Dynaflow Blues” that showcases Thorogood’s signature slide guitar; and a different flavor of Thorogood in his almost-latin cover of Bob Dylan’s “Drifter’s Tale.”

“Hello Josephine” is dedicated to the people of New Orleans and their “undying spirit” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “Hurricane Katrina was a really bad thing,” Thorogood said, “and I said to myself, who would be a better ambassador for New Orleans than Fats Domino?” Thorogood donated the proceeds from two concerts last fall to the Red Cross Katrina relief fund and Communities in Schools, which delivers all donations to schools, students and educational systems in the affected states.

“New Orleans didn’t get much help from the government,” he said. “In this world, it sounds kind of corny, but you can’t rely on outside sources all the time. We’re going to have to help each other. ... We need to look to each other for support.”

Thorogood revealed his compassionate side again while discussing an issue closer to home — the Bear Butte protest at this year’s rally. “My heart belongs to the Native Americans,” Thorogood said. “They were here first. It should not be ignored. ... They’ve got a legitimate point. Bear Butte has been there for thousands of years, and that should be respected.”

Thorogood has a considerable fan base of American Indians and has even dedicated his song “American Made” to them. “I don’t want to interfere with anyone’s religious belief,” Thorogood said. “Bear Butte is cherished by these people. .. If it was a Jewish temple or a Catholic cathedral, it would be the same thing. ... On the other hand, for other Americans, their religion is Harley-Davidson.”

When asked if he had any other current causes, Thorogood named simply the general human condition. “We need to try to get everyone on the planet living as healthy and as long as they can. ... We are all part of the general human condition, Native Americans or Katrina victims, it should be all one common cause.”

Thorogood is well known for being a low-tech kind of guy. He had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned my iPod playlist. “I’m not good with stuff,” Thorogood said. “Don’t give me stuff. Give me a funny story. If I can’t eat it, drink it or smoke it, I’m not interested. Will it help me write the next ‘Jumping Jack Flash?’ No.”

In fact, Thorogood has played for most of his career on a Gibson ES-125, which is set up like an acoustic or semi-electric guitar. When his favorite guitar pick was discontinued, he bought the machine that makes them. You have to admit, there is a certain charm about his theory.

“All that time on the computer could be time spent with my daughter or my friends or doing something else that I can’t mention today, if you know what I mean. I am a heterosexual male.” Thorogood may be showing more of his softer side, but his bad-boy core is as vibrant as ever.

When I asked Thorogood what he attributes his musical success to, he said, “the fantastic, loyal fan support. The people make you, and the people break you, so it’s all about the people.

“I had a cat come up to me once. I used to open for him, and now he opens for me. He asked me, ‘How did you get there? How did I get here? How did you do it?’ I said, ‘I’ll give you three reasons that I’m here and you’re there: One, bourbon, one, scotch, and one, beer,’ ‘Bad to the Bone’ and ‘Move It On Over.’ You’ve got to have a song. Would B.B. King be B.B. King without ‘The Thrill is Gone?’ You’ve got to have the tunes.”

Thorogood is a bit too modest if you ask me, but he’s not wrong. “If you have a song, you got a job,” he said. “If you have three songs, you’re a legend.”

I asked Thorogood what’s next for him, and he quipped, “I’d like to try ventriloquism.” Comedian, perhaps? “I’m waiting for Dennis Leary to retire,” he said. “I can be obnoxiously funny, too, you know.” The man does not lie.

The legendary Thorogood signed off our interview with quintessential cool, “Keep it down. Keep it cool. I’ll see you at the rally.”

20th Annual Wetzel swap meet and party

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Thorogood, Nugent set to take the stage
BY CINDY WOOD

Times Bulletin Editor

cwood@timesbulletin.com

He is "bad to the bone" and the first to admit it. Confident, but far from conceited, George Thorogood has sustained himself in an industry that spits musicians out like bad apples.

Although his music is arguably not the most popular, it is immensely enjoyed by legions of fans around the globe.

This weekend, it will be enjoyed by thousands at the 20th Annual Wetzel swap meet and party. "You gotta have good tunes to begin with," Thorogood told the Times Bulletin during a recent interview. "If you have no tunes, then you have nothing. What if Joan Jett had never done the song, 'I Love Rock 'n Roll? Of course, there are different avenues of exposure and who knows where we'll be 10 years from now. They might be dropping cd's out of helicopters by then. I don't really know what the next phase will be."

But he does know where he's been. Thorogood was born Dec. 24, 1950 in Wilmington, Delaware. Ironically, he felt most at home with a baseball bat, and not a guitar, in his hands. He spent a short while playing in the minor leagues before a John Paul Hammond concert lured the musician to the world of rock and roll.

The rest, as they say, is musical history.The band's first release of demos in 1979, the "Better Than the Rest" project, quickly caught on and the group secured a contract with Rounder Records. After their debut in 1977, the group released "Move it on Over" in 1978, its success based partly on continuous FM airplay. In 1982, the group, now signed with EMI records, released "Bad to the Bone" which still remains a jukebox favorite today.

It was during the '80s when Thorogood and the Destroyers' popularity exploded. Some of that success, Thorogood said, came from simply being in the right place at the right time. "It's all about timing. Everything is about timing," he said. In 1982, a then-unknown phenomenon called MTV hit the airwaves, and Thorogood was more than happy to jump on board. "We got in on the ground floor with our 'Bad to the Bone' video," Thorogood said. After running his course with MTV, Thorogood received heavy airplay from classic rock radio, which helped to sustain the group over time.

"When MTV sold out to larger corporations, this new phenomenom called classic rock radio began, so we had a few songs get in on the infancy of that." Thorogood's wildly-popular "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" was a favorite on FM radio, and remains a fan favorite today, something that doesn't surprise Thorogood at all. "Between classic rock, MTV and FM radio, we just kept popping up and stayed in the public eye," Thorogood said. "But had those things not existed, I don't think I would be around right now. If you have a song or two that fits any of those formats, you can make a living. Add to that, the fact that I am the greatest, not to mention the most modest," Thorogood quipped.

His sense of humor helps him unwind during extensive tours across the globe. His current tour will take the rocker all around the world, and coincidentally, right here in our own backyard.

Among his stops is a performance at the 20th Annual Wetzelland party. He's looking forward to an outrageous show, he said.

"I am merely the waiter, and you all have the menu," he said. "I just come to the table and say this is what's on the menu, and you let me know what you want to hear. Fair enough?" he said. "You can expect classic George Thorogood and his legion of immortals to ride in and Ohio will never be the same. That's essentially why people hire us. It's really not too bad to get paid to have a good time. It's a good job to have."

Never out to prove anything to anyone, Thorogood said he was satisfied when he realized he could make a living in music. "I was just trying to get a job," he said. "I guess if I had to prove anything, it was that I could make a living doing this, and I can continue to do that. If I can sustain another five years, then I guess I did alright." As a matter of fact, Thorogood has done better than fine. With 19 albums under his belt and legions of die-hard fans, Thorogood is a true rock 'n roller, and has every intention of staying that way.

He's gearing up for a rockin' time at Wetzelland, and until then..."Wop Bop a loo Bop, keep it down and keep it cool people."

Thorogood classics keep fans coming back

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By Alan Sculley
For the Tribune-Review
Thursday, July 20, 2006

Though George Thorogood's newest CD, "The Hard Stuff," came out in May, he ponders what has to be a question most veteran musicians and bands ask when their run of hit songs and popular CDs has run dry.

Thorogood is considering at what point should he just not bother making and releasing new music and instead just rely on his catalog to make up the set list for his live shows, including Wednesday's performance at the Pepsi Cola Roadhouse in Burgettstown.

After all, he says, his fans come to hear him play his signature hits, which he knows is a common experience for any artist fortunate enough to have had a 30-year career like his. And in reality, he says, can the new songs even compete with the more familiar material?

"I don't mind hearing new stuff if the new stuff is good," Thorogood says. "But if it's not good, then I just want to hear the old stuff. John Fogerty is going to be very hard pressed to write any more songs that are as good as 'Fortunate Son' and 'Green River' and 'Old Man Down The Road.' He's hard act to follow. He's trying to follow himself.

"I'm just making a point that every artist gets to that point eventually," he says. "I've seen Paul McCartney three times. I can't remember one song besides 'Freedom' that he did that was off his latest record. I remember all the other (famous) ones."

At this point, Thorogood knows he had a half-dozen to 10 songs that fans want him to play at each show -- such as "Move It On Over," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" and "Bad To The Bone." But his newer material -- such as songs from his most recent studio CD, 2003's "Ride 'Til I Die" -- hasn't caught on to where fans demand to hear those songs alongside the classics.

With these comments, it would be easy to assume Thorogood is frustrated with his career and the music business.

That, actually, didn't seem to be the case, as he says he enjoys playing live more than ever. And the truth is that when he started out, he not only never envisioned anything resembling a long-term career, he was barely looking beyond the next gig -- even when he signed with Rounder Records, a Boston-based label that specialized in folk music -- in the mid-1970s.

"I had an idea that it would just, I was going to do a four-record deal with Rounder," Thorogood says. "I was going to do two studio albums, a live album and an all-acoustic album, a solo album, which I have yet to do. And then I was just going to take whatever notoriety I had and I was going to come to like California and try to get small bit parts in movies or something. Small parts, not leading parts, not like Elvis Presley did. I'm talking about just small parts and then maybe just play music on the side. It just didn't work out that way."

Instead, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," a song written by blues great John Lee Hooker, became a radio hit in 1975 and put Thorogood on the map. Then when he scored another hit with his rocking version of the Hank Williams song "Move It On Over" in 1978, Thorogood's career was off and running -- and ready for full takeoff just four years later when "Bad To The Bone" arrived.

Thorogood remained on a roll well into the 1980s before his success leveled off. Still he managed to see several more songs become staples of his live set -- such as the aforementioned "If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)" from 1991 and "Get A Haircut" from 1993. In 2003, when he reached the 30th anniversary of his first gig with his backing band, the Destroyers, he still had the comfort of knowing he remains a strong live draw.

He marked that milestone by releasing a 16-song anothology, "Greatest Hits: 30 Years Of Rock," and a live DVD, "30th Anniversary Tour: Live," which captured a full-length concert in England.

Thorogood is willing to hype his newest CD release -- a little bit, anyway. After jokingly saying it would be the most revolutionary rock album since the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," he finally acquiesced just a bit.

"It's Thorogood at his usual," he says. "It's dirty, rough, straight-from-the-shoulder, you know, like they say, every Woody Allen movie is different, but they're all the same."

Thorogood's Hard Stuff serves more than bourbon, scotch, beer

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Friday, June 02, 2006
Gary Graff
Special to The Plain Dealer

George Thorogood is the first to admit that his music is "not the most complicated stuff you'll ever hear." But there's a bit more breadth to his new album, "The Hard Stuff" (Eagle), and he wants people to notice that.

"I just want to show that the band has more depth than we get credit for," Thorogood says. " One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer' is practically one chord; so is Bad to the Bone.' They just happen to be our most popular songs, but we do a lot more than that."

"The Hard Stuff" has plenty of the gritty blues-rock that is Thorogood's stock-in-trade, but he and his band, the Destroyers, also delve into Cajun country on their arrangement of Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine," take things to the garage on "Give Me Back My Wig" and "Any Town USA" and bring a rural-roots flavor to "Dynaflow Blues" and Jimmy Reed's "Little Rain." They lend a subtle Latin flavor to Bob Dylan's "Drifter's Escape," while "Cool It!" is a swinging instrumental showcase for Thorogood's six-string and Buddy Leach's saxophone.

"It comes down to this: A good tune is a good tune is a good tune," Thorogood says. "I was talking to a vice president of EMI Records 20 years ago; we were struggling with one album to find the material. He told me a story about being at a party one time, and he went up to Quincy Jones -- the world's most famous producer next to George Martin, right? And he said, Quincy, what makes a hit tune?'

"And Quincy Jones said, Three things -- the tune, the tune and the tune. That's what does it.' I always keep that in mind."

Gearing up for new album - - -

Thanks to DestroyerMetFan we all have some info on the new CD. The link to the Eagle Records bio of GT is here. However, for your reading pleasure and for the sake of archiving, here is the complete text (new CD info in bold):

George Thorogood has a theory. “In any field, especially the arts, there are always two things – ‘genius’ and ‘very clever.’ There’s no in-between. You’re either a genius or very clever. I’m going to throw out two names at you. John Lennon – genius, right? And Mick Jagger? Very clever. See what I’m saying? I’ll give you another example. Einstein – genius. And George Thorogood – very clever.’’

Yet what about the people who think Thorogood is a genius in his own way? “OK, I’m a genius at being very clever,’’ he says with a hearty laugh.

Thorogood loves quips almost as much as he loves the blues, so here’s another: “Let’s put it this way. Dylan has a Rolls Royce dealership. I have a used Chevy dealership. But I’m in the business. You got it? That’s all I wanted from this thing. A gig, man. And I got a gig.’’

Thorogood and his band the Destroyers have held that gig for more than 30 years. And he’s not about to let go now. “It’s like a championship fight,’’ he says. “You’ve got two guys in the ring – one guy who’s the contender and wants to get the title and you’ve got the guy who’s got the title and it took him 15 years to get the title and he’s held onto it for five years. Who’s going to be the tougher opponent? It’s going to be the guy with the title who worked hard to get it. You’re going to have to kill him to get it away from him. And that’s all that I’m doing up there. I’m trying to hold my gig. I just want to make sure that at the end of the night the promoter comes up and says, ‘I want to hire you again.’ ‘’

The Destroyers fought their way to the top. They came out of Delaware in the ‘70s as a jarringly high-energy bunch (also featuring drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Billy Blough) whose raucous, slide guitar-stoked, blues-rock takes on tunes by Chuck Berry, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and others helped land them a contract with Cambridge’s Rounder Records. They had moved to Boston and cut their teeth in the city’s blues circuit before their second album for Rounder, “Move It On Over,’’ struck big with the title track, an amped-up cover of a Hank Williams tune.

They added a saxophonoist (Hank Carter) and further fame came in the ‘80s through a signing to EMI Records, which released a series of gold records by the band. These included 1982’s “Bad to the Bone’’ (the title track is Thorogood’s best-known composition and its video became a staple on MTV) and 1988’s “Born to Be Bad,’’ with the swaggering hit, “You Talk Too Much.’’ The ‘90s saw more hitmaking with 1993’s “Get a Haircut,’’ from the album, “Haircut.’’ And albums followed into the new millennium with 2003’s “Ride ‘Til I Die’’ (on Eagle Records, which is also putting out his new disc, "Hard Stuff") and a 2004 Capitol compilation, “Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock,’’ which went gold and topped Billboard’s blues chart for 60 weeks, while winning the magazine’s award for blues record of the year.

And still, Thorogood good-naturedly downplays his accomplishments. “In 1970 I said, ‘You ain’t no genius, George.’ You’ve got to figure out a way to do this with barely a high school education and no voice to speak of and some interesting chops on the guitar. But you’ve got to bullshit your way in there, man. I say this to the world: The Beatles did what they did, the rest of us played the blues.’’

The Destroyers have expanded through the years – they now include not only Simon and Blough, but guitarist Jim Suhler (a Texan who used to play with the band Monkey Beat and was brought aboard in 1999) and saxophonist Buddy Leach, who joined in 2003.

The new album, “Hard Stuff,’’ is a keep-the-faith effort with covers of tracks by John Lee Hooker (“Huckle Up,’’ with its “Boogie Chillun’’ flavor), Jimmy Reed (‘’Little Rain Falling’’), and Fats Domino (“Hello Josephine,’’ dedicated to “the undying spirit of the people of New Orleans’’). And Thorogood did more of his own writing this time, hooking up with Nashville roots stalwart Tom Hambridge (who has worked with Susan Tedeschi, NRBQ and Lynyrd Skynyrd) for the whomping title track, plus the gritty travelogue “Anytown USA’’ with references to the rock meccas of Cleveland, Detroit, and Boston. And Suhler, the Destroyers’ rhythm guitarist, also chipped in with some writing credits.

Through it all, Thorogood maintains his cleverness. “How far can you stretch three chords? Or in my case, one chord?’’ he says, laughing again. “How many different paint jobs can I put on ‘Johnny B. Goode’? You got it? My biggest thrill is when somebody says to a friend, ‘I’ve got George’s new CD and it’s just like the last one.’ You know what I mean?

“Not all of us are John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They started off playing Chuck Berry, then they developed it into ‘Strawberry Fields.’ I am not like that, nor do I ever proclaim to be like that.’’

Thorogood prefers to think of himself as a role-player, but that role has been pleasing a couple of generations of rock fans by this point. He retains his innocence and also his self-deprecating humor.

“I once talked to Randy Newman and I was freaked out because he told me what a big fan of mine he was,’’ says Thorogood. “I said, ‘Hey, you’re Randy Newman. You’re a genius. And after a while, he got a little miffed. He said, ‘George, can’t I like ‘Bad to the Bone’? What’s the matter with you?’ He was singing the National Anthem at a ballgame and I couldn’t even concentrate on the game because I was so freaked out that Randy Newman not only knew who I was, but that he dug what I do. When I was going home, my father-in-law said, ‘Look at it this way, I heard that Laurence Olivier was a big Three Stooges fan.’ You got it? That’s all Jeff and Billy and I were: Larry, Moe and Curley. But Larry, Moe and Curley are still on TV, OK?

“I’m still on the scoreboard.’’

By STEVE MORSE (a critic at the Boston Globe for 31 years and a member of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

And awaaay we go!

article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune

By P.J. LEVINE

CORRESPONDENT

To paraphrase an old adage, in the world of rock 'n' roll, some men see things as they are and say "why?"; some dream of things that never were and say "why not?"

George Thorogood sees his guitar and tour bus, and says "why the (expletive) not?"

For more than three decades, Thorogood and his band, The Destroyers, have personified the spirit of roots rock with lengthy, high-energy tours featuring songs about wine, women and, well, more wine and women.

Speaking by phone from Los Angeles as he and his band once again prepare to hit the road, Thorogood is as affable and ingratiating as the music he plays. It's also readily apparent that he's as skilled at playing the media as he is his six-string guitar.

Before the first question can be asked, he's into rock 'n' roll raconteur mode.

"Let me tell you a story about us playing Tampa," he says. "We've played there many times, but one time around 1997, we'd just played the Tampa Theatre -- which I call the people's theater!

"I was getting ready to head into the (tour) bus when a guy runs up to me, shakes my hand, and says 'Hey, George man, I drove for an hour to get here, and I can't wait to see your show.' I told him, 'Sorry, dude, we've just finished.' The guy just smiled at me and said, 'Oh, that's OK, I'll see you next year at the Tampa Theatre!'

"That told me something -- the guy had obviously looked forward to this all year, drove down here, missed the show, and was still ready to drive back again next year!"

Amid laughter, Thorogood added: "Hell, he didn't even see the show and was still happy .... now that's the kind of fans you want!"

It's that Everyman persona -- just a working-class kid from Delaware who made good -- that's been the bedrock of Thorogood's lengthy career.

A proponent and exponent of blues rock, Thorogood began as an opening act for many of the same blues legends whose songs he revered and still frequently performs.

"It was pretty amazing for me, early in my career, to be opening for guys like Howlin' Wolf, Albert Collins and Hound Dog Taylor," he says. "I mean, I was just happy that I got to see all these guys, let alone open for them."

But when pressed on which artists most shaped his musical persona and style, Thorogood quickly slips back into stand-up comic mode.

"Uh, well, it was around 1965 or so, and there was this one guy, not sure I can remember his name -- maybe you can help me here -- it . . . re -- it was like Mick Richards or Keith something or other," he deadpans.

Could he mean Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards?

"Yeah, that's the dude!" Thorogood exclaims. "And later, the cat who really got me focused was (blues guitarist) John Hammond. Like everybody else, there were three heavy influences on me in the '60s -- The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Stones.

"To me, The Beatles represented freedom, while Dylan represented truth. But even more important for a regular guy like me, the Stones represented hope. I could never do what The Beatles or Dylan did, but I thought maybe I could play the blues stuff the Stones did."

He quickly adds with a laugh, "and let's face it, Mick Jagger's a sex symbol, but hey, he's no Warren Beatty, right?"

Over the years, Thorogood has evolved his own distinct musical style, including a signature concert opening line -- a raucous "and awaaay we go!" -- that has its roots in the Sunshine State.

"I started doing that one night, in 1980, when I played the same Florida theater Jackie Gleason did his ('60s) TV show from (the Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts in Miami Beach)," he said. "They gave me the same dressing room as him, and when I went on that night, I said, 'I just gotta say it!' And it's stuck ever since.

"Hey, it worked for him, and like I always say, steal from the best, baby!"

If James Brown holds the title of "hardest-working man in show business," Thorogood's a definite contender for the crown. Having performed more than 3,000 shows, The Destroyers also have the distinction of being the only rock band to have played 50 states in 50 days.

Even today, Thorogood maintains a grueling tour schedule, with 21 one-night stands slated for this month.

Asked why he'd schedule so many shows in such a short time, Thorogood initially provides a simple, one-word answer: "Money!" When pressed, however, his blue-collar roots re-emerge.

"Don't you work 21 days in a month?" he asks. "And sure, they're not all in the same place, but, really, how far away is Fort Myers from Tampa? Besides, it's not like I have to do the driving!"

A hardy laugh and an amicable "adios, partner!" later, Thorogood bids adieu.

And, once again, away he goes.

Willie Nelson @ The Fillmore

SAN FRANCISCO--"Tryin' to do more than you can/and it got a little outta hand/you ain't Superman."

So sang Willie Nelson Tuesday night at The Fillmore in San Francisco, belting out the lyrics for a new song he wrote, "Superman," about his own limitations.

Oh, Willie, do we beg to differ.

The 72-year-old legend blazed through a 31-song set Tuesday night, showing a splendid blend of virtuosity, versatility, and, well--by squeezing it all into 90 minutes--efficiency.

Willie has built a remarkable career out of showing his fans just how close country music is to so many other genres, and it was all on display at The Fillmore: jazz, blues, folk, rock, ragtime, honkytonk, boogie woogie. Heck, he even threw in a cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Harder They Come" Tuesday night, with a nod and a wink to skeptics of his 2005 reggae album, Countryman.

In addition to his own astonishing songbook ("Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," "On The Road Again," "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground"), Nelson ripped through songs from a motley crew of artists as diverse as Cliff, Janis Joplin, George Thorogood, Frank Sinatra, and Merle Haggard.

read the whole story here

Bone Dry

- view article -

Bone Dry
Bluesman Thorogood is playing it straight these days - but he's still bad
By ROB WILLIAMS

No need to thank George Thorogood by sending him one bourbon, one scotch and one beer anymore.

Nowadays the Delaware blues-rocker is living the clean life -- although he's still bad to the bone, he insists.

"It's badder than ever. You can't be bad and drunk at the same time. When you're drunk you're just silly, you stink and you have to go to the bathroom," he says.

That's right -- the man who wrote If You Don't Start Drinking I'm Gonna Leave is the one going home early these days.

"I never really had to get out there. I always got to the edge, not over the edge. When the bartender said it's last call I believed him. Now I don't even get to the bar."

You can't really blame him for not wanting to hang at the after-party anymore. Thorogood has been on the road for more than 30 years, so he's slugged back his fair share.

"These days, the party is on the bandstand."

Thorogood and his long-serving band The Destroyers are in the middle of their 30th anniversary tour, playing all the hits that made him a staple on classic-rock radio.

He credits three songs for his longevity: One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer, Bad to the Bone and his cover of Hank Williams' Move it on Over. Even he doesn't get sick of them, he says.

"Lots of those songs are my favourites, that's why I picked them. I only cut songs I have a passion for."

Like many a bluesman before him, most of Thorogood's songs weren't written by him, but by blues icons such as John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and Hound Dog Taylor. The challenge for Thorogood isn't finding good material -- it's finding songs no one has covered before and introducing them to a new audience.

"Bourbon, Scotch and Beer is classic. If I don't do it, someone else is going to do it. The songs made me great. It's not me. It's the songs that made me, I didn't make the songs," he says. "The only people who came up with 100 good songs are The Beatles."

Thorogood's first hit was Bourbon, which received heavy airplay on FM radio when Album Oriented Rock was still a format. When FM radio started changing and MTV was launched, Thorogood got in on the ground floor with the Bad to the Bone clip.

When videos of older rockers fell out of vogue, Thorogood found a home on classic-rock stations that were springing up to fill the void for Baby Boomers.

"Without those things happening, I would have been gone a long time ago," he says frankly. "Now there's the House of Blues clubs and casinos all over the country, so I've got lots of places to play."

Thorogood has released 11 studio efforts, along with a few greatest hits packages and live albums. If he could go back, he wouldn't do it all over again, he says.

"I ended up doing a couple albums with only two good songs and the rest are OK. I don't want to get into that trap again."

His last hit was 1993's Get a Haircut, with its singalong chorus, "Get a haircut and get a real job."

Thorogood's got the haircut -- but if he had to get a real job he would like to be an actor. Not a marquee star or anything; just a character player.

"I just want to be in movie. I want to go into a bar with Denis Leary and be the first one who gets shot. That's what I want to do."

No offers have come in yet, so Thorogood will stick to his day job. He'll be rocking the house tonight at MTS Centre. Saskatoon blues prodigy Kyle Riabko opens. Tickets are $37.50 at Ticketmaster.

very cool!

Here's an excerpt from an article in the London News Review that links this very site:

"Full of gusto is what they are. Gusto is what they've got. Good fun you'd have at a Destroyers concert. If I ever have a wedding, and if the Destroyers are still rocking out, I think there might be some business to be done."

New season, same game

Here is an older article I've had bookmarked for quite awhile and for some reason never got around to posting...

- view article -

New season, same game for veteran Thorogood

Joel Selvin, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, April 5, 2003

George Thorogood doesn't suffer for his art.

"There's nothing wrong with being happy," the rock 'n' roll guitarist said, "as droll as it may be to walk down the street with a smile on your face. Especially in the art world or the music world, I see all these angst-ridden artists. I say, 'Hey, there's only one Van Morrison -- can't you guys cheer up? You're playing rock 'n' roll for a living, for God's sake.' You know what I mean?"

Little changes in the world of Thorogood, who burst on the scene with a stripped-down 1977 debut album that mixed Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker.

He's just released his 16th album, "Ride 'Til I Die," which mixes Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker. He still plays slashing, driving slide guitar with the same two Delaware Destroyers, Billy Blough on bass and Jeff Simon on drums. "We haven't changed much, but we try to do it better every time," Lonesome George said.

Thorogood, who performs next week at the Fillmore Auditorium, added a second guitarist in 1999, Jimmy Suhler of Dallas rockers Monkey Beat. Suhler handled

most of the fiery leads on the new album, although Thorogood still plays plenty. "I'm rhythm and I'm slide -- that's what I do," he said. Last month, Arno Hecht replaced Hank Carter on saxophone, who had joined the band in 1980 and spent nearly 20 years as "the new guy."

"It's a relatively new lineup, but the same base," he said, "Billy, Jeff and I pumping out the pulse of the whole thing. Easily over a quarter of a century. Just out of high school. It's quite unbelievable. I don't know what the deal is, but Blough and Jeff, I just can't shake 'em."

"Ride 'Til I Die" breaks no new ground for Thorogood, although it is a particularly fine example of what he and the Destroyers do. "This was the record I intended to make years ago," he said. "I was a big fan of the first Steppenwolf record, the second J. Geils record, 'The Morning After,' and of course the first three Stones albums. They were a blues band before they did 'Satisfaction.' Of course, the first Buffalo Springfield album is an awesome record. . . .

"So that was what I was all about, kind of like the Bob Seger System, before he was the Silver Bullet Band. The Bob Seger System, Creedence Clearwater, those kind of bands. I just couldn't afford another guitar or sax. It took me a while to put all the right things in place. This is the one. I think every band has what you call a capsule record or a definitive record -- is that what you writers call it?"

One of the record's highlights is a fine version of the overlooked Elvin Bishop song "Don't Let the Boss Man Get You Down." Bishop contributed guitar on the track. "You gotta love Elvin," Thorogood said. "You look in the dictionary under 'fun,' they show you his picture. That song needed to have exposure. England has Jeff Beck. America has Elvin Bishop."

"Ride 'Til I Die" producer Jim Gaines worked for a number of years in the '80s as an engineer and producer around Bay Area studios, making "Sports" with Huey Lewis and the News, working on records with Steve Miller, Van Morrison, Tower of Power and others, although it would be his experience with blues players such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Luther Allison and Tommy Castro that probably proved most relevant to working with Thorogood.

"When I first had the Destroyers, I had a very easy vision of what I wanted to do," Thorogood said. "Now it's like we've just honed it. You see the early Woody Allen movies and you see the later ones and how good he keeps getting. But he had a basic vision he does with his movies. They're similar, but they're not the same, and he gets better at it every time."

A onetime minor-league baseball player who decided to play blues guitar after seeing John Hammond perform, Thorogood, 52, grew up in Wilmington, Del., although he and his band really came up in the Boston scene of the early '70s. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife of 18 years and their 5-year-old daughter.

But he stays with the basics -- old blues records, good cigars and baseball.

"What else is there?" he said. "What do you think of the two greatest things to come out of America -- Chuck Berry and Willie Mays? Can't beat it. They keep looking around and say what has America produced that is any good? And I say our music. That's the only reason the Europeans will talk to us. If you walk off a plane and say I manufacture cars or I'm in the oil business, they don't want to speak to you. But if you say I play in a band -- even a lousy blues band -- then they welcome you with open arms. Am I right? That's it, baby."

more on the new album...

- view article here -

30 Years of Rock (10 May 2004)
George Thorogood & The Destroyers have delivered 30 years of pure rockin’ and rollin’ with absolute respect to the masters who came before them and the fans in front of them.

On May 31, 2004, EMI will mark the 30th anniversary of the formation of George Thorogood & The Destroyers with the release of George Thorogood & The Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock. The 16-song, 78-minute compilation features their biggest tracks, “Bad To The Bone,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Move It On Over,” “You Talk Too Much,” “If You Don’t Start Drinking (I’m Gonna Leave),” and 11 others.

Tom Rothrock, producer for Beck, RL Burnside and Elliott Smith and longtime Thorogood fan has contributed a new remix of “Who Do You Love” as a turn of respect for the man who introduced him to the blues. "Everyone has that one artist that gets them into the blues and for me it was George Thorogood and The Destroyers," says Rothrock. "I was DJ'ing at my college radio station and I got a request to play George Thorogood's version of "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer". It led me to dig out the John Lee Hooker records from the music library and that was it, I was in."

The album also debuts an unreleased version of “Rockin’ My Life Away,” a track that had originally been cut in February 1993 for the Haircut sessions, recorded by Terry Manning and produced by Terry & the band, at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, The Bahamas. The band shelved this version of the song, its raw energy seeming incongruent with the tone of the album. 4 years later it emerged again, produced by Waddy Wachtel, and was released as the lead single for the album Rockin My Life Away. However, for the first time ever, the original version is heard on 30 Years of Rock.

The Destroyers, also known as the Delaware Destroyers (their home state), were formed in December, 1973. The band is comprised of founding members George Thorogood on guitars and vocals, Jeff Simon on drums, and Bill Blough, bassist and member since 1976. Together they have 3 gold and platinum records in New Zealand and performed over 3000 concerts in their 30 years together. This collection is a salute to the dreams of three every day guys who wanted to make a living playing in a rock n’ roll band.

“Anyone born after World War II who says they didn’t at least consider for five minutes in their life becoming a rock and roll star is lying. I mean, that’s the dream, isn’t it?” says George Thorogood.
Touring has been as integral to the success of the Destroyers as the studio albums. Every night the band goes on stage, George Thorogood & The Destroyers have made their concerts a celebration, alright, a downright party, conjuring up and igniting all the hedonism coiled around classic rock n’ roll and blues guitar riffs. The live experience is included on Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock with 2 live songs, “The Sky Is Crying” and “Reelin’ and Rockin’.”

Jeff Simon says, “We’re grateful to have the opportunity to celebrate our 30th year of living the dream. We’re blessed to have a fanbase and a company that believes in us so much. Having ‘30 Years Of Rock’ released now makes me look forward to seeing our amazing fans throughout the year. Let’s rock!”

Bill Blough adds, “Jeff Simon and I were thrilled at the chance to assist EMI’s art department in the packaging for ‘30 Years Of Rock.’ We spent a lot of time digging through our attics to come up with the variety of memorabilia for the project. It brought back a lot of fond memories of the ‘good old days’.”

An oldie but goodie

I've had this one for a long time and just keep forgetting to post it. Some of you may have already seen it, but for those that haven't, here it is...

10/08/00
Move it on over
‘Deleware Destroyer’
calls Plattsburgh home

By ROBIN CAUDELL
Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH — Bill Blough scoped out Ronnie’s Michigan along Route 3 in West Plattsburgh.

He secured his long blond hair in a blue elastic. Ronnie’s struck him as the kind of place not regularly patronized by a man with flowing locks, a Mid-Atlantic accent and dressed head-to-toe in black.

Blough, a Delaware native and Westchester transplant, crossed Ronnie’s threshold. This was a rite of passage.

Since he moved to the North Country more than a year ago, he’s seen advertisements for michigans. He wondered what the hype was about.

Waitress Peggy Rabideau enlightened him.

"It’s a hotdog on a bun with meatsauce and mustard, with or without," she said.

"With or without what?" Blough asked.

"Onions. You like onions?"

"Yeah, I like onions. Give me one."

Rabideau placed the michigan before him, watching as Blough took a bite.

"Not bad." He took another bite. "This is good."

When he finished, Blough scanned the menu and asked for recommendations. He got another michigan.

"I think he’s a musician," Rabideau said to her colleagues Molly Zappelloni and Kim Mousseau. "Are you a musician?"

"Yes, I am."

"What band do you play in?"

"George Thorogood and The Destroyers."

"I don’t know them."

"Do you know the song ‘Bad to the Bone?’"

"No. Sorry. Do you, Molly, Kim?"

"Yes," Mousseau said.

"How does it go?"

"I won’t sing it," Mousseau said.

"You sing it," Rabideau said to Blough.

"I don’t sing. You don’t want me to sing. Those puppies (hotdogs) wouldn’t be any good."

Now, the word was out in West Plattsburgh. Blough, bassist for George Thorogood and The Destroyers, has been living in Plattsburgh. Amazing.

Why he lived in Plattsburgh balanced on the tip of Rabideau’s tongue.

The reason is simple, even romantic. Blough’s significant (to-remain-nameless) other took a local job, and he moved with her. End of story.

Now that he’d tasted michigans, Blough was game to try poutine. But not today.

After working out, running errands and eating michigans, he was stopping at Darwood Associates to see stockbroker Jeff Rendinaro, front man in Zip City, a local blues band.

"They made room for me in their band," Blough said.

At a recent gig at City Market, Rendinaro convinced Blough to bring his upright bass, even though it was raining.

"He said, ‘Don’t worry. We’re covered.’ I just got it repaired. I hadn’t played it in 20 years. When I got through, my fingers were bleeding."

When they are not touring, Blough and Jeff Simon, Destroyer drummer, have always backed other bands and done session work.

Before this hiatus, Blough and his bandmates funked it up with "the Godfather of Soul" James Brown at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

While there, after a morning run, Blough was sweating and bent over waiting for an elevator when the door opened and sparkling, rhinestone-edged boots caught his eye.

His eyes scanned up. He looked into the face of Little Richard. "Good golly Miss Molly ..."

"He lives in the hotel. He said, ‘Ozzy come on in here.’ I’ve been mistaken several times for Ozzy (Osborne), especially when I wear the little glasses and am dressed in black. I said, ‘No man, you don’t want me in there.’ He said, ‘No, Ozzy come on... ’"

As a Destroyer, Blough has met and played with just about everybody, including The Rolling Stones, J. Giles Band, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Steve Miller.

In his estimation, the Internet and online music markets have changed the industry.

"There’s a resurgent interest in a lot of older bands for market places looking for content. They’re seeking out older, established bands, and the music market, like everything in popular culture, is cyclical.

"We’ve been very fortunate. We started in the ’70s and now span two generations."

Although Blough’s father ran away and joined the circus as a barrel racer, he wasn’t happy when his son, in high school, started down a musician’s uncertain path.

Blough switched from playing guitar to bass because there were few bassists.

His first bass was a red, Gibson EBO copy. He and his peers, influenced by the Beatles and the Stones, taught each other.

After graduation, his band broke up. He backed various musicians and played with a blues band that performed at the same clubs as The Delaware Destroyers, originally George Thorogood (guitar), Ron Smith (rhythm guitar) and Simon.

"The Destroyers were founded in 1973 and played at a party at the University of Delaware. It was their first gig. I happened to be there ... crashed the party ... free beer and women ..."

He saw The Destroyers at another party in ’75.

"I asked if I could sit in. They said, "No.’ I said, ‘Oh.’

"I saw them again and asked if I can sit in. They said, ‘No.’"

Meanwhile, guitarist Ron Smith quit, and Thorogood called up Blough and asked him to join the band. Blough said no.

Thorogood and Blough went back and forth for seven or eight months. In the spring of ’76, Thorogood wore him down.

"I said ‘OK, let’s give it a shot.’ I started rehearsing with him in his house in Delaware. The first gig was the Fourth of July weekend in ’76 in Philadelphia at J.C. Dobbs."

In 1975, The Destroyers had recorded their self-titled first album with Rounder Records.

"They (Rounder) wanted to hear what the band sounded like with a bass player. They said, ‘This is good.’ They wanted me to put my bass on existing tracks, so the first record was made in two stages."

The band played little clubs from Baltimore to Boston in support of the album. A release party was held in Cambridge.

"George had a Lake Placid friend, who moved to the Bay area," Blough said. "George spent a lot of time in Lake Placid, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish."

Thorogood’s friend, a union organizer, booked gigs for the band when the album was getting heavy airplay there. Several weeks of work turned into several months as things snowballed.

"We were busy all the time. We were a trio, until we got our sax player (Hank "Hurricane" Carter) in 1980."

The Destroyers knew they were the right mix when they walked into a bar and Thorogood ordered a bourbon, Blough ordered a scotch and Simon ordered a beer.

"It was totally coincidental. When it happened, we all looked at each other."

Jim Suhler is the newest Destroyer, with a year and a half under his guitar strap.

"I’m very fortunate that I met up with the right people, and our career took off when it did," Blough said.

Robin Caudell can be reached by
e-mail: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

George Thorogood plots more tour dates, readies new hits package

by Jon Zahlaway
liveDaily Staff Writer

March 24, 2004 04:02 PM - George Thorogood & The Destroyers have added more dates to their 30th anniversary tour, and are also marking the milestone with an upcoming best-of album.

The group, which last week finished up its first leg of U.S. shows, head north next month for a handful of Canadian dates, and are due to launch another round of U.S. performances in late June. Dates so far stretch into late August.

VH1 Classic has signed on as the summer tour's sponsor, according to a press release.

On May 18, Capitol Records/EMI will release "George Thorogood & The Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock." The 16-song, 78-minute compilation features "Bad to the Bone," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," "Move It On Over," "You Talk Too Much," "If You Don't Start Drinking (I'm Gonna Leave)" and more.

Also included on the set is a previously unreleased version of "Rockin' My Life Away" and a remixed version of "Who Do You Love," according to Capitol/EMI.

Thorogood & The Destroyers' most recent album is last year's "Ride 'til I Die."

Though he and his group have been recording and touring for three decades, Thorogood says he hasn't grown tired of life on the road.

"When the Destroyers go on the road, we realize we're still living our dream," he said in a statement. "It doesn't matter that 30 years have gone by, we're still having fun. Let me repeat: F-U-N, fun!"

- view article -

In case you find yourself in Louisville with nothin' to do

Snitch.com out of Louisville, KY, yesterday posted an article that reviewed some of the local spots and their jukeboxes. If you're ever in town, you might wanna stop by this place:

"Oliver’s Billiards, 4001 DuPont Circle: Pool halls need great music, and this one meets the standard and sometimes exceeds it. All the classic rock a hustler will ever need is inside, from the old Rolling Stones to new Bruce Springsteen. Country, rock and R&B all live harmoniously, and the variety of tastes keeps different genres coming out of the speakers. When it’s crowded, listeners might have to wait a while for their songs to come up, but the wait is worth it if you’re busting with a need for Bocephus. Hardly an hour goes by that somebody doesn’t drop two bits to hear George Thorogood’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer.” "

Write-up from KIROtv.com

Bar blues on a big scale: that's the best way to describe George Thorogood. His time honored blues-boogie sound wouldn't sound out of place in any bar in the country, but songs like "Bad to the Bone" and "I Drink Alone" are instantly recognizable to anyone who touched a radio dial in the 1980s. Over the years Thorogood has stayed remarkably consistent, rarely straying far from a sound informed equally by Elmore James and Chuck Berry.

Since 1974, George Thorogood and his Destroyers have enlivened audiences with their lively, good-time blues-rock. Thorogood's gravelly voice and Chuck Berry-inspired guitar riffs are instantly recognizable; the inclusion of "Bad to the Bone" in the movie Terminator 2, among other films, delighted audiences. Recording and performing steadily throughout the 1990s, Thorogood makes his future goals clear with the title of his 2003 release, Ride Till I Die.

--view article--

From the Wichita Eagle

- view this article -

posted on Fri, Jun. 27, 2003
Thoroughly George
Rock guitarist Thorogood takes pride in the versatility of his signature beat.
BY KEVIN SHEEDY
The Wichita Eagle

Bluesy rock guitarist George Thorogood subscribes to the theory uttered by Clint Eastwood in one of his movies: "A man has to know his limits." In Thorogood's case, his limits include the signature rock songs "Bad to the Bone," "I Drink Alone" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."

While most rock guitarists would sacrifice their left amp for such limits, Thorogood says he was destined to be what some might call a one-chord wonder.

"As far back as 1968, this was the sound and style I went after," says Thorogood, who will perform with his band the Destroyers Tuesday night at the Cotillion. "I knew I would never sing like Robert Plant, I knew I would never write songs like Neil Young or Paul Simon.

"The guitar playing, I felt like I could get by."

Seventeen albums later and Thorogood is the same rough- hewn guitarist with the gritty vocals.

"I thought that the worst thing Clint Eastwoood ever did in his career was when he woke up one day and someone told him he was an actor," says the well-spoken, direct Thorogood. "He was so much more appealing before. It's like the day someone woke up Mick Jagger and told him he was a real singer, as opposed to being Mick Jagger. That was his appeal, that was his charm."

While Thorogood takes pride in his approach to his bluesy rock sound, he bristles at the notion that he's a one-chord wonder.

"People will say, 'Oh, Thorogood plays all the same songs with one chord,' but if you look at the whole 110 songs and listen to them individually and separate them, you'd say 'There's a lot more diversity here than we gave him credit for. And on top of it he didn't sway from his original beat.'

"Out of 110 songs we've recorded, ("Bad to the Bone") is only one. I also wrote a song called 'Woman With the Blues,' I do a song called 'What a Price,' I do a lot of tender ballads and I do some funny boogie songs."

The rocker also says the real Thorogood is much different from the image conveyed by the songs "I Drink Alone" and "One Bourbon."

"I drink a hard cup of tea. I pound the stuff," he says with mock seriousness.

"I think the reason you get that image is because they're our most popular songs. Like maybe 'The Roaring Twenties' is James Cagney's most popular movie but he did other things in his career. He did 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' and he did the Lon Chaney story 'A Man of a Thousand Faces.'

"Ted Nugent I am not. Ozzy Osbourne I never was."

Is Thorogood too rowdy?

George Thorogood headlined concert to start one hour earlier

By Lara Becker Liu
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 24, 2003) — The show will go on -- but it will be quieter, cleaner and end an hour earlier. In response to neighbors’ concerns about a George Thorogood blues concert planned for the final day of the Lilac Festival in Highland Bowl, the three-member board that governs the popular festival announced these and other changes Wednesday.

In addition to concluding the Thorogood concert at 7 p.m. and capping attendance at 6,000, Lilac Festival Inc. and organizer Beau Productions promised to provide extra police support, re-examine traffic patterns and make available a hotline number -- (585) 256-4960 -- to connect area residents with on-site staff during the event.

About four dozen area residents had complained about the re-emergence of a national musical act in the bowl because of the associated noise, crowds and mess.

Joan Gray Lindberg, a coordinator for the Lilac neighbors, said the plan announced Wednesday wasn’t enough to satisfy neighbors’ demands. She questioned whether tickets to the concert would be numbered and whether organizers had thoroughly researched alternative concert sites.

“This (concert) shouldn’t be going on in the first place,” she said. “These are minor concessions.”

Lilac Festival Inc. members conceded that they had not adequately communicated to neighbors their plans to revive the concerts, which were informally ended in 1998.

But Craig Curran, Lilac Festival Inc. president, said Wednesday that the paid musical event “is an appropriate use of the concert bowl facility.”

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From the klpx rock pile...

GEORGE THOROGOOD: Won’t Be Destroying England This Time

Because of the Iraq situation, George Thorogood and the Destroyers have canceled their shows in London next Friday and Saturday. Thorogood tells us, "It’s heartbreaking, but it’s heartbreaking on a larger scale. For me, it’s just a postponement of work professionally. As a human being, I’m dismayed, distraught, disappointed and, above all, a little pissed off." Thorogood releases his next album, Ride ’Til I Die, Tuesday and then hits the road April 8th in Bakersfield, California.

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brief article from krmg.com

George Thorogood & the Destroyers return Tuesday (March 25th) with a new album called Ride 'Til I Die. The title comes from a John Lee Hooker song that Thorogood covers on the album, with him on acoustic guitar, backed by drummer Jeff Simon and guitarist Jim Suhler.

Ride 'Til I Die is the first new set of material from the band since 1999's Half A Boy, Half A Man. Thorogood says that if it wasn't for the first song on the album, "Greedy Man," the set wouldn't have been made: "'Greedy Man' is the reason that CD sits in front of you. I heard it four years ago, and I had no record deal at the time when I heard it--and I did not wish to have a record deal at the time. I said, 'I think we have enough songs now where we can just play live and not have to worry about it.' And then I found that song, and I said, 'This song is so great, it's perfect for us, but now I gotta find 12 other ones, and then we gotta get a record deal, and they're gonna want more than one record,' and all the stuff that goes with it."

Thorogood kicks off an extensive North American tour on April 8th in Bakersfield, California.

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Former Destroyer rips turntables at WVUD (from Oct. 24, 2000)

BY KATIE ANDERSON

Staff Reporter

Ron Smith is not the average WVUD deejay.

Although he works for the university station, he wasn't always the one spinning the records - he was once making them.

Smith, a former member of George Thorogood and The Destroyers, now hosts a blues show on the university radio station.

He is one of three members to start the Wilmington-based band in 1973, which would become famous for songs such as "Bad to the Bone."

Smith says a shared love for blues and rock 'n' roll inspired The Destroyers to start up.

He was involved with The Destroyers as a rhythm guitarist for the first three years. He says its earlier songs were covers of classic blues and rock 'n' roll songs such as Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man" and Chuck Berry's "No Particular Place To Go."

The band played in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City and bars such as Romelle's and the Big Boar Inn in Delaware.

"It was a great adventure," Smith says. "Every performance was like a little victory. It was us against the world."

Although most people may not recognize the band by its name, many people are familiar with its tunes.

"We had fans," Smith says. "It was nothing like what you see on MTV, but people wanted to hang out with us."

Smith wasn't a part of the Destoyers when its hit song "Bad to the Bone" was released in 1977, but he says the lyrics and melody were derived from a Bo Diddley song.

Roundhouse Records signed the Destroyers in 1976 - the year Smith left the band.

"Paths were diverging and I couldn't see myself going down that path," he says.

Smith says he wanted to explore other job opportunities.

The band always possessed great potential, but he says it became apparent he wouldn't be able to support himself with this lifestyle.

Smith acknowledges that in the early days there were ups and downs. He says the band was living out of a white Chevy high cube van resembling a bread truck, and most of its money was going toward getting the next gig.

The other members were not elated with his decision, but they did not resent it, he says.

The three original members - Smith, Thorogood and Jeff Simon - have remained friends since Smith's departure.

Smith says The Destroyers are still around and Thorogood and Simon remain involved with the band. This past summer the group performed in Wilmington at the Big Kahuna.

He says he sees the other guys every once in a while but concedes that he misses playing with The Destroyers as well as the camaraderie between the members.

The year following his exit, Smith began working at WVUD after his roommate offered him the job as an on-air personality.

At age 47, Smith has been spinning blues records for a quarter of a century.

The affection he harbors for the blues keeps him nestled at WVUD, where he desires to give this genre more commercial exposure.

"If you want to hear music that was inspiration for The Destroyers, listen to WVUD on Fridays," Smith says. "Blues music is timeless and speaks through the ages."

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