Thorogood goes back to his beginnings on cover album

view article

Thorogood honours Bo Diddley's legacy

view interview here

Legend shaped rock and roll, rocker says
DEAN LISK, METRO HALIFAX
June 05, 2008 05:00

Knowing his friend was in ailing health, George Thorogood had been thinking about Bo Diddley’s death for some time.

“He was bedridden, right. You are never prepared but you know it is going to happen,” said Thorogood. “I just didn’t think that the state of his body could handle a stroke and a heart attack and be able to bounce back.”

Diddley, a rock ’n’ roll pioneer and guitar-playing inspiration, died of heart failure on Monday at the age of 79. He had been in ill health for a number of months.

“I guess I was as close to him as any person could be,” said Thorogood, who covered Diddley’s song Who Do I Love, and had the legend appear in his Bad To The Bone music video.

“We had a great relationship, let’s put it that way,” added Thorogood on a break from his current Canadian tour with The Destroyers. “We always lead with a Chuck Berry-type song to get the band loose, and we follow with a Bo Diddley song.”

Thorogood said he starts his shows this way because both artists pretty much created rock and roll with their blues backgrounds.

“As great as some lead singers are, and drums and saxes, guitars will always be the number one dude when it comes to rock and roll,” he said.

It is essential to listen to both men, added the musician, if you want to get a grasp on rock and roll and what the music is all about. They represent a lineage that stretches back to some of the best blues musicians of the last century — and continues into rock today.

“Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley got John Lennon and Keith Richards’ attention, who are the two highest profile rock musicians ever, right up there with Hendrix.”

If you don’t take the time to listen to the blues, you’ll never get a real understanding or appreciation of rock, he said.

“It is like an actor who never heard of Tennessee Williams,” he said. “Or a director who says, ‘I don’t know who Cecil B. DeMille is.’”

Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy and George Thorogood Remember Bo Diddley

view interview here

According to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, the influence that Bo Diddley’s records have had is immeasurable, but that’s not the most amazing part of his legacy. “But how heavy is it that a person has a beat named after him?” he asks. Indeed, the “Bo Diddley Beat” has left an indelible mark on the rock landscape, and according to Gibbons it will be immortal. “You can play Bo Diddley for three year olds who can’t speak and yet they start gyrating,” he says. I think we must be wired to respond to it and he just happened to tap into it and deliver it in such a masterful way. And it still works.”

George Thorogood would agree, as one of his biggest hits was a cover of Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.” Thorogood also counted Diddley as a friend. “When I first met him he was kind of standoffish. Once we got going we had a very wonderful relationship,” Thorogood says. “He was very moved by the fact that I was so into his music and I seemed to have a grip on it. I did a concert with him in Australia in 2005, and he played before I did. As he was coming up he stairs I said goodbye to him, he hugged me and grabbed my hand and he whispered, ‘I’m done, George. It’s yours now.’”

Buddy Guy was never close to Diddley, but he was an admirer. “I say he was one of the best guys that ever played the music,” says Guy. “I’m a very religious man and I think we all was put here for a reason. And when Bo came along and came up with that beat he was at the right time at the right place. You gotta give credit where credit is due. He is one that should never be forgotten.”

George Thorogood speaks about Diddley's impact

view interview here

Guitarist remembers his friend and influence

Jun 3, 2008
0 Comments
Bo Diddley news, reviews, video and tour dates
Add Bo Diddley to MyNME
George Thorogood remembered Bo Diddley, his friend and influence who died of heart failure today (June 2).

The singer/guitarist, who covered Diddley's 'Who Do You Love' and name-checks him in one of his songs, told NME.COM that he was turned on to Diddley by The Rolling Stones.

“I first heard Bo Diddley in 1966," said Thorogood. "I knew The Rolling Stones were big on this guy and I got a copy of Bo Diddley’s '16 All-Time Greatest Hits' and flipped over it, and played it constantly."

Thorogood said that he still performs his cover of 'Who Do You Love', as well as 'Ride On Josephine', which was heavily influenced by the 'Bo Diddley beat'.

"I first met him in 1979, and as years went on we got closer and closer," he said. "It’s an honour to be associated with his great music. I just had ‘Hand Jive’ on last night. It goes, ’A doctor, a lawyer and an indian chief/They all dig that Diddley beat.’ That says it all.”

Bo Diddley, Rock Innovator, Influence on Stones, Dies

view article here

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.

George Thorogood Preparing For A New Album And Tour

view article here

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.29.2008

Thorogood says he ain't stopping till he's run over or left for dead...

George Thorogood & The Destroywers are hitting the road for a four week US tour that will bring them to Hard Rock Café in Orlando, FL on March 18th.

2008 is shaping up to be a busy year for the brash, iconic and outspoken George Thorogood, with plans for a new album and non-stop touring.

"We're hitting the ground running and not going to stop until we're run over or left for dead," laughs Thorogood. "Remember, rock and roll doesn't sleep, it just passes out."

In 2007, the rocker and his band did over 70 shows in the U.S. including headlining concerts, a dozen dates with Bryan Adams, key performances at prestigious gigs like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Memphis' Beale Street Festival, Red Rocks in Colorado with Buddy Guy and Montreal's International Jazz Festival, plus a tour of Europe. He was also inducted into Guitar Center's "Rock Walk" by KLOS radio's Jim Ladd. "It was a good year," says Lonesome George. "What's next?"

Thorogood's last studio set was 2006's The Hard Stuff Last year was the 25th anniversary of his landmark album, Bad To The Bone.

Thorogood�s �Bad to the Bone� gets digitally remastered for 25th anniversary

read article here

By M&C News Aug 1, 2007, 13:17 GMT

In 1982, George Thorogood and The Destroyers first hit the rock charts with their major label debut, �Bad To The Bone.� On August 14, 2007, Capitol/EMI will release �Bad To The Bone: 25th Anniversary Edition,� an expanded single-disc collection featuring the original gold-certified album, digitally remastered from the original master tapes for the first time, as well as six newly-recorded versions of album tracks and a rare B-side.

By the time �Bad To The Bone� became Thorogood's EMI debut, he and the Destroyers had already toured with the Rolling Stones and demonstrated their mettle by playing a tour in which they performed 50 shows in all 50 states in 50 days. Bad To The Bone helped to catapult George Thorogood and the Destroyers (featuring drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Billy Blough) to a new level of popularity, achieving Gold sales status and spending nearly a year on the charts.

The title track became Thorogood's first major crossover hit, fueled by heavy music video rotation on MTV. It has maintained a remarkably durable shelf life in the years since, remaining a staple of classic-rock radio, while continuing to be a popular choice for film soundtracks and TV commercials.

Of the album�s iconic title track, Thorogood says, �Billy, Jeff and I had been playing that �Bad to the Bone� riff for a long time, waiting for me to write some words, so that song plays fast and that�s why everybody likes it. That song carries the album.�

Beyond the title anthem, the songs span the range of Thorogood�s influences, from the Berryesque workout "Back to Wentzville" to the playful rocker "Miss Luann" to the soulful road ode "Blue Highway" to the uncharacteristically introspective blues ballad "It's A Sin." He also delivers high-energy readings of the Chuck Berry classic "No Particular Place to Go" and the Isley Brothers/Human Beinz chestnut "Nobody But Me."

�Bad To The Bone: 25h Anniversary Edition� augments the original album with the non-LP instrumental "That Philly Thing," originally released as the B-side to the "Nobody But Me" single, plus six newly-recorded tracks on which Thorogood and The Destroyers offer updated versions of songs from the original album.

�Bad To The Bone� remains a treasured cornerstone of the Thorogood catalog. In the years since the album�s release, Thorogood has continued to rock on his own terms, while maintaining a large and devoted fanbase. His body of recorded work encompasses a dozen studio albums and several concert recordings, and he and The Destroyers continue to actively tour to major music venues around the world.

George Thorogood Tickets are now available at M&C�s Ticket Database. George Thorogood and The Destroyers confirmed tour dates include:

08/01/07 Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
08/02/07 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Music Center
08/03/07 Boston, MA - Bank one Pavilion
08/04/07 Homdel, NJ - PNC Bank Art Center
08/05/07 Pittsburgh, PA - Sand Castle Ampitheater
08/07/07 Toledo, OH - Zoo Ampitheater
08/08/07 Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre Pine Knob
08/09/07 Indianapolis, IN - White River Park
08/10/07 Cleveland, OH - Tower City Ampitheatre
08/11/07 Buffalo, NY - Darien Lakes
08/14/07 Johnson City, NY - Magic City Music Hall
08/15/07 Hyannis, MA - Cape Cod Melody Tent
08/16/07 Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods Casino
08/17/07 Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino
08/18/07 Hampton Beach, NH - Hampton Beach Casino
08/19/07 Block Island, RI - Spring House Hotel
08/22/07 Westbury, NY - Music Fair
08/23/07 Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues
08/24/07 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
08/25/07 DuBois, PA - Treasure Lake Resort
08/26/07 Richmond, VA - Toads Place
09/21/07 Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Casino
09/22/07 Reno, NV - Silver Legacy Casino
10/05/07 Murphys, CA - Ironstone Vineyards

Ex-Destroyers member sues over royalties

read article here

By SEAN O'SULLIVAN, The News Journal
Posted Tuesday, July 3, 2007

WILMINGTON -- A former member of George Thorogood's band, the Delaware Destroyers, claims he is not getting his fair share of royalties in a federal suit.

He also says the band's refusal to release him from a 2002 recording contract has prevented him from earning a living as a musician.

The suit, filed by Delaware resident Henry G. "Hurricane" Carter, is similar to a lawsuit he filed, and subsequently dropped, last year in federal court.

Carter's attorneys refused to comment and Thorogood and his representatives could not be located for comment. Thorogood is a Wilmington native and a Brandywine High School graduate.

The lawsuit says Carter joined the band, which later dropped "Delaware" from its name, in 1979 and played saxophone, keyboards, guitar, trumpet, mandolin and was "involuntarily released" in 2003 for unspecified reasons.

"The fortunes of the band changed dramatically during Carter's tenure and the band enjoyed significant commercial success," according to the lawsuit.

One of the band's biggest hits, "Bad to the Bone," was released in 1982 and featured in the 1991 film "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

The lawsuit said despite Carter's departure, he was "entitled to be compensated for the good will he helped create for the band during his two-decade tenure."

This apparently includes revenue from albums recorded since his departure and tours that have taken place without him.

Carter alleges that since his departure, his 20 percent share of the royalties of record sales has been subjected to an unexplained "17 percent management fee."

The suit also alleges that he only received "11/16ths of his agreed 20 percent"of the royalties on a recent greatest-hits album, where his work appears on 11 of 16 tracks "and was charged again for phantom 'management fees.' "

The lawsuit charges breach of contract and demands an accurate accounting of royalty payments and restoration of his full royalties from recording, touring and merchandising revenues.

A March announcement indicated that Carter recently joined the certified public accounting firm of Belfint, Lyons & Shuman P.A. in Wilmington as a staff accountant in the small-business department.

Sumlin, Thorogood and Keb' Mo' Next RockWalk Inductees

read news here

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, Hubert Sumlin (see photo), George Thorogood & The Destroyers, and Keb' Mo' will be inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk at Los Angeles nightspot The Music Box @ Fonda. Following the RockWalk Induction ceremony, Guitar Center's The King of the Blues Grand Finals Event, hosted by Cheech Marin, will feature The Black Crowes, Hubert Sumlin, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, plus the top four undiscovered blues guitar players in the country performing with Grammy Award winner Pete Anderson.

Hollywood's RockWalk, the only sidewalk gallery dedicated to honoring those artists who have made a significant impact and lasting contribution to the growth and evolution of Rock 'n' Roll. George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Keb' Mo' and Hubert Sumlin will join other equally accomplished musicians and innovators who have been inducted into RockWalk such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Johnny Cash, Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Ramones, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker and Earth Wind & Fire.

About Hubert Sumlin
Born on November 16, 1931 in Greenwood, Mississippi and raised in Hughes, Arkansas, Hubert Sumlin was taken by the great Blues players he heard including Charlie Patton, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. Destined to take the place of these masters, Sumlin received his first guitar from his mother, who spent her entire $5, weekly paycheck to purchase it. He had his first encounter with the legendary Howlin Wolf, at the age of 10 when he sneaked out to a local juke joint and stood on a pile of crates to see through a window. Drawn in by the music, Sumlin fell through the window and right onto the stage where Wolf insisted that the under aged Sumlin stay and watch as he played. A few years later, Wolf brought Sumlin to Chicago where he contributed to some of the most powerful Blues the world has known. After Wolf's passing in 1976, Sumlin continued to play with Wolf's band for four years before leaving for a solo career in 1980. Sumlin has gone on to record as both a leader and a sideman sharing the stage with everyone from The Rolling Stones, to Elvis Costello and Santana. His 2005 release About Them Shoes was conceived by Keith Richards, produced by Rob Fraboni and garnered a 2006 GRAMMY nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. Sumlin continues to tour bringing his original and personal blues feeling to music lovers across the U.S.

Formed in the '70s by George Thorogood, Jeff Simon and Billy Blough, George Thorogood & the Destroyers are a high energy group whose slide guitar and blues rock takes on songs by the likes of Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker landed them a record deal with Rounder Records. After paying their dues in the blues scene of Boston, they recorded their second album Move It On Over, and struck a big hit with the title track, which was a cover of a Hank Williams song. In the '80s the band signed with EMI and released a series of gold records including, 1982's Bad to the Bone whose title track spawned Thorogood's best known single to date, and its accompanying video was a staple on MTV. They continued their hit-making success into the '90s with such hits as "Get a Haircut" and many additional albums followed into the new millennium. These included a compilation released in 2004, Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock, which went gold and was #1 on Billboard's blues charts for 60 weeks. George Thorogood & the Destroyers are currently crisscrossing the US on a spring/summer tour which includes a nine date run of co-headlining dates with Bryan Adams.

Raised in Compton, singer-songwriter and guitarist Keb' Mo' grew up in a home filled with gospel music and records of the '50s and '60s. Born Kevin Moore, he began playing guitar as a child and blew the trumpet and French horn as a teenager. After playing with local cover groups, Moore went on to play back up on the first three albums for legendary roots violinist Papa John Creach. He followed that up with a staff position at A&M writing songs and contracting demo sessions before releasing his own solo album, Rainmaker. After gigging with the Whodunit Band and appearing in LATC's productions of Rabbit Foot and Spunk, the newly minted Keb' Mo released this blues heavy debut disc Keb' Mo' to immediate acclaim. His subsequent albums continue to demonstrate his depth and artistry, three of which, Just Like You, Slow Down, and Keep It Simple all took home GRAMMYs for Best Contemporary Blues Album. In 2006, Mo' was GRAMMY nominated for Country Song of the Year for "I Hope" which he co-wrote with the Dixie Chicks and appears on their GRAMMY award winning album Taking the Long Way. His latest album Suitcase is a diverse collection of songs that are his most personal to date. His vocals are honestly delivered and his mastery in acoustic and slide guitar shine through. From its storytelling and gritty country blues tunes to its ballads and fiery laments, Suitcase is soulful and authentic. Beyond his musical accomplishments, Keb' Mo' has also garnered a number of accomplishments in television and film and is committed to a number of charitable causes.

George Thorogood fortifies itinerary with Bryan Adams dates

read news here

April 30, 2007 03:17 PM
by Tjames Madison
LiveDaily Contributor
Already busy with their long spring and summer tour, veteran blues-rockers George Thorogood & The Destroyers have announced a few dates with singer Bryan Adams.
Thorogood and his band, who are touring behind last year's "The Hard Stuff," are already well into a tour that kicked off April 6 and resumes Friday (4/27) in Fort Worth, TX. The new dates with Adams consist of nine shows in August sandwiched between the nearly 50 shows that the hard-working band will play this spring and summer. Full details are included below.

Thorogood said in a press release that he's been looking forward to touring with Adams since the two performed together during a 1985 jam session in Nashville with Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn. "We got along immediately, and it's great that we're finally able to get out and do some shows together," Thorogood said.

"The Hard Stuff" is Torogood & The Destroyers' first new studio set since 2003's "Ride 'til I Die." Released last May, the disc features a number of originals, as well as covers of several obscure blues tunes such as Jimmy Reed's "Little Rain," Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig," Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine" and Johnny Shines' "Dynaflow Blues."

The group decided to make a blues-heavy album after its 2004 retrospective, "George Thorogood: 30 Years of Rock," spent 50 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart, and 90 weeks on the chart overall.

Thorogood and two other Destroyers--drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Billy Blough--remain from a group that was formed more than 30 years ago. Newer additions Jim Suhler (guitar) and Buddy Leach (saxophone) round out the current unit.

Canadian singer/songwriter Adams, who first achieved MTV fame with 1983's "Cuts Like a Knife," released his most recent studio album, "Room Service," in 2004.

George Thorogood: Acoustic CD, Spring/Summer Tour

view the news here

George Thorogood: Acoustic CD, Spring/Summer Tour
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS are back at it. The venerable blues guitarist and singer will hit the road April 6 with his longtime bandmates for a trek of dates that run well into August. More dates will be added.

Meanwhile, George is in California working on an acoustic record, the first of his career. His latest CD, The Hard Stuff, was released last year and the greatest hits compilation George Thorogood: 30 Years Of Rock, certified Gold by the R.I.A.A., was named the #1 top Blues Album of both 2005 and 2006 by Billboard magazine, which also crowned the band the #1 Top Blues Artist of 2005. Late last year, George was seen in the first series of actor Morgan Freeman�s �Clarksdale Jook Joint Jam,� a DVD collection celebrating the blues where he performed alongside Chicago blues great Eddie Shaw.

And how does George stay committed to touring and releasing new music? �30 years ago we had two songs, one guitar and we drove ourselves. Now we have songs that people identify us with, and new music coming out,� he says. �So this is where I have always wanted to be.�

Confirmed tour dates are below
DATE CITY VENUE

Fri 4/6 Santa Ynez, CA Chumash Casino Resort
Sat 4/7 Valley Center, CA Harrah�s Rincon Casino & Resort
Tue 4/10 West Hollywood, CA House of Blues
Wed 4/11 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
Thu 4/12 Bakersfield, CA Majestic Fox Theatre
Fri 4/13 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
Sat 4/14 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
Tue 4/17 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
Thu 4/19 Knoxville, TN Market Square (w/ Sundown in the City Fest)
Fri 4/20 N. Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
Sat 4/21 Cherokee, NC Harrah�s
Sun 4/22 Nashville, TN City Hall
Wed 4/25 Shawnee, OK Firelake Casino
Thu 4/26 Austin, TX Stubb�s BBQ
Fri 4/27 Fort Worth, TX Billy Bob�s Texas
Sat 4/28 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
Sun 4/29 New Orleans, LA Fairgrounds Racetrack (NO Jazz & Heritage Fest)
Tue 5/1 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theatre
Wed 5/2 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live
Thu 5/3 West Palm Beach, FL SunFest
Fri 5/4 St. Petersburg, FL Tampa Bay Blues Festival
Sat 5/5 Memphis, TN Beale Street Music Festival
Tue 6/19 Denver, CO Red Rocks
Thu 6/21 Kansas City, MO Harrah�s North Kansas City/Voodoo Lounge
Fri 6/22 Council Bluffs, IA Harrah�s Council Bluffs/Stir Cove
Sat 6/23 St. Charles, MO Family Arena
Sun 6/24 Riverside, IA Riverside Casino
Tue 6/26 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Thu 6/28 Oshkosh, WI Leach Amphitheatre
Fri 6/29 St. Paul, MN Taste of Minnesota
Sat 6/30 Naperville, IL Knoch Park Rib Festival
Sun 7/1 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
Mon 7/2 Muskegon, MI Summer Celebration
Wed 7/4 Rama, ONT Casinorama
Thu 7/5 Rama,ONT Casinorama
Fri 7/6 Ottawa, ONT Ottawa Blues Festival/Lebreton Flats
Sat 7/7 Montreal, QC Metropolis (Festival International de Jazz de Montreal)
Sun 7/8 Montreal, QC Metropolis (Festival International de Jazz de Montreal)
Fri 7/27 Bellville, ONT Empire Classic Rock Festival
Sat 7/28 London, ONT Rock The Park IV
Sun 7/29 Lawrence, OH Rock N Resort 07
Wed 8/1 Alexandria, VA Birchmere

Memphis in May - Beale Street Music Festival

GT & D will be appearing at this year's Beale Street Music Festival. I'm going to copy and paste info from their site here, but they have all the info spread out...so bear with me on this:

May 4-6, 2007. To the world, Memphis means great music. Music lovers from around the globe gather at the Beale Street Music Festival to celebrate this vital heritage, this deep river of sound.

Three magical days. Four big stages. Thirty-three acres overlooking the Mighty Mississippi, right on the heels of historic Beale Street. More than sixty top artists. One outrageous party.

Blues, rock, gospel, R&B, alternative, and soul a spine-tingling musical variety guaranteed to shake your soul. With a growing fan base and worldwide media coverage, this stellar event sells out annually.

LOCATION: Tom Lee Park in Downtown Memphis. The park is located on Riverside Drive between Beale Street and Georgia Ave. Entrances are on Riverside Drive at Beale Street and on Riverside Drive at Georgia Avenue. Patrons with tickets may enter from the River Walk at the North and South bluff stairs.

Dates: May 4-6, 2007

Times:

Friday, May 4 - 5:00pm-12:30am

Saturday, May 5 - 1:00pm-12:30am

Sunday, May 6 - 1:00pm-10:30pm

HOW MUCH?

Single Day tickets are $25.00 in advance or $30.00 if purchased at the gate. A pass for all three days is only $59.50 until April 30th. Once it's May the deal goes away so get your tickets early and save on the price of 1 day and 3-day tickets. After April 30th three day tickets will be $75.00.

No age restrictions; everyone must have a ticket.

Only patrons who have purchased advance tickets will be allowed park access using the Butler Street and North Bluff stairs.

Entrance for patrons buying tickets the day of the event will be at Riverside and Beale and at Riverside and Georgia.

The Allman Brothers Band
Three 6 Mafia
Koko Taylor
Gym Class Heroes
Gov't Mule
Social Distortion
Richard Johnston
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Jerry Lee Lewis
Chevelle
Hubert Sumlin & Willie Big Eyes Smith
Plain White T's
The Derek Trucks Band
North Mississippi Allstars
Popa Chubby
Steely Dan
Godsmack
George Thorogood
Bobby "Blue" Bland
The Bar-Kays
Wolfmother
The Ohio Players
Walter Trout &The Radicals
Kenny Wayne Shephard
Taking Back Sunday
Taj Mahal
Ryan Shaw
Kelley Hunt
Old Crow Medicine Show
Jack's Mannequin
The John Butler Trio
Alvin Youngblood Hart
Eddie Floyd
One Less Reason
The Duhks
Daddy Mack Blues Band
Hawthorne Heights
David Honeyboy Edwards
Counting Crows
John Legend
Hinder
Elvin Bishop
Barenaked Ladies
Corinne Bailey Rae
DAUGHTRY
Tab Benoit
Guster
Edwin McCain
Project Pat
Backdoor Slam
Umphrey's McGee
Ann Peebles
Papa Roach
Watermelon Slim
Billy Lee Riley
Egypt Central
The Lee Boys
James "Super chikan" Johnson

The Beale Street Music Festival will keep you busy, entertained, and well fed.

Finding your way to Memphis and your way around the festival grounds is easy. Beale Street Music Festival takes place in downtown Memphis, Tennessee in Tom Lee Park a 33-acre park on the banks of the Mississippi River.

The 12 Rules of the Beale Street Music Festival

1. The Beale Street Music Festival will be presented rain or shine. Performances may be postponed or cancelled if weather conditions are deemed unsafe.
2. No refunds, rain checks or exchanges.
3. Blankets are welcomed.
4. No beverages, bicycles, cameras, recording devices, cans, containers, coolers, food, glass bottles, laser pointers, lawn chairs, oversized umbrellas, pets, recording equipment, roller blades, roller skates, water guns, strollers, no thrown objects such as baseballs, footballs, frisbees-etc., or weapons. Food and beverages, including beer, are available from the concessionaires.
5. All packages and purses are subject to inspection.
6. Picture I.D.'s will be required from everyone purchasing alcohol. Picture I.D.'s are also required for Ticketmaster will-call.
7. All food must be purchased with cash. ATM's are available within the Festival site for your convenience.
8. All patrons must have a ticket regardless of age. Tickets are good for the dates specified only.
9. If it is determined that the park has reached capacity, for the sake of crowd safety and enjoyment, Memphis in May reserves the right to refuse admission unless patron has a ticket purchased in advance. Admission to Tom Lee Park is first-come, first-served.
10. Memphis in May reserves the right to refuse admission or to eject any person violating rules, local, state and federal laws or whose conduct is deemed illegal, disorderly or offensive.
11. Cameras and recording equipment are not allowed in Tom Lee Park during the Beale Street Music Festival and are subject to being confiscated.
12. Memphis in May International Festival, Inc. and its employees, officers and sponsors assume no liability for injury sustained by ticket holders at this event.

Rocker Thorogood leads blues chart for 2nd year

view article here

By Todd Martens
Reuters
Monday, December 25, 2006; 9:50 PM

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - When it came to the blues, shoppers gravitated toward the classic rock stylings of George Thorogood & the Destroyers. The evergreen act's career retrospective "30 Years of Rock" logged a second consecutive year on the Top Blues Albums tally.

The album has spent more than 50 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. For those looking ahead to 2007, it's worth noting that "30 Years of Rock" will not rule the tally again. Its reign will end in 2006, as the album's two-year anniversary was in May 2006, and "30 Years of Rock" was moved to the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart.

Susan Tedeschi's "Hope and Desire" came out in 2005, but the album had a stellar sales year in 2006, spending a total of six weeks at No. 1. It ranks No. 2 on the Top Blues Albums recap.

The No. 3 spot goes to "People Gonna Talk," the first album in five years from British singer/songwriter James Hunter. The March release spent six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the weekly blues album chart.

The first album in four years from the Derek Trucks Band was the first to crack Billboard's blues charts. It spent eight nonconsecutive weeks at the top, and finished the year at No. 4 on the 2006 tally.

Elsewhere, "B.B. King & Friends: 80" had a smashing second year, finishing at No. 3, and B.B. King's "Ultimate Collection" also inspired fans to open their wallets, closing the year out at No. 6 on the year-end recap.

The critically acclaimed return of soul singer Bettye LaVette finished the year at No. 11.

Reuters/Billboard

George Thorogood & The Destroyers to open for the Rolling Stones Nov. 22

Hot off the presses!!

George Thorogood & the Destroyers will be the special guests of the Rolling Stones at Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 22.
Show time - 7pm.

more on the Ground Zero DVDs

view article here

Lineups to rock the house at Ground Zero
By: DAVID OWENS, Associate Editor
October 09, 2006

The music keeps rolling at Ground Zero Blues Club, 0 Blues Alley, this week with scheduled performances by Delaney Bramlett and Elvin Bishop.
The two rock icons will perform as part of the Ground Zero Blues Club Music DVD tapings at the nightclub. The series of concert performances has been dubbed "The Clarksdale Jook Joint Jam." Ground Zero Blues Club Music is a collective effort by Nashville, Tenn.-based Vincent Productions and the owners of Ground Zero Blues Club, attorney Bill Luckett, Morgan Freeman and businessman Howard Stovall.
Gary Vincent, owner of Vincent Productions, came to Clarksdale originally in 2003 with his wife, Carol, as consultants to the Robert Johnson estate.
Vincent was quickly attracted to the Delta city due to his love of the blues and Led Zeppelin.
"I grew up in Chicago, where the blues is really strong," he said. "You can't escape the blues. I'm also a huge Led Zeppelin fan and they were highly influenced by the blues."
In fact, Led Zeppelin was so influenced by the blues greats that they were sued by many of the musicians they idolized.
During one such visit to Clarksdale, Vincent was able to meet one of his longtime idols.
"Last year, my wife and I were having dinner with Bill and Morgan," Vincent said. "Bill got up and introduced me to Robert Plant, who was having dinner with some of his Clarksdale friends."
Vincent said the original idea behind Ground Zero Blues Club Music was to capture many of the great unknown blues artists and give them worldwide exposure.
"The more we looked at the business plan, we realized the best way to accomplish that was not just CDs, but DVDs," he said. "We were also told to couple these artists with an international star because 'nobody would buy unknown names.' It was really a business choice."
The first project, recorded last year, featured rock legend George Thorogood and the Destroyers, with blues great Eddie Shaw. Though they come from two different worlds, Thorogood revealed a respect and admiration for Shaw, a longtime friend.
Tapings continued Thursday with Jimmy Thackery and the Cate Brothers rocking the house at Ground Zero Blues Club. Delaney Bramlett will play the club Monday followed by Elvin Bishop with Little Smokey Smothers, and Pinetop Perkins Tuesday evening.
Vincent, a Nashville songwriter, said he didn't know the success of Bramlett, a native Mississippian, until he did research for this show.
"We have written 20 to 30 songs together," he said. "I never knew a lot of this stuff about him until we did research for this show. On one record, you could hear Leon Russell or Eric Clapton. All of the hottest people were in his band at one time."
Following two successful shows, Vincent said all parties involved are excited about the continued success of the project.
"We're all just walking on a cloud," he said. "Everybody has been so professional. When you put the quality of those people together, it's amazing to watch it all work. We have all (high definition) cameras provided by Canon, our sponsor."
Vincent said the group is in talks to have other big names such as Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons perform at the venue.
"The way to entice acts like that is to show how pertinent these performances are," he said. "It's the real deal and we're going for those artists who are truly valid such as Elvin Bishop and Mississippi son, Delaney Bramlett.
"All of these guys have made a huge mark in the music industry," Vincent said. "We're already getting calls from huge artists who are starting to sniff around and see what it's all about."
Vincent said people will be please with the names announced for more shows in January.
"Blues is the foundation for so many genres of American music," he said. "Everything we hear now has been built on that foundation."
Vincent said everyone has been helpful, crediting Stan Street and wife, Dixie, for the artwork provided for the project.
"His Delta art is so much a part of the look and the feel of what we're doing," he said. "We thank them profusely. Mike Dunahue, George Thorogood's manager, was also a great mentor of this project. So much so, we made him an associate producer on the first DVD."
A special edition of the first show, featuring George Thorogood and Eddie Shaw, is currently available through Vincent. The DVD will be officially released in February, he said.
This week's shows begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available at Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, 252 Delta Ave. For more information, call 662-624-5992.

New Blues DVD includes Mississippi and Arkansas musicians

view story here

Associated Press

HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. - Portions of a new DVD focusing on the lives of blues musicians living in the Mississippi Delta will be shot in Helena-West Helena.

Actor Morgan Freeman and musician George Thorogood will provide commentary for the DVD, which is named after Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Miss.

Robert Eva, a director, said bonus footage on the DVD will include Helena-West Helena and other Delta areas.

"We are going to strap on a video camera to a crop duster and get footage from the air," Eva said. "It's time people get to see it from the inside and really understand where the blues came from."

The DVD is expected to be in stores in February. Proceeds will go to non-profits that promote blues music and the featured artists.

George Thorogood band sued by former member

view the news here

George Thorogood & the Destroyers, the rock band known for the 1982 song "Bad to the Bone," was sued by a former member who claims he is being shortchanged in royalty payments.

Henry G. Carter, who sings and plays keyboard, guitar, and wind instruments, says in the suit filed June 30 in federal court in Delaware that he joined the band in 1979 and had been paid 20 percent of net record-sale royalties since the 1980s.

Since being "involuntarily released" by the Landenberg, Pa.-based band in 2003, Carter says he has received royalty checks "that are sporadic and inexplicably reduced by a 'management fee.'"

The band released a retrospective last year, "George Thorogood: 30 Years of Rock," under EMI Group Plc's Capitol Records Inc. label. It sold more than 500,000 copies and was named the top blues album of 2005 by Billboard Magazine, the lawsuit says.

The band didn't immediately return an e-mail seeking comment on the suit. Neither the band nor its management arm, Independent Productions Inc. of Landenberg, have listed telephone numbers.

George with Peter Gammons

view article here (scroll down)

Baseball scribe Peter Gammons will release his first album, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," July 4 via Rounder Records. In addition to a host of originals, the set finds Gammon singing and playing guitar on covers of Warren Zevon's "Model Citizen" and the Clash's "Death or Glory."

Gammons is joined on the project by George Thorogood and such Boston music scene notables as Juliana Hatfield and former Letters To Cleo vocalist Kay Hanley, as well as Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and major-leaguers like Bronson Arroyo, Trot Nixon, Tim Wakefield and Jonathan Papelbon.

Proceeds from the album will benefit the Foundation To Be Named Later, which raises funds for disadvantaged youngsters.

George Thorogood readies album, tour

view article here

April 28, 2006 03:46 PM
by Jon Zahlaway
liveDaily Senior Writer
Now in their fourth decade together, George Thorogood (tickets | music) & The Destroyers are gearing up for the May release of a new studio album that they'll support with a US tour.

The seasoned blues-rockers will issue "The Hard Stuff," their first new studio set since 2003's "Ride 'til I Die," on May 30. The new disc features a number of originals, as well as covers of several obscure blues tunes such as Jimmy Reed's "Little Rain," Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig," Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine" and Johnny Shines' "Dynaflow Blues."

The group decided to make a blues-heavy album after its 2004 retrospective, "George Thorogood: 30 Years of Rock," spent 50 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Blues Albums chart, and 90 weeks on the chart overall.

"If they want the blues, we'll give it to them," Thorogood said as work began on "The Hard Stuff," according to a press release. "Let's get this sucker done and take it on the road."

The band plans to do just that, with a summer/fall US tour scheduled to launch in late July and run until at least early October. The group will warm up for the outing with a trio of mid-May club shows in the Northeast, details for which are shown below.

Sandwiched between the May warm-up shows and the full-on US run is a June European tour. More information about that trek is posted at Thorogood's website.

Thorogood Rocks 'Hard' On New Album

view article here

April 27, 2006, 3:20 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Veteran rocker George Thorogood will return May 30 with "The Hard Stuff," his latest album with his band the Destroyers. In addition to a handful of originals, the group tackles blues covers like Jimmy Reed's "Little Rain," Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine" and Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig" on the Eagle Rock set.

Thorogood says the Destroyers are at the top of their game and that the proof is in "The Hard Stuff," their first studio album in three years. "This is the best we've ever sounded right now, without a doubt," he tells Billboard.com. "We have an incredible jack-of-all-trades guitarist in Jim Suhler. This guy is a freak. There's nothing he can't do. I'll stack him up against anybody. I just wish I had him 20 years earlier!"

"The Hard Stuff" is Thorogood's last in a three-album deal with Eagle Rock. Going forward, he says he'd "love to do an all-acoustic record someday. Everybody does an unplugged thing, but I've yet to do that. I might like to cut a live album at a prison. That would fit our image pretty well. Someday, I'd like to do an all-country record. I'm very much into that, as much as I'm into rock or blues. I'm as wild as Marty Robbins as I am about Chuck Berry."

After more than 30 years, the Destroyers remain road warriors and already have shows booked into October. "We're like the Robert Duvalls or Harry Dean Stanton's of rock'n'roll," Thorogood says with a chuckle. "We won't win any awards but we're in every movie and we never play the same part twice."

His advice for fans on the day of the show? "Have a good meal and a good night's rest," he says. "We can hold our own with anybody."

More touring on tap for George Thorogood

read article at Live Daily

January 31, 2006 03:43 PM
by Jon Zahlaway
liveDaily Senior Writer

Seasoned blues-rockers George Thorogood (tickets | music) & The Destroyers are gearing up for a late-winter/early spring tour, and are also working on a new album due out later this year.

The roadwork kicks off at the beginning of March, and dates are stacked up through the end of that month. The band also has a handful of May, July and August shows lined up. Details are in the itinerary shown below.

A European tour is set for May 28-June 11. More information about that stretch of shows is posted at the group's website.

Thorogood and company continue to back their career retrospective "George Thorogood: 30 Years of Rock." Released in May of 2004, the set currently resides in the top slot on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart, a position it held for 42 weeks last year, according to a press release.

Also in 2004, Thorogood issued "George Thorogood & The Destroyers 30th Anniversary Tour--Live in Europe." The DVD captures the group's performance at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, England, and also features behind-the-scenes footage and interview clips.

Thorogood & The Destroyers' most recent studio album is 2003's "Ride 'til I Die." Thorogood has been writing and recording a follow-up with longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge. In addition to penning new material, the pair is working up new versions of songs originally recorded by blues legends such as Hound Dog Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed and others.

George Thorogood tour dates and tickets
March 2006
1 - Oklahoma City, OK - Farmer's Market
2 - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
3 - Fort Worth, TX - Billy Bob's
4 - Marksville, LA - Paragon Casino
5 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
7 - Fort Myers, FL - Barbara Mann Hall
9 - Tampa, FL - Tampa Theater
10 - Pompano Beach, FL - Pompano Beach Amphitheater
11 - Orlando, FL - Universal Studios
12 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theater
14 - Atlanta, GA - Roxy Theater
15 - Louisville, KY - Coyotes
16 - Chattanooga, TN - Tivoli Theatre
17 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
18 - Valdosta, GA - Wild Adventures
19 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
22 - Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
23 - Roanoke, VA - Roanoke Civic Center
25 - Evansville, IN - The Centre
26 - Elkhart, IN - Elco Theater

May 2006
18 - New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
19 - Reading, PA - Sovereign Center
20 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues

July 2006
21 - Cadott, WI - Rock Fest
22 - Fond du Lac, WI - Fond Du Lac Fair
23 - Waukesha, WI - Waukesha County Fair

August 2006
1 - Wausau, WI - Wisconsin Valley Fair
5 - Arnolds Park, IA - Arnold's Park
7 - Sturgis, SD - Legendary Buffalo Chip

2006 International CES

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 2006--Hollywood celebrities, rock and roll icons and professional sports legends will converge at the 2006 International CES(R) to experience the hottest products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry. The 2006 International CES, the world's largest technology tradeshow, returns to Las Vegas, January 5-8.

Verizon will host comedian, Dana Carvey, at CES Unveiled on Tuesday, January 3, from 4-7 p.m. located at Innovations Plus at the Sands, in the Bellini Ballroom. The former "Saturday Night Live" star will appear with Verizon, celebrating the company's FiOS fiber-optic broadband and television services.

For music lovers at the show, several CES exhibitors are planning live entertainment in their booths. Gibson Guitar will host live performances throughout the show with two nights of headlining performances by rock-blues guitarist, George Thorogood, on Friday, January 6 and Saturday, January 7 at 7 p.m. Legendary Elvis guitarist, Scotty Moore, will perform on Saturday, January 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Gibson booth, as part of an Elvis Presley birthday celebration. Gibson will host daily performances with recording artists that include, The Kevin Maney band, Jagged Ann and rising country music artist, Jace Everett.

- view full article here

Destroyers recording new CD

Hat tip to Destroyermetfan:

According to Jim Suhler's website, the Destroyers will be recording a new CD from November 14 through December 3. This holds special significance since GT said in a recent interview that his next CD would be his last. Here's hoping the guys make a scorcher, a barnburner, one for the ages.

Maverick pt. 2, anyone?

GT makes appearance in new film

- view full article from Variety -

...

Also at Toronto Thursday, indie banner ThinkFilm -- which unsuccessfully tried late Wednesday night to create a partnership with Lions Gate to acquire the Christian Bale starrer "Harsh Times" -- closed a deal with ICM to pick up worldwide rights to Josh Gilbert's docu "Aka Tommy Chong."

"Chong," made by Blue Chief Entertainment, follows the U.S. government's real-life case against the stoner comedy icon of the film's title for manufacturing bongs in 2003.

Gilbert penned the pic, which features appearances by Chong as well as Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Cheech Marin and George Thorogood. Pic preemed Friday in the Real to Reel section.

"It's a film that I targeted personally. It is a fabulous blend of contemporary issues, coupled with tremendous nostalgia," ThinkFilm president Jeff Sackman said.

...

Live with Regis and Kelly

Just found out that George is performing this morning on Live with Regis and Kelly. Don't worry, my DVR is set...

International East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival

From a story on Australia's Channel 9 website:

"American rock group REM has joined the line-up for the International East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival at Byron Bay.

The band will join other international headliners including Jack Johnson, Luka Bloom, Janis Ian, George Thorogood, Angelique Kidjo, Sarah McLachlan and Bo Didley.

Locals to perform at the annual festival include The John Butler Trio, Kasey Chambers, The Beautiful Girls, The Whitlams and The Cat Empire.

The East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival, which is in its 16th year, runs over the Easter long weekend from March 24 to 28 at Byron Bay's Red Devil Park."

My first thought: Since when is REM either Blues OR Roots music?

George Thorogood follows 30th anniversary tour with more roadwork

- view article from Live Daily -

After spending much of 2004 on the road to mark their 30th anniversary, George Thorogood & The Destroyers head into their fourth decade of touring with a North American outing this spring.

Currently on break after wrapping up the anniversary run last month, the Thorogood and company are set to launch the North American trek in mid-May, beginning with a series of Canadian shows, including a three-night stand in Thunder Bay, Ontario. A subsequent series of U.S. dates currently stretches into early June. Details are shown below.

"As I looked into the faces of our audiences every night, I noticed that we attracted a lot of � older fans to the gigs along with the kids," Thorogood said of last year's anniversary outing in a statement posted at his website. "It reminded me that rock and roll has been around for a long time, and I hope our fans continue to enjoy us as much as we enjoy playing for them."

Capitol Records/EMI marked the group's anniversary with last May's release of "George Thorogood & The Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock." The 16-song 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.".

"George Thorogood & The Destroyers 30th Anniversary Tour: Live in Europe," a concert DVD shot during the group's 2004 outing, followed in October.

Thorogood & The Destroyers' most recent studio album is 2003's "Ride 'til I Die." Formed in 1974, the group released its self-titled debut in 1977.

May 2005
12 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
13 - Kamloops, British Columbia - Sport Mart Place
14 - Prince George, British Columbia - Prince George Multiplex
15 - Grande Prairie, Alberta - Canada Games Arena
17 - Calgary, Alberta - Outlaws
18 - Edmonton, Alberta - Red's
19 - Regina, Saskatchewan - Regina Agridome
20 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre
21-23 - Thunder Bay, Ontario - Community Auditorium
25 - West Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom
26 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino
27, 28 - Harris, MI - Chip In's Island Resort & Casino

June 2005
3 - Gulfport, MS - Grand Casino Gulfport
4 - Austin, TX - Travis County Exposition Center
6 - Oklahoma City, OK - Civic Center Music Hall
7 - Fort Worth, TX - Bass Performance Hall
9 - Tucson, AZ - Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre
10 - Rio Puerco, NM - Route 66 Casino

Track Listing for the new live CD

"Christine" on DVD

Christine: Special Edition will be released September 28 on DVD. If you remember, Bad To The Bone is featured prominently in the movie. The DVD will also have among it's special features:

"...various topics covered are the elements that went into shooting the opening flashback sequence, filming the transformation shots after principal photography had wrapped, the difficulties encountered in shooting a sequence where the car is completely engulfed in flames, a practical joke with a twin sister, and the original epilogue with an appearance by "Bad to the Bone" songwriter George Thorogood."

view entire DVD review here.

1 CD, 2 DVD's to arrive in the next two months

I didn't have to wait long to be able to confirm...

view the news directly at the official GT site.

30th Anniversary Tour: Live In Europe

The new live CD will arrive in stores October 19! More info to come...

There have also been rumors of this show on DVD as well, but I haven't been able to confirm. As soon as I hear for sure, you guys will be the first to know.

Robby Gordon/George Thorogood team up

- view full article here -

* Note: I'm a little late with this one! *

Robby Gordon will return to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) competition on August 25, 2004 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the No. 47 Acxiom Morgan Dollar Motorsports Silverado with a special paint scheme showcasing George Thorogood and the 30-year anniversary of his Bad to the Bone tour.

Click here for a pic of the truck.

Clear Channel guitar auction to raise money for hurricane fund

- view article -

Radio giant Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) plans to auction 43 autographed guitars to benefit victims of Hurricane Charley.

Among the celebrities who have autographed the guitars are Tom Petty, Robert Plant, The Strokes, George Thorogood, the Stone Temple Pilots, ZZ Top, Kenny Rogers, Wynonna Judd, Incubus, Sammy Hagar, Linkin Park and Britney Spears. The auction, on the Web site www.StormAid.com, was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. today and end Sept. 20.

All proceeds will go directly to displaced families and the Red Cross, Clear Channel said.

The San Antonio-based company owns two television stations and seven radio stations in Jacksonville.

"30 Years of Rock" debuts at #55 on Billboard's Album Charts!

Awesome!

I could be wrong, but I think his last "charting" album was Haircut...can anyone confirm that?

Anyway, it's terrific news. Way to go Destroyers!

GT on Jimmy Kimmel tonight --

George will be sitting in with the band tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live - don't miss it!

new "greatest hits" out today...

I'll update with more info, opinions, and what-not after I've spent the next five or six hours rockin' my day away!

GT on Bob Costas Friday, May 14!

For Immediate Release May 11, 2004

HBO�S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ON THE RECORD WITH BOB COSTAS CONTINUES ITS FOURTH SEASON MAY 14 WITH GUESTS DENNIS HOPPER, GEORGE THOROGOOD AND STARS OF �AIRPLANE!�

view press release

Hey Cats - Everybody Needs To Read This!

read article

Thorogood rocks on
Jeff Hahne, Staff Writer

(Thursday, February 26, 2004 1:00 am)

WINSTON-SALEM � It�s been 30 years since George Thorogood & The Destroyers first started performing. While the band is having more fun than ever, it�s also possible that they�re getting better. Thorogood calls their latest album, �Ride �Til I Die� their best yet.

Their eleventh studio album was produced by Grammy winner Jim Gaines and will be followed this year by a greatest hits album and four-disc box set.

Now Thorogood is getting ready to hit the road again in celebration of his 30 years, opening the tour at Ziggy�s in Winston-Salem on Friday, Feb. 27. The show will also be a benefit for AIDS Care Service in Winston-Salem which helps those with HIV, as well as housing and feeding the homeless.

�It�s a great organization and I hope we can raise some dough,� Thorogood said from his home in L.A. �We don�t want to use the term �warm-up� gig, but for lack of other words, that�s kind of what it is. We make it a benefit show, so if we�re not quite as sharp as expected, we can say, �Hey, it�s a benefit show.� It works out well that way. We don�t like to rehearse. We just play.�

Known for songs such as �Bad to the Bone,� �I Drink Alone,� and �Bourbon, Scotch and Beer,� Thorogood sees himself as a �rock n roll archeologist.

�I dig up these obscure pieces, shine em� up and people go �Wow!�� he says. �How many people had heard of �Bourbon, Scotch and Beer� before we did it?�

Thorogood says he�s having more fun now than he did when he started and says his biggest highlight is each night when he hits the stage. Energized by the crowd, he�s happy when people recognize some of his songs.

�It�s good to be known for something,� Thorogood says. �Some people will give their eye teeth to be known for only one song. If people name two songs, I�ll tell them to stop right there. I�m not greedy.�

His latest album contains covers of artists such as Bo Diddley, Charlie Midnight, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry. The track, �American Made,� is dedicated to Native Americans, which Thorogood says serves two purposes.

�Somehow we�ve become very popular with Native Americans,� he says. �We have all of these drinking songs, and Native Americans don�t drink much, so I don�t see why they adopted us. They�ve had it rough in this country so I thought it was fitting to dedicate it to them.

�It�s also kind of self-serving,� he adds with a laugh. �Because when the revolution comes, and it will come, and they take over, I�m gonna be sitting pretty.�

The band�s box set, which will be released later this year, will contain one live disc, one rock, one blues and one of originals. Thorogood hopes the set will showcase the band�s diversity through the years.

As far as an end, Thorogood says it has to come some time.

�Some day, we�ll be playing a club, such as Ziggy�s, and at night when we go on it will be less than half-filled. I�ll go up to the promoter and say, �Son, congratulations, you just retired the great George Thorogood.� I want to make sure it ends before it comes to that.�

George Thorogood Is Ridin' Til' He Dies

read the review

George Thorogood & the Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock Will Be On The Shelves MAY 18, 2004

By Keith Hannaleck, 4/8/2004

t is hard to believe that George Thorogood has been spinning a yarn and rockin' audiences for over 30 years now. It seems like only yesterday that the blistering riffs from "Bad To The Bone" were blasting out of everyone's speakers. I guess I cannot flatter myself because it really has been that long. Music like Thorogood's keeps me young inside, all music does, and that is why I feel like I am only 18 inside.

George Thorogood & the Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock covers a long stretch of successes. He continues on to this very day with new studio recordings and endless touring. I know his back catalog is hefty at this point and many fans will ask were certain songs are, this is when the inevitable adage comes into play - you cannot please everyone. I honestly believe that for one CD, this collection does a great job of highlighting the career of an American music legend. Sixteen tracks of smokin' rockin' blues fun shows just what the Thorogood style has been all about all these years and why he has been so successful, just listen to the songs, it tells the story. Who could forget the line from "Get a Haircut" - Get a haircut and get a real job, clean up your act and don't be a slob, get it together like your big brother Bob or the tongue in cheek "I Drink Alone" - Ya know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself. These are classic lines from one of the very best storytellers, guitar players and vocalist rock music has ever had onstage or in the recording studio, period.

To add a little spice to the pot some live tracks and remixes make for a complete George Thorogood experience. This is not a bad package for one CD I must say. As much as people shake their fist at corporate America and major labels at times, and that includes yours truly, you cannot deny how you appreciate great CDs like this. Go ahead - tell me you won't buy this CD if you are a real blues-rock fan! Who do you love? "American Made" George Thorogood that's who.

Track Listing:

1. Madison Blues (4:29)
2. One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (8:25)
3. Move It on Over (4:17)
4. Who Do You Love (4:23)
5. Bad to the Bone (4:53)
6. I Drink Alone (4:32)
7. Gear Jammer (4:33)
8. Willie and the Hand Jive (4:03)
9. The Sky Is Crying (live) (8:01)
10. Reelin' and Rockin' (live) (5:48)
11. You Talk too Much (4:34)
12. If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave) (4:11)
13. Get a Haircut (4:07)
14. Rockin' My Life Away (3:27)
15. American Made (4:06)
16. Who Do You Love (Rothrock mix) (3:35)

Thorogood Celebrates Thirty

- from Rolling Stone

New compilation due along with never-ending tour

Thirty-five years ago, George Thorogood ignored an ad in the local Wilmington, Delaware, newspaper that his mother clipped looking for a baseball commentator. Thorogood did a short stint playing semi-pro ball ("I was doing good until I found out three things kept me out of the big leagues," he says, "I couldn't hit, run or throw.") before fully pursuing music full-time. The next three decades will be the focus of George Thorogood and the Destroyers Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock, a May 18th anthology that includes fifteen of Thorogood's hits along with a new mix of "Who Do You Love" by producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliott Smith).

Though songs like "Move It On Over" and "Bad to the Bone" have established Thorogood as one of the preeminent jukebox heroes, he seems to take a certain pride in being a musical underdog for his thirty years, a badge after playing some lean years. Despite multiple of waves of boogie rock bands from the Allmans to ZZ Top, Thorogood and the Destroyers were regular players for more than several years before they landed their first record deal. "The timing was tough, because by the time we came around white guys playing the blues thing was going out," he says. "Duane Allman passed away, Savoy Brown got dysfunctional and Canned Heat died one by one. By the time we got there, the stuff was outdated. I was pretty discouraged -- I was not the person you'd wanna hang around with in those days. I saw Petty and Springsteen and Mellencamp, and they were all getting their shot and I wasn't. I thought, 'I can boogie as good as those cats.' But it just wasn't happening. I was just stuck in those dives."

By 1977, Thorogood had signed with Rounder and released George Thorogood and the Destroyers. "I just wanted to do something that was my own," he says. "I'm like [Tom] Waits in that I'm not a singer singer -- he kinda growls it out there. But I thought this sound was unique to get noticed. Anbody can be a great guitar player. I gave that up years ago. I was never going to compete with Duane Allman or Ry Cooder or those cats. I just thought, 'What you gotta do is get a tune, kid.' We just kept plugging away and 'that tune' got on the radio."

'That tune' is the collection's centerpiece is Thorogood's iconic rave up of the John Lee Hooker standard, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," removed from the bluesman's laid-back cool and injected with eight-minutes of guitar petrol. "It was a struggle to get a record company behind that tune," Thorogood says. "But I held onto that song for years knowing it was the song that was going to break us. I knew it was a hit, because the first time I saw John Lee Hooker play it, people were dancing. Usually with the blues guys, nobody danced -- they sat and watched, I guess out of respect, but it felt like church. But people were dancing to that song, and you know what stuck in my mind? They were all women. I thought, 'That song's a hit. And I better grab it before Tom Waits or Dean Martin does.'"

Testament to Thorogood's vision is that the songs that form the core of 30 Years of Rock -- the aforementioned singles along with "If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)," "I Drink Alone," "Gear Jammer," "You Talk too Much" and "Get a Haircut" -- never broke into the pop Top Forty, despite their enduring popularity. And Thorogood's fan base fairly loyally sought out the long-players (four records broke into the Top Forty between 1979 and 1988).

Those songs are the basis of not only the new collection but of Thorogood and the Destroyers' rigorous performance schedule. The group -- bassist Bill Blough (a regular since 1976), guitarist Jim Suhler and drummer Jeff Simon -- is in the middle of a thirtieth anniversary tour, with North American dates stretching into late April, followed by a European jaunt, and then even more U.S. dates.

"It's a long time to do something, isn't it?" Thorogood says. "We've plugged away and here we still are thirty years later. That's longer than Henry Aaron played baseball. Water finds its own level, and the Destroyers have found the right songs and we have a really good solid thing going. I'm looking to sustain that, just like your health. There's the Dick Van Dykes of the world and the Jerry Van Dykes. I'm a Jerry Van Dyke, but I make a living. If Springsteen is the Boss, then I'm the janitor. And a janitor never gets fired. Do you know who lasted longest in the New York Yankees organization? [Legendary clubhouse attendant] Pete Sheehy. That's the job I want."

Track list for The Best 30 Years of Rock:

Move It on Over
Who Do You Love
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Madison Blues
Bad to the Bone
You Talk too Much
Gear Jammer
I Drink Alone
If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)
The Sky Is Crying (live)
Reelin' and Rockin' (live)
Willie and the Hand Jive
Get a Haircut
Rockin' My Life Away
American Made
Who Do You Love (Rothrock mix)

George Thorogood and the Destroyers tour dates:

3/10: Houston, Verizon Theater
3/11: New Orleans, House of Blues
3/12: New Braunfels, TX, Gruene Hall
3/13: Ft. Worth, TX, Billy Bob's
3/16: Albuquerque, Sunshine Theater
3/17: Phoenix, Celebrity Theater
3/18: Alpine, CA, Viejas Casino
3/19-20: Stateline, NV, Harrah's
4/14: Moncton, New Brunswick, Coliseum
4/15: St. John, New Brunswick, Harbour Station
4/16: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Metro Center
4/17: St. Johns, Newfoundland, Mile One Stadium
6/23: Richmond, VA, Innsbrook Pavilion
6/24: Danville, VA, Rockin' the Rivers
6/25: Atlantic City, NJ, Trump Marina
6/26: Westbury, NY, Westbury Music Fair
6/27: Albany, NY, Palace Theater
6/29: Verona, NY, Turning Stone Casino
7/1: Hampton Beach, NH, Hampton Beach Casino
7/2: Hyannis, MA, Cape Cod Melody Tent
7/3: Cohasset, MA, South Shore Music Circus
7/6-7: Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival
7/8: Quebec City, International Summer Festival
7/9: Ottawa, Ontario, Ottawa Cisco Bluesfest
7/10: Michigan H.O.G. Rally

ANDREW DANSBY
(March 10, 2004)

Destroyers to play this year's Sturgis Rally

- Rapid City Journal article -

George Thorogood to celebrate 30 years of rock at the Chip

STURGIS � George Thorogood & The Destroyers and Montgomery Gentry will perform at Buffalo Chip Campground during this year's Sturgis Rally.

Michael Sanborn, Buffalo Chip publicist, said Thorogood & The Destroyers will perform for the first time at the Buffalo Chip on Saturday, Aug. 14.

Montgomery Gentry first took the stage at the Buffalo Chip opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1998. They returned the following year in a supporting role for Skynyrd. Now, with the release of their third album, "My Town," the duo will headline at the Buffalo Chip on Saturday, Aug. 7.

The groups join an all-star cast of headliners for the Buffalo Chip, including ZZ-Top, Heart and The Beach Boys.

Thorogood & The Destoryers have been rocking audiences for 30 years.

"Nothing compares to a live performance by George Thorogood. It's just gritty, blues-based hard rock, and it's perfect for the Buffalo Chip. It's going to be on �Bad to the Bone' night at the Sturgis Rally," Sanborn said.

With trademark hits such as "Bad to the Bone," "I Drink Alone," "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer," "Reelin' and Rockin'," "Who Do You Love," "Madison Blues," and "Move It On Over" featuring his wailing slide guitar work and profoundly gritty vocals, Thorogood has demonstrated he knows how to have a good time, Sanborn said.

"It's just impossible to go to a George Thorogood show and not be engaged by his amazing spirit of party," he said. "It's going to be loud, and it's going to be fun."

Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery have turned up the heat at the Buffalo Chip twice before, and organizers say they know they'll serve up a menu of hard-core blues-rock-country foot-stompin' fun.

Their current hit "Hell Yeah!" hit No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Country Chart and remains in the Top 20. The album from which it came reached No. 3 on the Country Album Chart and remains in the Top 20.

For more information, visit the Buffalo Chip Campground web site.

Montreal Jazz Fest

The Destroyers will be playing the 25th Annual Montreal Jazz Fest with Canadian guitar slinger Colin James. Colin is a pretty terrific picker himself and has some slide chops. It should be a great show for those of you that can make it...

Check out related stories:

Montreal Jazz Fest

Billboard

boston.com

Montreal Gazette

Official Hank "Hurricane" Carter Website

30th Anniversary News

- straight from the official page -

(DESTROYERS HEADQUARTERS)�George Thorogood & The Destroyers have announced the imminent debut of a new web page with a fresh, contemporary look. The site will remain located at www.gthorogood.com, but, for the first time, will offer fans the opportunity to purchase concert tickets directly. In addition, there will be an expanded merchandise section featuring items bearing the special new �30 Years Of Rock� logo and graphics that have been created for the band to commemorate three decades of the signature high energy concerts and best selling albums that have established them as one of rock�s most enduring and popular attractions.
As word of the 30th anniversary started circulating , The Destroyers and their management began receiving a barrage of suggestions, inquiries and questions regarding a special event or party that would befit such an occasion. After much debate, The Destroyers have come up with a democratic solution that de-emphasizes a single event concept in favor of an ongoing celebration that will last all year long. The band, its management team, crew members and their immediate families will gather for a private party on December 1 in Los Angeles, then begin a three show run that takes them to House of Blues venues in West Hollywood (12/4), Anaheim (12/5) and Las Vegas (12/6).
In keeping with their philosophy of bringing the party to the people, The Destroyers have announced that each date of their 2004 concert schedule will be a celebration of �30 Years Of Rock�. Further concert dates will, of course, be announced here on the official Destroyers web page.

George Thorogood Reissues on SACD

- view story -
(This is from a couple of weeks ago - sorry for the delay! - fountainhead)

Also new this week are two George Thorogood albums that have been reissued as Single Inventory Hybrid Stereo SACDs by Rounder Records with the new SACDs serving as the album's new SACD and CD edition. Rounder is distributed by Universal Music in the U.S. market. The new SACDs are the albums "George Thorogood & The Destroyers" and "Move It On Over".

In an interesting twist, the new SACD editions of the Thorogood albums qualify as two of the most stealth SACD releases yet. Unlike most Universal Music SACDs which include an "information bar" on the back of the album jacket (indicating whether SACD Surround Sound, SACD Stereo or CD Audio tracks are present) along with the DSD and SACD logos, all of this information has been omitted from the Thorogood discs.

Instead it simply has a 2003 copyright date at the bottom of each disc along with the text "This product is a Hybrid SACD designed to play in both CD and SACD players as well as SACD compatible DVD players. SACD and DSD and their logos are trademarks of Sony." We'll have to watch and see if future Rounder and Universal Music SACDs use this very low key approach to labeling Single Inventory SACD releases.

# George Thorogood - and the Destroyers (Rounder 11661-3013-2)
# George Thorogood - Move It On Over (Rounder 11661-3024-2)

Thorogood featured on John Lee Hooker's last album

Hooker's Last Album Due Next Month

By Wes Orshoski

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The album blues great John Lee Hooker was working on at the time of his death will be released next month.

"Face to Face," which Hooker was completing with his daughter Zakiya, is due Oct. 28 via a licensing deal between the Hooker estate and Eagle Rock Entertainment. The album features guest appearances by Van Morrison (news), George Thorogood, Elvin Bishop, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, Johnny Winter and Jack Casady (news), among others.

The album is a collection of leftover songs that are in many cases embellished with overdubbed performances from the various guests. The raw tracks, all of which feature Hooker on vocal and guitar, were recorded during the sessions for the Pointblank/Virgin albums he released over the last decade of his life.

Morrison -- who has in recent years appeared on and produced Hooker recordings -- duets with the bluesman on "Dimples," featuring Bishop on guitar. Longtime Chuck Berry (news) pianist Johnnie Johnson and Haynes (playing slide guitar) join Hooker on "Up and Down." Haynes' former Allman Brothers bandmate Betts appears on "Serves Me Right to Suffer."

Along with Haynes, both Thorogood and Winter contribute slide guitar work to the set. "Face to Face" also includes a new, lean version of Hooker's classic "Boogie Chillin"' featuring only the singer and Thorogood's guitar work. Ex-Jefferson Airplane bassist Casady plays on two tracks.

Also appearing are longtime Hooker collaborator Roy Rogers (news), guitarist Billy Johnson (news) and keyboardist Deacon Jones (both of Hooker's Coast to Coast Blues Band), guitarist Ron Thompson and bassist/organist Tony Saunders. Zakiya, who produced the album with Ollan Christopher, duets with her father on a pair of tracks. Her band Bluz 4 U also appears.

Roughly a year before his June 2001 death, Pointblank asked Hooker for another album, at which point he and Zakiya (who has also recorded for Pointblank/Virgin) began compiling the unused cuts. Rogers produced several of those basic, raw recordings.

After Hooker's death, Virgin underwent a major restructuring, which led Eugene Skuratowicz, the manager of the artist's estate, to shop the project to various labels, before landing at Eagle Rock (Hooker was not under contract to Virgin at the time.)

Through the deal with Eagle Rock, several Hooker audio and video projects will be released. In terms of video material, Skuratowicz says the estate has more than 300 tapes from throughout the artist's long career in its vault. One, he says, features Morrison and Hooker dueting on a dock in Mississippi.

Hooker will be featured alongside fellow blues icons Son House and Muddy Waters in the premiere installment of director Martin Scorsese (news)'s seven-part blues miniseries, which begins Sept. 28 on PBS.

Here is the "Face to Face" track list, the exact order of which is not yet final:

"Up and Down" (featuring Warren Haynes & Johnnie Johnson)

"Dimples" (featuring Van Morrison and Elvin Bishop)

"Serves Me Right to Suffer" (featuring Dickey Betts)

"Stop Jivin' Me" (featuring George Thorogood)

"Turn Over a New Leaf" (featuring Bluz 4 U)

"Rockin' Chair" (featuring Zakiya Hooker & Bluz 4 U)

"Face to Face" (featuring Jack Casady & Johnny Winter)

"Loving People" (featuring Bluz 4 U)

"Big Road" (featuring Jack Casady & Warren Haynes)

"Six Page Letter"

"Funky Mabel"

"Madman Blues" (featuring George Thorogood & Roy Rogers)

"Wednesday Evening Blues" (featuring George Thorogood)

"Boogie Chillin"' (featuring George Thorogood)

"Mean Mean World" (featuring Zakiya Hooker & Bluz 4 U)

Reuters/Billboard

-- view article --

a short stay for Arno

The announcement from the Official GT&D page:

"George and the Destroyers would like to thank Arno Hecht for a stellar job of filling in and helping the band with it's transition. The Destroyers are looking forward to the future with a more guitar oriented sound utilizing the talents of Jim Suhler and Special Guest Sax Players, such As the Legendary Eddie Shaw..
Arno has many commitments with his Uptown horns and we are grateful that he could take the time away from his very busy schedule for us."

A more guitar oriented sound. One can only hope!

MP3.com

Right now they are offering "American Made" for stream or for download. How incredibly awesome is this?! I am supremely happy the guys have decided to embrace this when could just as easily have ignored it.

"You Don't Love Me" radio airplay

According to Friday Morning Quarterback (FMQB.com), "You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care), the first single from the forthcoming album from George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Ride Til I Die, is the 2nd most added song to mainstream rock radio this week.

Similarly, Radio & Records lists the song as the 4th most added song.

Listen To All The Tracks On "Ride Til I Die"!!!

Believe it or not, Tower Records has each track in its entirety available to stream...

Go to the Tower Records website and have a listen. Warning: you may find yourself listening to the tracks again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again!

Meet your newest Destroyer! Pt. 1

Arno Hecht played his very first show with Delaware Destroyers last night, and I haven't even mentioned him yet! Sorry for the delinquency, but here is a brief bio:

From kewn.com

Arno Hecht and the UPTOWN HORNS established their solid reputation as one of America's foremost horn sections through fifteen years of recording, touring, and TV appearances with a virtual who's who of the pop music pantheon. If you've heard James Brown's "Living in America", Tbe B52's "Love Shack", Buster Poindexter's "Hot,Hot,Hot", or Cameo's "Word Up", you've heard the Uptown Horns. They played the Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels/ Urban Jungle" world tour in '89-'90 and recorded and played with a broad range of artists from Billy Joel to Public Enemy, Cindy Lauper to Ray Charles, B.B. King to REM.

Hank "Hurricane" Carter Leaves After 23 Years

The one with more sax appeal than you can feel...

It was announced today that Hank Carter has left the band for personal reasons.

As unbelievable as it sounds, it is true.

Hurricane, you will be greatly missed.

As a side note, I must make a statement regarding the handling of this situation by the Destroyers camp. I am highly upset, even offended, by the way this was announced. One sentence on the Destroyers home page. One sentence! After 23 years! On top of that, there is an entire article about how excited everyone is about the new sax player...I understand the excitement, but couldn't that wait for a few days to give Hank his due? I don't understand. I hope Hank does.

Sneak Preview

Much progress has been made on the rebuild of the site. It's about 60% complete and uploaded, so hopefully next weekend will be the unveiling. Really, if I've done things correctly, you shoudn't see much of a difference, except that the load time for each page should be drastically improved.

If you want to catch a sneak preview of the new album, head over here for lengthy snippets of three of the brand new songs. Go there now! They freakin' rock!

Another new album?!?!

When it rains it pours! New Greatest Hits collection from the Rounder Records days hits shelves March 4. Check out Rounder Records
website if ya want, but all the pertinent info is as follows:

"The first recordings by George Thorogood and the Destroyers, including their hit, "Move It On Over," were a reinvigorating blast of energy when they hit the FM airwaves in the late 1970s. Cut live in the studio, these 15 tracks, along with a previously unissued live version of their showpiece "Who Do You Love?," are a testament to the enduring power of raw rock and roll. Here are many of George's greatest interpretations of songs by his country music and blues heroes, from Elmore James to Hank Williams, as fresh and soulful today as it was when they were first recorded!"

Billboard

George and the boys get a mention in today's
Billboard Online. Check it out...there's a great quote from GT.

As the day approaches when we'll be blessed with a new album, I'll be going for a revamp of the site. I've got several things in mind, but it's gonna be LOTS of work. If things get a little weird looking for awhile, you'll know why. I think you'll be pleased with the final product.

Album info

The new album was produced by industry legend Jim Gaines. Mr. Gaines' list of production credits includes Santana, Stevie Ray, Huey Lewis, Steve Miller, John Lee Hooker, Blues Traveler, Albert Collins, Journey, Luther Allison, Coco Montoya, Lonnie Brooks, the Neville Brothers, Jimmie Thackery, Smokin' Joe Kubek, and let us not forget our favorite on this list, Jim Suhler and Monkeybeat on their latest and greatest, Bad Juju.

New Album

The Destroyers have signed with a new label, Eagle Records. The new album, Ride Till I Die, will be released in Europe March 24 and stateside on the 25th. Stay tuned for more info...

Lyrics

New West Coast Tour Dates for March...check the Pollstar tour dates page or the official page...Started posting lyrics, my what a time consuming job...I'll continue to add songs, but don't expect me to get finished any time soon!

New Anthology

Most everything is back in working order, and it only took two months to get there. Still need to add old graphics, but it's close enough for now. By the way, EMI is issuing a GT greatest hits package called Anthology, due in stores August 29.