A popular blues-rock guitarist who draws his inspiration from Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, and Chuck Berry. Since 1975, they’ve sold over 15 million albums, built a classic catalog of hits, and played more than 8,000 ferocious live shows. They broke records with their 50 Dates/50 States tour, delivered landmark performances at Live Aid and on SNL, and became mainstays of radio, MTV and stages worldwide for more than two generations. Through it all, they’ve remained one of the most consistent – and consistently passionate – progenitors of blues-based rock in pop culture history.
Thorogood’s music was always loud, simple, and direct — his riffs and licks were taken straight out of ’50s Chicago blues and rock & roll — but his formulaic approach helped him gain a rather large audience in the ’80s, when his albums regularly went gold.
Originally, Thorogood was a minor-league baseball player but decided to become a musician in 1970 after seeing John Paul Hammond in concert. Three years later, he assembled the Destroyers in his home state of Delaware; in addition to Thorogood, the band featured bassist Michael Lenn, second guitarist Ron Smith, and drummer Jeff Simon. Shortly after the Destroyers were formed, he moved them to Boston, where they became regulars on the blues club circuit. In 1974, they cut a batch of demos that were later released in 1979 as the Better Than the Rest album.
Within a year of recording the demos, the Destroyers were discovered by John Forward, who helped them secure a contract with Rounder Records. Before they made their first album, Lenn was replaced by Billy Blough. Thorogood & the Destroyers’ eponymous debut was released in early 1977. The group’s second album, Move It on Over, was released in 1978. The title track, a cover of Hank Williams’ classic, was pulled as a single and received heavy FM airplay, helping the album enter the American Top 40 and go gold. In 1980, Ron Smith left the band and the group added a saxophonist, Hank Carter, and released their third album, More George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
Following that release, the guitarist signed with EMI Records, releasing his major-label debut, Bad to the Bone, in 1982. The title track of the album became his first major crossover hit, thanks to MTV’s saturation airplay of the song’s video. The album went gold and spent nearly a full year on the charts. Thorogood’s next three albums after Bad to the Bone all went gold. Before 1985’s Maverick, the Destroyers added a second guitarist, Steve Chrismar.
By the beginning of the ’90s, Thorogood’s audience began to decrease. None of the albums he released went gold, even though the title track from 1993’s Haircut was a number two album rock hit. Despite his declining record sales, Thorogood continued to tour blues and rock clubs and he usually drew large crowds; subsequent efforts included 1997’s Rockin’ My Life Away, 1999’s Half a Boy/Half a Man, Live in ’99, 2003’s Ride ’til I Die, and 2006’s The Hard Stuff. Thorogood returned to EMI/Capitol in 2009, releasing the bar band covers album The Dirty Dozen. Two years later, he continued his covers journey with 2120 South Michigan Ave., a tribute to Chess Records.
In the summer of 2017, Thorogood returned to the Rounder label to release his first-ever solo album, Party of One, which was released in August of that year, which critics called “brilliant” (Spin), “electrifying” (Guitar Player) and “chock full of classics” (Music Connection) –continued to be George’s fastest-selling disc in over 20 years. “I was meaning to make that record ever since I first picked up an acoustic guitar,” he says. “It was special and I’m really proud of it, but there won’t be a Party of One/Part Two. Once it was done, I grabbed my electric guitar and said to the band, ‘C’mon boys, let’s get back on the road.’”
It’s on tour that George & The Destroyers flip the switch nightly, delivering what The Toledo Blade calls a “gut-bustin’, guitar-wailin’, face-meltin’, fiery-tempoed, take-no-prisoners, good old-fashioned lunch-bucket rock & roll show” that includes their signature hits “Get A Haircut”, “I Drink Alone”, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, “Move It On Over”, “Who Do You Love” and the definitive badass anthem “Bad To The Bone”, along with several surprises. “George has been honing the set list since our bar band days,” explains 43-year Destroyers’ bassist Bill Blough. “It’s been a constant evolution to make it all killer, no filler. We hear our walk-on song, the lights go down, and something still inherently clicks the second we step on stage. We feel the audience’s energy and the show just explodes.”
And as in past years, a portion of proceeds from every date on the Good To Be Bad Tour will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. “Now we’re talking about something that’s really important,” George says. “When I was a kid I remember Robert F. Kennedy saying, ‘Some people see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not?’ That still gives me the chills today. Don’t tell me to slow down or turn down, but if The Destroyers and I can help make a difference in any way, shape or form, we’re there.”
But after 45 years of rock – and no signs of stopping – can Thorogood point to what continues to make it all matter? “My highlight is every night when I walk on that stage and play our hits for those happy people,” he says. “At the end of the show, the audience is smiling, I don’t see any police and everyone got their money’s worth.”
Ref: https://www.allmusic.com/ and https://www.georgethorogood.com/the-band.html
Discography:
1977: George Thorogood and the Destroyers (Gold)
1978: Move It on Over (Gold)
1979: Better Than the Rest (Recorded in 1974)
1980: More George Thorogood and the Destroyers
1982: Bad to the Bone (Gold)
1985: Maverick (Gold)
1986: Nadine (CD Rerelease of Better Than the Rest)
1988: Born to Be Bad (Gold)
1991: Boogie People
1993: Haircut
1997: Rockin’ My Life Away
1999: Half a Boy/Half a Man
2003: Ride ‘Til I Die
2006: The Hard Stuff
2009: The Dirty Dozen
2011: 2120 South Michigan Ave.
Solo studio album
2017: Party of One
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays George Thorogood. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
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