He didn't even pay the front rent.
#DidntPayNoneOfIt
Posted on 08/20/2022 6:07:15 PM PDT by nickcarraway
For most people, the first thing that comes to mind about George Thorogood & the Destroyers is "Bad to the Bone." The song. But not the album of the same name.
Thorogood's iconic hit, part of enough movie and TV soundtracks to buy him much more than one bourbon, scotch or beer, serves as the title track for the band's fifth album and the first for a major label, EMI, after a tenure with the independent Rounder Records. The 10-song set caught Thorogood and his group in high flight, too, hot off dates opening for the Rolling Stones and the Freeze-Frame-hot J. Geils Band. The band had been in front of a lot of eyeballs and eardrums, and the moment to capitalize had arrived.
"It was a big deal — a bigger deal, at least," Thorogood, who rerecorded seven of Bad to the Bone's tracks for a 2007 reissue, told this writer a few years later. "It was a bigger record company and they were ready to put some money behind us and get the records in the stores and push it. ... I don't know if we felt pressure. We just went in and did what we do. It'd be stupid to try to be anything else."
That philosophy served Bad to the Bone well. The album reached No. 43 on the Billboard 200, went gold and spawned Thorogood's first two Top 40 Mainstream Rock chart hits: his version of the Isley Brothers' "Nobody but Me" (later a Top 10 garage-rock hit for the Human Beinz), which climbed to No. 32, and the title track, which reached No. 27.
"Bad to the Bone" has gotten and continues to get its due. But what about the rest of the Bad to the Bone album? It's certainly a record that can be held up as one of the Destroyers' best, and a case can be made that it's the best. To prove it, we steer you to these half-dozen additional tracks that put some extra meat on the Bone beyond its celebrated title song.
"Back to Wentzville"
"Back to Wentzville" is a Chuck Berry-styled rocker with onetime Rolling Stone Ian Stewart pounding piano in the background and Hank Carter unleashing a ferocious saxophone solo. The first of Thorogood's three originals is a bar-band template that gives your speakers, or earbuds, an aerobic workout.
Back To Wentzville Subscribe to Ultimate Classic Rock on
"Blue Highway"
On "Blue Highway" the Destroyers get high and lonesome on a rootsy track co-written by Electric Flag frontman Nick Gravenites. Thorogood starts with just his voice and guitar before the band kicks in after the first chorus, honky tonkin' its way to a hot slide solo that takes the track out.
Blue Highway Subscribe to Ultimate Classic Rock on
"Nobody But Me"
A frat party is as good a fit for the Destroyers as a bar, and one can see the group tearing through the rowdy "Nobody but Me" in Animal House's toga-party scene right after Otis Day and the Knights finish "Shout." The Bad to the Bone take is faithful but stripped down, drummer Jeff Simon pounding it into a furious but joyous explosion.
George Thorogood And The Destroyers - Nobody But Me Subscribe to Ultimate Classic Rock on
"Miss Luann"
There's much to like about Thorogood's third original on the album, "Miss Luann" - from the opening slide guitar riff to more of Ian Stewart's rollicking piano and a chugging boogie rhythm accented by more of Hank Carter's sax honks. It's prototypical Destroyers, and whoever said that was a bad thing?
"As the Years Go Passing By"
"As the Years Go Passing By" is another nice change of pace, slow and soulful with a rich sax solo by Carter. The tune has a bit of a confusing history: Originally recorded by Fenton Robinson in 1959, it was written by Harrison "Peppermint" Harris but credited to Deadric Malone, a pseudonym for Duke Records owner Don Robey. It's another example of the way writers and artists were exploited by their labels back in the day.
As The Years Go Passing By Subscribe to Ultimate Classic Rock on
"Wanted Man"
If anyone thought Bob Dylan wasn't in George Thorogood's wheelhouse, his album-closing treatment of "Wanted Man" proves otherwise. Turns out Thorogood is pretty adept on acoustic guitar (those paying attention already knew this), and his grizzled vocal is a perfect fit for the song's chippy cadence. On the album itself, it provided a counterpoint to the fusillade of "Bad to the Bone," which comes right before it.
I drink alone!
“Put on yer Madison blues. Yer Madison blue shoes...”
Pretty sure I’ve heard that song about a thousand times too many and that was 20:years ago
Get a haircut, and get a REAL job.
You talk too much!
And if you don’t start drinking, I’m gonna leave.
“One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer”
and out the door I went.
RINGTONE!!!
Benn all around the world
Don’t nothin bother me...
Wonder if he ever paid the back-rent.
He didn't even pay the front rent.
#DidntPayNoneOfIt
Got his CD, love his music.
I always thought George Thorogood’s band sounded like a pretty good local bar band, but I never saw him as a star or major talent.
They are still touring and having fun. How ‘bout you?
That's cause you're from Seattle, the birthplace of sh*tty music.
George used to show up to watch and often play with the Tom Larsen’s Blues Project at local bars around Wilmington DE. I don’t know if they were friends but Tom was a better guitar player, however George was the better performer/money maker.
The band originally formed as “George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers.” Can’t find when they dropped the “Delaware” from their name.
Here’s one of his I like;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUAmAe0GNxQ
Follow for later…
When I can turn it up ;)
Tatt
What a kick-ass, rockin’ back-up band! I think the only reason these songs weren’t smash hits like “Bad to the bone” is simply “Back to Wentzville, leave these Memphis blues behind” is so much more of a mouthful than “Go, Johnny go, go” or “goodness gracious great balls o’ fire.” “Bad to the bone” has that simplicity.
When they are simple, they’re a little too fast: “Nobody but me” shouldn’t force you dance so frenetically.
But I say this not to say the band isn’t great. Just the opposite: they are sooo good, that I’m immediately inspired to consider why they weren’t more wildly successful.
IIRC, Hendrix was from the Seattle area.
Is his music s****y too?
‘Pod
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