Interview by Greg Phillips
The pandemic messed with our lives in so many different ways and it also affected our sense of time. Everything seems like it happened so long ago. I’m chatting with American blues rock legend George Thorogood on the eve of his Australian Good To Be Bad: 45 Years of Rock tour, which kicks off in Canberra on October 27th. I suggest to George that it’s been a while since he and The Destroyers have graced our shores. He reminds me in fact that it was only a couple of years ago that he played Melbourne and Sydney. He was one of the few international artists that beat the 2020 cut and managed to fit a tour in before the global lockdown. This time however, George will be free to roam Australia as he pleases for a couple of weeks and will not only be playing major cities but also a couple of regional dates.
Since 1976, George Thorogood & The Destroyers have sold over 15 million albums, built a catalogue of classic hits, played more than 8,000 live shows, and become mainstays of radio, TV, and stages worldwide for more than two generations. Through it all, they’ve remained one of the most consistent progenitors of blues-based rock in pop culture history. But for Thorogood and his longtime band – Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar) and Buddy Leach (saxophone), it’s on stage that they really come to life, delivering a 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’.
While George is looking fighting fit and cheeky as always on the other side of the zoom screen today, unfortunately the interview gods aren’t playing ball and it was a good chunk of the way into our chat that I’d discovered that our recording had inexplicably stopped. Of course George graciously agreed to restart the interview and off we went but I’d missed capturing a few golden story nuggets along the way, so let me recap.
Early in our chat, I pointed out to George that a couple of the gigs on this Australian tour were to take place at the Fremantle Prison (Decommissioned as a working prison in 1991), to which he replied quick as a whip, “I always knew it would be just a matter of time before I ended up in jail in Australia!” It’s that rapid fire wit and a tendency to look on the bright side of life that has got him through the rigours of touring the globe consistently for five decades.
In many interviews in the past, George has told the tale of how the song Bad to the Bone was written for blues icon Muddy Waters and then later also offered to John Lee Hooker, in the end becoming an iconic song for himself and the band. Did that make him stop offering songs to other people? “No, they decided for me,” he tells me. “Nobody wanted it. I offered that song to Muddy Waters and they didn’t even want to talk about it.” George went on to say that he offered ‘I Drink Alone’ to Dean Martin and that didn’t happen either and in the end he just thought, “Well I’m just going to have to do these songs myself but it’s all turned around now and I’m now accepting songs from other people people like Bob Dylan,” he laughs.
When The Destroyers were starting out they opened for acts such as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Howlin’ Wolf, Houndog Taylor, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, all blues legends that are no longer with us. George tells me that the one thing that he learned from watching all of those guys was that they put on a show. It wasn’t just a matter of plugging in and playing songs, they all had a routine, particularly the dapperly-dressed BB King. As for feeling any obligation to carry the torch for blues rock, George suggests he leaves that stuff to Joe Bonamassa, “He’s better equipped to handle that.”
It was around now that the recording issue was discovered, so we reset and got back into solid chat mode.
I see there’s a tribute to Loretta Lynn on your Facebook page today. You’re known as the blues rock guy but did country music mean much to you growing up?
“Well when I grew up it wasn’t called country music, there was no such thing as country music. Johnny Cash was on the radio and Marty Robbins was on the radio, so was Ray Charles, so was Ricky Nelson … all that music was lumped in together. It probably wasn’t until the late 60s, early 70s they classified certain music as country music. So no, I didn’t really have that. I was just crazy about Hank Williams, didn’t really consider him a country artist. I considered him a great artist. Everybody loves Johnny Cash. My favourite is Marty Robbins, who is more of a western singer than a country singer. For lack of other categories they created this category for these people. There are artists in it and certain songs I really like. I like the way Dolly Parton sings ‘I Will Always Love You’, that’s a great song. I don’t call it a country song. I call it a great song by a great singer. That’s it! You know people … they have to call stuff something. I love Bob Dylan but nobody can call him anything. He’s not blues, he’s not rock, he’s Bob Dylan. And Johnny Cash was like that .. they were tying to figure out … where does this guy fit in? That’s the beauty of him, he doesn’t fit in. That’s what makes Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash! And Kris Kristofferson… and Waylon Jennings. They came up with this outlaw thing because .. they were pretty much … well not booted out but they weren’t embraced by any music genre, so they created their own… which is pretty groovy actually.”
I know you played baseball when you were younger and you know how hard it is to make it to the big time. Its the same with music, so many bands try but only a small percentage make it to the big time. Did that grounding in baseball and lessons learned help you in your approach to the music business in any way?
“What I learned from playing baseball was that I was a very good musician. That’s what I learned from it! It didn’t take me long, let me tell ya!”
Do you still go to games?
“Nah, I haven’t been to a game in a long time.”
Has the game changed?
“Yeah it has changed an awful lot.”
Your band the Destroyers are as famous as you. In regard to the longevity of a band, what percentage is locking in musically with your band members and what percentage is getting along personally?
“Well it depends on what day it is. You know, one day we might all be getting along, the next day it might be a couple of the guys aren’t getting along with the other guys. In general when everybody gets their paycheck regular, everyone is getting along … how’s that? That make sense?”
When a company like Epiphone comes to you and wants to honour you with a signature guitar like the White Fang, is that a similar buzz to getting an award for your records or a different vibe?
“It’s basically the same guitar, designed after the Gibson 125, which they stopped making. It was the only guitar I knew how to play. What guitar playing I do know what to do, I could do it all on that guitar. So when they stopped making those guitars and they kept trying to repair the ones I had, it got very expensive. It got to the point where there’s no life left in these guitars. It was like an old pair of Levis or an old car which just won’t run anymore and it’s the only car I know how to drive. So Epiphone and our manager got together and said well what we’ll do is, we’ll get some Epiphone guitars and we’ll design them like your 125 and we’ll make them with an even better sound than you had before. If they hadn’t of done that, I probably would not have continued playing.”
Tell me about the slides you use … are you fussy about the kind of slide you use?
“I don’t use glass slides, I use copper. The only other person I saw use a copper slide was Muddy Waters. If it’s good enough for Muddy Waters, it’s good enough for me.”
Do you have them made for you?
“Well it’s not that hard, you just go down to the hardware store and buy about 15 feet of copper piping and slice ‘em up and you’ve got 4 or 5 slides there.”
What’s on your backstage rider these days and has it changed over the years?
“It’s changed for the better. Sometimes there was no backstage, how do you like that? if there was, it wasn’t anything to write home about, let me tell ya. It’s much more sophisticated, updated and professional now. The thing is, the world has changed. there is so much money in live entertainment and rock especially. The whole system has been upgraded. Everything is better. The PAs are better, the transportation is better. Because there was so much money involved in it, they had to invest to keep it alive. To keep it alive they had to come up with better venues and just a better set up all the way around.”
What’s left to do for George Thorogood, any bucket list projects left?
“I hope so.”
Anything specific spring to mind?
“Yeah. I am working on a script with Cate Blanchett and me. It’s called Bad Boy Downunder. What do you think?”
Sounds good!
“It’s a rock western. And you can tell Nic Kidman I said hello as well!”
It’s been great to chat George and we look forward to seeing you down here very soon.
“OK Greg, rock on!”
To co-incide with the tour Universal Music will be releasing the Australasian-Exclusive souvenir edition of The Original George Thorogood, which brings together the best from the rock and roll heart and fevered brain of George Thorogood and his unstoppable, long-time band, The Destroyers. The Original George Thorogood will be released on CD (including Australian exclusive tour slipcase) and digitally.
GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS
2022 Good To Be Bad Tour: 45 Years Of Rock
CANBERRA THEATRE, CANBERRA THURSDAY OCTOBER 27
THE FORUM, MELBOURNE FRIDAY OCTOBER 28 SOLD OUT
THE FORUM, MELBOURNE SATURDAY OCTOBER 29
ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY MONDAY OCTOBER 31
ANITA’S THEATRE, WOLLONGONG TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1
CIVIC THEATRE, NEWCASTLE WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 2
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, TOWNSVILLE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 4
CONVENTION CENTRE, CAIRNS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 5
FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE MONDAY NOVEMBER 7
THEBARTON THEATRE, ADELAIDE THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10
FREMANTLE PRISON, FREMANTLE SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 SOLD OUT
FREMANTLE PRISON, FREMANTLE SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
Tickets for all shows are on sale now
For complete tour, ticket and VIP Experience information visit: georgethorogood.com & livenation.com.au