George Thorogood made commitment to success
George Thorogood keeps on keeping on.
With the non-stop touring Thorogood and his Destroyers, that’s a cliché as well as their trademark.
Of course they tour. Always have and, as long as they’re able, always will.
Well before Thorogood released his first album in 1976 he weighed his future prospects. He had an objective.
“You know, I did,” he recalled. “I made a commitment to be successful in the music business. I thought, ‘What can you do? You do something that will never go out of style. The blues.’ ”
There is an adage: Playing the blues, you’ll never get rich, but you’ll always get work.
No problem for Thorogood. He’d roadied for Hound Dog Taylor, adored Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker, was playing blues on his guitar. He and his band left Delaware and never looked back.
This became his philosophy. Trends come and go, technology has turned the music business upside down, but Thorogood has stayed in the trenches and doesn’t put his head up. Bombs might burst above him, but he just keeps on keeping on.
“It’s true,” Thorogood said. “One per cent get to the level of Elvis Presley. That’s very few. Beyoncé. Lady Gaga. I thought, ‘If you just keep playing, you’ll never have to do dishes again.’ ”
Along the way, after 40 years since the first album, he and the Destroyers — Jeff Simon, Billy Blough, Jim Suhler and Buddy Leach — underwent a change in how they were perceived. Although they started out playing Who Do You Love? (Diddley) or One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (Hooker), around the time of Bad to the Bone they were embraced by a new audience.
“Where we are now, in our career, we’re not a blues band, we’re more a rock band,” Thorogood admitted.
And to avoid being taken for granted, each Thorogood album is slightly different. He cites how Eric Clapton has released live albums, an acoustic album (Unplugged), his tribute to Robert Johnson, collaborations with B.B. King or JJ Cale.
“Different projects that will sustain a career. That’s what I’m doing.”
This has allowed him to get close to his heroes such as John Lee Hooker or Chuck Berry.
“What I learn from them is how much rest they get, what do they eat. Many of those guys, such as Chuck Berry, are still playing.
“I already know how to play guitar.”
Apparently.
tharrison@postmedia.com