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George Thorogood to bust out the blues at Covelli
By John Benson
Blues rocker George Thorogood loves baseball.
In fact, when in the course of conversation an analogy is required, the ball diamond is where he heads to get his point across. So when it’s mentioned that Thorogood’s image of a hard-working, blue-collar artist mirrors the makeup of his audience, the 62-year-old “Bad to the Bone” singer swings for the fences.
“I was brought up in the way that if you don’t work hard, then you get fired,” said Thorogood, calling from Los Angeles. “That’s just a carryover into the job I have now. Look at Pete Rose the way he used to play baseball, or Cal Ripken Jr. My father went to work every day. I go to work every day. It’s just second nature. In other words, the norm has become the abnormal. ‘Oh, this guy shows up on time and works really hard.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, what’s so unusual about that?’”
There’s not much unusual about Thorogood’s 35-year-plus career, which has included rock-radio hits such as the aforementioned “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone” and “Born to be Bad,” as well as popular covers such as Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over,” John Lee Hooker’s “House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?”
While the Maryland native flirted with MTV and mainstream success, most of his fans are based in the classic rock and blues scene. That continues today, which is why last year he released the Chess Records tribute “2120 South Michigan Ave.” The project included a cover of the Rolling Stones’ instrumental title track, as well as a reverent take of Chuck Berry’s “Let it Rock.”
Thorogood said the decision to record the 2011 release emanated from his 2009 album “The Dirty Dozen” and his minor radio hit with Howlin’ Wolf cover “Tail Dragger.”
“Capital Records liked it so much they released it on radio, and it got people’s attention,” Thorogood said. “It was something current and kind of brought us back a little bit. It sort of evolved to the point they asked if maybe I could pay tribute to Chess Records. I was thrilled they tapped me for it, but I said, ‘You want me to do it? Why don’t you get Eric Clapton to do this or a more high-profile artist?”
The last sentence truly gets to the heart of who George Thorogood is as a musician and as a person. The humbling statement about Clapton being in rarefied air above the proletarian Thorogood could be perceived as a man just being deferential. However, the truth is that’s why the “I Drink Alone” singer has retained an authenticity that allows him to still tour 80 dates a year, including a Saturday show at the 2nd annual Tangled Up in Blues Fest outside the Covelli Centre.
When his “more high-profile artist” comment is pointed out, Thorogood explains how he perceives his place in the world.
“There are people that come to mind,” Thorogood said. “I appreciated the Rolling Stones more when they had Brian Jones and Mick Jagger was just the lead singer and not an international celebrity that he has become. The Rolling Stones were the scruffy, underground, groovy, hip band. And my main guy who I just love is Denis Leary, and when he got his TV show [‘Rescue Me’] and he won all of those awards, where something is gained something is lost.
“I don’t have the chops for that. It’s not a conscientious thing with me to say this is as far as it’s going to get. But I’m always going to be Curly Howard. I’m never going to be Groucho Marx. And I can live with that.”