George Thorogood & The Destroyers

From page 92 of Classic Rock Magazine July 2004



Cover of July 2004 issue.
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‘30 Years Of Rock With Geor g e Thorogood & The Destroyers’

(Capitol) When their eponymous 1977 debut album hit, punk rock was in full swing and George’s brand of high-energy boogie was way out of fashion. Maybe it was the name that got them erroneously lumped alongside the new wave for five minutes, but those five minutes were all they needed to establish themselves as the heirs to Canned Heat, The Allman Brothers Band and Creedence.

The greatest of their greatest hits – the high-octane cover of John Lee Hooker’s ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ – suggests an intriguing counter-factual history where punk fused with the blues instead of flouncing off up their collective new romantic anuses.

Never enjoying the success of nearcontemporaries ZZ Top, Tom Petty or even Huey Lewis, Thorogood has been content to craft great blues like ‘If You Don’t Start Drinkin’ (I’m Gonna Leave)’, ‘I Drink Alone,’ ‘Gear Jammer,’ ‘You Talk too Much’ and ‘Get A Haircut’ that has maintained a loyal and discerning following. The Destroyers may only be a glorified bar band, but it’s a bar where they sip 25-year-old single malt and imported beer.

★★★ ★★

Tommy Udo

Various Artists
Streetwalkers






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