Even before "Bad to the Bone" solidified his place in the pop culture canon, George Thorogood was a journeyman rocker with a distinctive voice and a knack for good old-fashioned blues. This month, fans will have a chance to rediscover the earliest part of his career, when Rounder Records remasters and reissues the first two albums by George Thorogood and The Destroyers.
When the Destroyers' self-titled album was released by Rounder in 1977, Thorogood was a Delaware-born guitarist making a name for himself on the Boston club scene with generous helpings of Chicago blues. (The geographical journey therein was not lost on Thorogood, who toured all 50 states, plus Washington D.C., over 50 days in 1980.) That first album mixed a few bluesy originals with classic covers, including Robert Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman," Elmore James' "Madison Blues" and John Lee Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," which became a live favorite for The Destroyers. Follow-up album Move It On Over, released in 1978, was all covers, but they were great ones: Hank Williams' title track and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" opened the album with a one-two punch that resonated on FM rock radio and propelled the album to No. 32 on Billboard's charts, one of their highest album placements.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRA7gaRvsTU]
Thorogood and The Destroyers would release one more album for Rounder, 1980's More George Thorogood and The Destroyers. (1979 also saw a release of recordings from 1974 on MCA Records.) From there, The Destroyers signed to EMI, leading off an incredible decade with Bad to the Bone. Thorogood is, in an incredible display of longevity, still an artist for the label group (with bassist Billy Blough and drummer Jeff Simon still serving as the nucleus of The Destoryers); 2011's 2120 South Michigan Avenue featuring more covers and guest appearances from Charlie Musselwhite and Buddy Guy.
Rounder's straight reissues, remastered from the original analog tapes, will be out July 30. Hit the jump to pick up your copies!
George Thorogood and The Destroyers (released as Rounder LP 3013, 1977 - reissued Rounder 619176, 2013)
- You Got to Lose
- Madison Blues
- House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
- Kind Hearted Woman
- Can't Stop Lovin'
- Ride On Josephine
- Homesick Boy
- John Hardy
- I'll Change My Style
- Delaware Slide
Move It On Over (released as Rounder LP 3024, 1978 - reissued Rounder 619177, 2013)
- Move It On Over
- Who Do You Love?
- The Sky Is Crying
- Cocaine Blues
- It Wasn't Me
- That Same Thing
- So Much Trouble
- I'm Just Your Good Thing
- Baby Please Set a Date
- New Hawaiian Boogie
How do these Hybrid SACD's differ from the 2003 SACD Hybrid re-releases from Rounder? I have both and they're excellent.
This is good news, although it would be nice to have some bonus cuts, or have both original albums on one CD; I think they'd fit.
I forget the specifics, but the old '74 recordings that were released by MCA following Thorogood's commercial breakthrough through on Rounder caused MCA some problems. Rounder sued b,ecause they had George under contract, and rather than accepting cash in settlement of their claims, took the right to reissue some choice, long out-of-print, George Jones (and, I believe, other material as well) that had been sitting in MCA's vaults.