George Thorogood keeps doing what he does
best, playing guitar, entertaining crowds and making new blues
oriented rock n’ roll. This time around, Lonesome George agreed
to make an album dedicated to the artists of Chess Records. This
is a perfect marriage of Thorogood’s rockin’ slide guitar
swagger and the artists who created the genre that has made his
living for over three decades.
Classic Rock Revisited caught up with Thorogood and got the
scoop behind the new album, as well as the maestro’s thoughts on
Buddy Guy and Bo Diddley.
Jeb: Talk to me about the new CD. I have always called you
The Dr. of Rock n Roll Archeology. I love the theme of the new
CD, 2120 South Michigan Ave., that pays homage to Chess
Records artists. When did you decide to do this?
George: I do dig ‘em up. Backstage at the House of Blues is
when I got wind of it. I really didn’t think much about it. A
couple of months later, my manager told me that the record
company really wanted me to do “Let It Rock.” They actually told
me they wanted me to do more stuff like “Tail Dragger” but I
told them I already had a song like that and that I wouldn’t be
doing any more of that. They came back and said they wanted me
to do a tribute to Chess and that they wanted me to kick it off
with the song “Let It Rock.” They said they had a list of other
songs if I was interested.
This was Capitol Records. We had made a little noise with the
album Dirty Dozen. “Tail Dragger” got a lot of airplay;
it was number one on Classic Rock radio. We wanted to follow
that up. We had a long process of elimination of what we could,
and couldn’t, do. The results are there; you dig it.
Jeb: You have Buddy Guy on “Hi-Heel Sneakers.”
George: He is pretty classy company. He actually overdubbed
the part. He was in-between gigs. Our producer actually produced
Buddy’s Grammy Award winning record. Not only was that song in
the Chess catalog, but Buddy Guy has such a long history of
playing that song. People say that Buddy Guy is a blues artist
but, to me, Buddy Guy is a mixture of Wilson Pickett and Jimi
Hendrix – that is a deadly combination. You can’t limit him to
the blues. I think they call him ‘blues’ because they don’t know
what else to do with him. The guy is a freak of nature.
Jeb: You can tell Stevie Ray Vaughan listened to Buddy a lot.
George: So did Jimi Hendrix. Buddy Guy is also a brilliant
entertainer; he’s got it all covered. He plays a blazing guitar
– it is mind-boggling what he does.
Jeb: You have Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica.
George: We have the best. We got Charlie because Little
Walter wasn’t available [laughter]. I only work with the best.
Jeb: “Willie Dixon’s Gone” is one of your songs.
George: I helped out on that one. I kind of completed it. I
heard them working this out and I said, “We’ve got to put Willie
Dixon in the title.” I kind of changed that song up a little
bit. I really like the beginning because it sounds a little bit
like Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Jeb: Does Chess Records have a special place for you in your
heart? I love the picture of you standing in front of the
building.
George: Chess is a special place for anybody. That is where
“Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven” were recorded. That
is what started the whole thing going.
Can you imagine that there was a time, in our existence,
where the lick to “Johnny B. Goode” did not exist? Its like
trying to grasp there once there was no television or indoor
plumbing. Those particular songs – that lick – showed that Chuck
Berry was changing the world and that Rock n’ Roll was the force
that was changing it.
Jeb: I was surprised to see “Mama Talk To Your Daughter.”
George: I didn’t know that JB Lenoire was a Chess artist.
That was a good break. That song has been done quite a few times
and one of the guys in the band knew it well, so we jumped on
that one with two feet, right away. It reminds me of the J.
Geils Band, in a way.
Jeb: How many of these songs are you playing on tour?
George: All of them.
Jeb: Really?
George: [laughter] I’m kidding you. We’re working on that
right now. We have to play our standards, which most of the fans
are coming to hear. We have to fit the others in within the time
we have allotted to play.
Jeb: It has to be fun to pay homage to these guys.
George: Sometimes it is [laughter].
Jeb: In the liner notes, you dedicate a couple of songs to
“Secret Agent Man.” What is that about?
George: Johnny Rivers put out “Seventh Son” when I was a
little kid. I dug it. Johnny went on to put out “Secret Agent
Man.” I thought it would be pretty cool to dedicate the song to
him but I called him “Secret Agent Man” instead of his name. It
is an inside thing between he and I. He has given me things in
the past. He gave me a hat that said “Secret Agent Man” on it
and he sent me a letter where he signed it “Your Friend, Secret
Agent Man.” He likes that kind of stuff.
Jeb: The picture on the cover shows George Thorogood holding
an acoustic guitar. I have never seen you with an acoustic.
George: Oh yeah, that is how I got started. You don’t know
everything about the Mystery Man of Rock! I started as a solo
act that played acoustic guitar. I was doing okay, but when I
picked up the electric guitar, and started playing those licks
you hear, then I knew I was doing what I was supposed to be
doing.
I still play the electric like I did an acoustic. I finger
and thumb pick like an acoustic blues player. I just took that
style over into the electric realm.
Jeb: There is another picture in the sleeve with you playing
a solid body Les Paul.
George: It was a gift from Gibson. It is a Jimmy Page 50th
Anniversary Les Paul.
Jeb: Are you still playing the Gibson ES-125? That is a
cheaper guitar. You can upgrade, George. You have the money.
George: I still play the ES-125; it’s good enough.
Jeb: Last one: You play the classic song “Bo Diddley” on the
album. You knew him well. Lets close the interview with a good
story about Bo.
George: All of my memories of Bo Diddley were good. He was a
sweetheart to me. He was not an easy man to get close to, or an
easy man to know. He could be very defensive about certain
things. I was blessed to get along really well with him from day
one. We did the “Bad to the Bone” video together and we did Live
Aid together.
The very last time I saw him, he was performing sitting down.
He couldn’t stand up anymore as his back was killing him. He had
extremely bad back problems. He had even had a couple of
operations. He was living in pain the last several years of his
life. He still put on a really good show.
After he was finished he walked off stage and I was kind of
helping him walk; he had lost a lot of weight. He came down the
steps and he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “It’s yours,
George. You take it. It’s yours now.” That was the last thing he
said to me.
Jeb: That is an amazing story. I can’t think of a better way
to end this interview.
