ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 30, 2014
By Steve Newton
When you interview rockers on the road you always try to find out where they’re located, so you can write “When so-and-so calls from wherever” and establish a setting for the conversation. But when I contact blues-rocker George Thorogood–who plays the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver this Friday and Saturday (May 2 and 3)–he’s not ready to cough up the info.
“We swore under oath with the government not to reveal the whereabouts of our location,” jokes the 64-year-old boogieman, so we’ll never know whether he was in Tallahassee or Kalamazoo.
And when I casually ask how he’s doing, Thorogood evades that query as well, instead replying with the title of his best-known song: “Bad to the Bone”.
Considering Thorogood’s name is synonymous with “Bad to the Bone”, it comes as quite a surprise that—at first, anyway—he didn’t even want that song for himself.
“I thought it would be a great song for Muddy Waters,” he explains. “I tried to hustle that tune to Muddy Waters’s camp, with absolutely no success, and actually his people were very offended with me for bringing the song to him. They were like, ‘A white guy bringin’ a blues song? Hell no, that’s not gonna work.’ I thought, ‘That’s bullshit! If Eric Clapton or Keith Richards did that they’d do it in a minute.’
“And then I went to Bo Diddley with it and he loved it! He wanted to play it, but he didn’t have a record deal at the time. So I said, ‘Well, okay, we’ll do it.’ ”
Released in 1982 as the title track of Thorogood’s fifth album, “Bad to the Bone” has proven quite the windfall for its creator, having appeared in numerous films, TV shows, and commercials. You may recall it from the opening scene of the ’83 horror flick Christine, where its don’t-mess-with-me vibe was used to drive home the inherent evil of Stephen King’s titular 1957 Plymouth Fury.
Five years before he hit it big with “Bad”, though, Thorogood established another signature song with the cover on his self-titled debut album of John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”. Both tunes appear on his latest releases, the greatest-hits CD Icon and the concert video Live at Montreux 2013.
“I had an album by John Lee Hooker called Live at the Café au Go-Go,” recalls Thorogood, “and then I went to see him at the Café au Go-Go. He did ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ in both sets, and I noticed that people were dancing—and the people that were dancing were all women! So I said, ‘Wow, this has got a hook!’
“I kinda kept that song at the back of my mind, and then about three years later when I opened for Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Brownie McGhee did it, and he did a brilliant version of it. He was playing it on acoustic guitar, with just a harmonica player, and everybody was on the dance floor.
The song was so strong I started playing it immediately. I knew if anything was gonna break, that’s the tune.”
To hear the full audio of my 2014 interview with George Thorogood–and the one I did with him in 2003 as well–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with:
Roger Glover of Deep Purple, 2004
Joe Blanton of Royal Court of China, 1990
Jagori Tanna of I Mother Earth, 1996
Shaun Sanders of Buffalo Brothers, 1996
Delbert McClinton, 2002
Steve Vai, 1996
Bill Perry, 1996
Jim Bryson of Punchbuggy, 1996
Klaus Eichstadt of Ugly Kid Joe, 1993
Dick Dale, 1993
Jon Bon Jovi, 1987
Graham Greer of Barstool Prophets, 1995
Jim Heath of Reverend Horton Heat, 1995
Dave Martone, 2020
Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, 2006
Joss Stone, 2012
Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, 2005
Jack Blades of Night Ranger, 1984
Colin James, 1995
Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown, 1998
Tom Cochrane of Red Rider, 1983
Ed Roland of Collective Soul, 1995
Taj Mahal, 2001
Tom Wilson of Junkhouse, 1995
Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, 2003
David Lindley, 2002
Marty Friedman of Megadeth, 1991
John Hiatt, 2010
Nancy Wilson of Heart, 2006
Jeff Golub, 1989
Moe Berg of the Pursuit of Happiness, 1990
Todd Rundgren, 2006
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Steve Earle, 1987
Gabby Gaborno of the Cadillac Tramps, 1991
Terry Bozzio, 2003
Roger Glover, 1985
Matthew Sweet, 1995
Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds, 2003
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John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, 1995
Steve Hackett from Genesis, 1993
Grace Potter, 2008
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Don Wilson of the Ventures, 1997
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Albert Lee, 1986
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Jeff Healey, 1988
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Kenny Wayne Shepherd, 1995
Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, 1986
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Bob Rock, 1992
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Joey Spampinato of NRBQ, 1985
Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, 2003
Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, 2003
Steve Kilbey of the Church, 1990
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Randy Hansen, 2001
Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, 1984
Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam, 2007
Jimmy Barnes from Cold Chisel, 1986
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Billy Idol, 1984
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Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, 1992
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 1998
John Bell of Widespread Panic, 1992
Robben Ford, 1993
Barry Hay of Golden Earring, 1984
Jason Isbell, 2007
Joey Belladonna of Anthrax, 1991
Joe Satriani, 1990
Vernon Reid of Living Colour, 1988
Brad Delp of Boston, 1988
Zakk Wylde of Pride & Glory, 1994
John Sykes of Blue Murder, 1989
Alice Cooper, 1986
Lars Ulrich of Metallica, 1985
John Doe, 1990
Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, 1992
Myles Goodwyn of April Wine, 2001
John Mellencamp, 1999
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1999
Kenny Aronoff, 1999
Doyle Bramhall II, 2001
Jon Bon Jovi, 1986
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1992
Randy Bachman, 2001
Little Steven, 1987
Stevie Salas, 1990
J.J. Cale, 2009
Joe Bonamassa, 2011
Tommy Emmanuel, 1994
Rob Baker of the Tragically Hip, 1997
John Petrucci of Dream Theater, 2010
Eric Johnson, 2001
Stu Hamm, 1991
Gene Simmons of Kiss, 1992
Ace Frehley from Kiss, 2008
David Lee Roth, 1994
Allan Holdsworth, 1983
John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, 1988
Steve Vai, 1990
Tony Iommi of Heaven and Hell, 2007
Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1996
Geoff Tate of Queensryche, 1991
James Hetfield of Metallica, 1986
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990
Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites, 1988
Andy McCoy and Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, 1984
Steve Morse, 1991
Slash of Guns N’ Roses, 1994
Brian May from Queen, 1993
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1991
Jake E. Lee of Badlands, 1992
Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1997
John Fogerty, 1997
Joe Perry of Aerosmith, 1987
Rick Derringer, 1999
Robin Trower, 1990
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, 1994
Mick Ronson, 1988
Geddy Lee of Rush, 2002
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult, 1997
Michael Schenker, 1992
Vince Neil of Motley Crue, 1991
Vinnie Paul of Pantera, 1992
Joan Jett, 1992
Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, 1988
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Rob Halford of Judas Priest, 1984
Bill Henderson of Chilliwack, 1999
Paul Rodgers, 1997
R.L. Burnside, 1999
Guthrie Govan of the Aristocrats, 2015
Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe, 1985
Carlos Santana, 2011
Walter Trout, 2003
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Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, 2001
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Donald “Duck” Dunn, 1985
Mark Farner of Grand Funk, 1991
Chris Robinson of Black Crowes, 1990
Jennifer Batten, 2002
Mike Fraser, 2014
Leo Kottke, 2002
Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, 2002
David Gogo, 1991
Booker T. Jones, 2016
Link Wray, 1997
James Reyne from Australian Crawl, 1988
Mike Rutherford of Genesis, 1983
Buddy Guy, 1991
Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, 1990
Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers, 2016
Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1986
Lindsay Mitchell of Prism, 1988
Buddy Miles, 2001
Eddie Money, 1988
Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, 1983
Gaye Delorme, 1990
Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, 1984
Graham Bonnet of Alcatrazz, 1984
Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, 2016
Doc Neeson of Angel City, 1985
Rik Emmett of Triumph, 1985
Sonny Landreth, 2016
Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders, 2016
Jeff Beck, 2001
Albert King, 1990
Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, 1992
Peter Frampton, 1987
Otis Rush, 1997
Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, 1989
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Steve Howe of Yes, 2017
Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, 1983
Uli Jon Roth, 2016
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Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1985
Greg Lake of ELP, 1992
Robert Plant, 1993
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Warren Zevon, 1992
Tal Wilkenfeld, 2016
Steve Clark of Def Leppard, 1988
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Dick Dale, 2000
Greg Allman, 1998
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….with hundreds more to come
Bad To The Bone was played at end of my brother Wayne(Proud Nam MARINE vet) funeral per his request. It cutely funny improved mood fm sad 2 giggles Lots of thank to all involved
Music lives forever as do memories ShaMBs