George Thorogood pays boogiefied tribute to the blues masters with The Baddest Show on Earth

By Steve Newton

Back in the late-’70s one of my favourite things to do was throw the self-titled debut album by George Thorogood and the Destroyers on the turntable and rock out to his boogiefied versions of Elmore James’ “Madison Blues”, Bo Diddley’s “Ride on Josephine”, and especially John Lee Hooker’s extended ode to alcohol, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”.

At the time my young ears were mostly focused on hard rock and British prog, but Thorogood’s music helped plant the seeds of what would eventually grow into a deep love of the blues. His early-’80s cover versions of tunes by Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and Hound Dog Taylor also made me want to go back and discover their original work.

But it wasn’t until I attended my very first George Thorogood and the Destroyers concert, back in 1982 at Vancouver’s Kerrisdale Arena, that I learned what a potent force the guy was on stage. He was a great showman with a killer band, and that energy comes through loud and clear on the new album, The Baddest Show on Earth: Greatest Hits Live.

Just released by L.A.’s Craft Recordings, the LP–available in a very cool “red smoke” vinyl–features live versions of the three above-mentioned songs, as well as four others, including Thorogood’s popular version of Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over” and his original hit from 1982, “Bad to the Bone”, which was famously featured in the opening scene of the 1983 Stephen King flick Christine, and then a shipload of other films, TV shows, and commercials over the years.

Most of the songs on The Baddest Show are performed by Thorogood along with the early Destroyers lineup of bassist Billy Blough, drummer Jeff Simon, and saxophonist Hank Carter, so you know they’re gonna be smokin’.

Speaking of which, you can order the “red smoke” version here.

To hear the full audio of my interviews with George Thorogood from 1989, 2003, and 2014 subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 650 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.