'Almost like the show plays itself' for Thorogood
| Wednesday, Feb 24 2010 03:54 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Feb 24 2010 03:54 PM
George Thorogood and The Destroyers
When: 8 p.m. Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: Fox Theater
Tickets: $48.50, $38.50, $28.50. Available at Fox Theater box office, 324-1369; or www.vallitix.com
George Thorogood is really happy to be performing in Bakersfield this week.
The veteran bluesman and his band, the Destroyers, will begin his 2010 tour with his performance at the Fox Theater Friday night.
"We're promoting all of our records," Thorogood said.
That includes the latest album, "The Dirty Dozen," released last July, comprised of six new songs and six rereleases of songs that had gone out of print. The album has received critical praise and has reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard blues chart.
Thorogood has performed at the Fox before, and his excitement at returning was palpable, even over the phone.
"Hi, George, how are you doing?" I asked.
You can guess his response.
"Bad!"
Thorogood explained his exuberance was due to being able to kick off his tour in what he called "the people's room."
"In every city there is a place called 'the people's room,'" Thorogood said. "You can't ever put your finger on it. Something special happens there."
"It's almost like the show plays itself," Thorogood said.
Thorogood turns 60 this week and can now look back at a career spanning 30 years so far. He admitted that a music career was not his first choice.
"I couldn't hit, play or throw," Thorogood said, referring to a youthful stint in semi-pro baseball.
Thorogood said he was inspired by bluesmen John Hammond and Keith Richards, and essentially taught himself to play guitar. But he "skirted the issue" about becoming a professional musician.
"I'd been talking about it," Thorogood said. "I knew that a regular work life was not for me." "My parents just said one word to me: 'When?'" Thorogood said.
Even the name "The Destroyers" was a last-minute kind of thing.
"We needed a gig bad," Thorogood said of his beginnings in 1973.
Thorogood explained he was talking to a club owner who needed a replacement band that night.
"He said, 'By the way, what's the name of your band?'" Thorogood recalled. "'Uh, The Destroyers?' I said."
"If I'd known all this was going to happen, I'd have never called the band 'The Destroyers,'" Thorogood said.
"All this" includes 16 studio albums, five live recordings, plus compilation albums, a still-thriving concert career and the respect of the music industry for being an exuberant, original voice if not a musical genius. Genius is something Thorogood, who is famous for his self-deprecating comment about his musical ability, has apparently never aspired to.
"How far can I stretch three chords? Or in my case, one chord," Thorogood has been quoted as saying.
Still, such self-awareness never interfered with the man having a good time.
"Anyone born after 1950 who says he didn't dream of being a rock star is lying," Thorogood said.
