GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS
"ANTHOLOGY, DISC ONE"
AUG 29, 2000
140:48
DISC ONE
1/Madison Blues/James/4:29
2/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer/Hooker, Toombs/8:28
3/Delaware Slide/Thorogood/7:53
4/Move It on Over/Williams/4:21
5/The Sky Is Crying/James, Robinson/5:17
6/I'm Wanted/Dixon/4:07
7/Nobody But Me/Isley, Isley, Isley/3:26
8/Bad to the Bone/Thorogood/4:50
9/Willie and the Hand Jive/Otis/4:04
10/I Drink Alone/Thorogood/4:33
11/Gear Jammer/Thorogood/4:35
12/Long Gone/Thorogood/4:30
13/Reelin' and Rockin'/Berry/5:11
14/Bottom of the Sea/Morganfield, Waters/3:27
15/Night Time/Feldman, Feldman, Goldstein, Goldstein, Gottehrer/5:37
DISC TWO
1/Who Do You Love?/Diddley, McDaniel/5:17
2/Born to Be Bad/Thorogood/3:32
3/You Talk Too Much/Thorogood/4:35
4/I'm Ready/Bradford, Dixon, Domino, Lewis/3:18
5/Shake Your Moneymaker/James/3:28
6/If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)/Gay, Thorogood/4:13
7/Hello Little Girl/Berry/3:48
8/Long Distance Lover/Thorogood/3:55
9/Get a Haircut/Avery, Birch/4:11
10/Howlin' for My Baby/Burnett, Dixon, Howlin' Wolf/5:12
11/Christine/Taylor/4:20
12/Let's Work Together/Harrison/6:00
13/Johnny B. Goode/Berry/5:33
14/Rocking My Life Away/Vickery/3:34
15/I Don't Trust Nobody/Shaw/5:04
REVIEW
by Hal Horowitz
Just because the double-CD Anthology practically triples the tracks of 1992's The Baddest of George Thorogood & the Destroyers, features better fidelity, more informative liner notes, songs recorded for four more albums, and a handful of rarities, doesn't make it the better collection. A little bit of Thorogood's meat and potatoes mix of Chuck Berry riffs, Elmore James slide guitar, and stripped-down Hound Dog Taylor house rocking goes an awfully long way, and a double-disc dose of similar sounding, non-stop rocking becomes mind-numbing over the course of more than two hours of in-your-face boogie. As you'd expect, all of the Delaware pile-driving guitarist's recorded highlights are here, including six concert recordings that catch the band in their natural habitat. Thorogood and his road-hardened crew will bring any crowd to a frenzy, but having to wade through what amounts to the same three chords, albeit ones played with dogged enthusiasm and robust fervor, for 30 tracks without the sweat, beer, and infectious energy of actually being there, makes for a tiring and repetitious experience. Although you have to admire the guy for sticking to his guns for three decades, the lack of ballads, or really any change-ups chosen for this set, presents a limited, one-sided picture of this rugged rocker. Thorogood's individual albums include the occasional country or novelty tune, and his versions of Frank Zappa's "Trouble Everyday," Nick Lowe's "Half a Boy, Half a Man," or the trucking classic "Six Days on the Road," none of which are found here, would have made for a far more listenable and somewhat more eclectic compilation. Rough, tough, and unfailingly intense, Anthology is just too much reelin' and rocking for all but the most die-hard fan.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A blues-rock guitarist who draws his inspiration from Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, and Chuck Berry, George Thorogood never earned much respect from blues purists, but he became a popular favorite in the early '80s through repeated exposure on FM radio and the arena rock circuit. Thorogood's music was always loud, simple, and direct -- his riffs and licks were taken straight out of '50s Chicago blues and rock & roll -- but his formulaic approach helped him gain a rather large audience in the '80s, when his albums regularly went gold.
Originally, Thorogood was a minor-league baseball player but decided to become a musician in 1970 after seeing John Paul Hammond in concert. Three years later, he assembled the Destroyers in his home state of Delaware; in addition to Thorogood, the band featured bassist Michael Lenn, second guitarist Ron Smith, and drummer Jeff Simon. Shortly after the Destroyers were formed, he moved them to Boston, where they became regulars on the blues club circuit. In 1974, they cut a batch of demos that were later released in 1979 as the Better Than the Rest album.
Within a year of recording the demos, the Destroyers were discovered by John Forward, who helped them secure a contract with Rounder Records. Before they made their first album, Lenn was replaced by Billy Blough. Thorogood & the Destroyers' eponymous debut was released in early 1977. The group's second album, Move It on Over, was released in 1978. The title track, a cover of Hank Williams' classic, was pulled as a single and it received heavy FM airplay, helping the album enter the American Top 40 and go gold. Its success led to MCA's release of Better Than the Rest, which the band disdained. In 1980, Ron Smith left the band and the group added a saxophonist, Hank Carter, and released its third album, More George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
Following the release of More George Thorogood, the guitarist signed with EMI Records, releasing his major-label debut, Bad to the Bone, in 1982. The title track of the album became his first major crossover hit, thanks to MTV's saturation airplay of the song's video. The album went gold and spent nearly a full year on the charts. Thorogood's next three albums after Bad to the Bone all went gold. Between Bad to the Bone and Thorogood's next album, 1985's Maverick, the Destroyers added a second guitarist, Steve Chrismar.
By the beginning of the '90s, Thorogood's audience began to decrease. None of the albums he released went gold, even though the title track from 1993's Haircut was a number two album rock hit. Despite his declining record sales, Thorogood continued to tour blues and rock clubs and he usually drew large crowds; subsequent efforts included 1997's Rockin' My Life Away, 1999's Half a Boy/Half a Man, Live in '99, 2003's Ride 'Til I Die, and 2006's The Hard Stuff. Thorogood returned to EMI/Capitol in 2009, releasing the bar band covers album The Dirty Dozen. Two years later, he continued the covers journey with 2120 South Michigan Ave., a tribute to Chess Records.
"ANTHOLOGY, DISC ONE"
AUG 29, 2000
140:48
DISC ONE
1/Madison Blues/James/4:29
2/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer/Hooker, Toombs/8:28
3/Delaware Slide/Thorogood/7:53
4/Move It on Over/Williams/4:21
5/The Sky Is Crying/James, Robinson/5:17
6/I'm Wanted/Dixon/4:07
7/Nobody But Me/Isley, Isley, Isley/3:26
8/Bad to the Bone/Thorogood/4:50
9/Willie and the Hand Jive/Otis/4:04
10/I Drink Alone/Thorogood/4:33
11/Gear Jammer/Thorogood/4:35
12/Long Gone/Thorogood/4:30
13/Reelin' and Rockin'/Berry/5:11
14/Bottom of the Sea/Morganfield, Waters/3:27
15/Night Time/Feldman, Feldman, Goldstein, Goldstein, Gottehrer/5:37
DISC TWO
1/Who Do You Love?/Diddley, McDaniel/5:17
2/Born to Be Bad/Thorogood/3:32
3/You Talk Too Much/Thorogood/4:35
4/I'm Ready/Bradford, Dixon, Domino, Lewis/3:18
5/Shake Your Moneymaker/James/3:28
6/If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)/Gay, Thorogood/4:13
7/Hello Little Girl/Berry/3:48
8/Long Distance Lover/Thorogood/3:55
9/Get a Haircut/Avery, Birch/4:11
10/Howlin' for My Baby/Burnett, Dixon, Howlin' Wolf/5:12
11/Christine/Taylor/4:20
12/Let's Work Together/Harrison/6:00
13/Johnny B. Goode/Berry/5:33
14/Rocking My Life Away/Vickery/3:34
15/I Don't Trust Nobody/Shaw/5:04
REVIEW
by Hal Horowitz
Just because the double-CD Anthology practically triples the tracks of 1992's The Baddest of George Thorogood & the Destroyers, features better fidelity, more informative liner notes, songs recorded for four more albums, and a handful of rarities, doesn't make it the better collection. A little bit of Thorogood's meat and potatoes mix of Chuck Berry riffs, Elmore James slide guitar, and stripped-down Hound Dog Taylor house rocking goes an awfully long way, and a double-disc dose of similar sounding, non-stop rocking becomes mind-numbing over the course of more than two hours of in-your-face boogie. As you'd expect, all of the Delaware pile-driving guitarist's recorded highlights are here, including six concert recordings that catch the band in their natural habitat. Thorogood and his road-hardened crew will bring any crowd to a frenzy, but having to wade through what amounts to the same three chords, albeit ones played with dogged enthusiasm and robust fervor, for 30 tracks without the sweat, beer, and infectious energy of actually being there, makes for a tiring and repetitious experience. Although you have to admire the guy for sticking to his guns for three decades, the lack of ballads, or really any change-ups chosen for this set, presents a limited, one-sided picture of this rugged rocker. Thorogood's individual albums include the occasional country or novelty tune, and his versions of Frank Zappa's "Trouble Everyday," Nick Lowe's "Half a Boy, Half a Man," or the trucking classic "Six Days on the Road," none of which are found here, would have made for a far more listenable and somewhat more eclectic compilation. Rough, tough, and unfailingly intense, Anthology is just too much reelin' and rocking for all but the most die-hard fan.
BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A blues-rock guitarist who draws his inspiration from Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, and Chuck Berry, George Thorogood never earned much respect from blues purists, but he became a popular favorite in the early '80s through repeated exposure on FM radio and the arena rock circuit. Thorogood's music was always loud, simple, and direct -- his riffs and licks were taken straight out of '50s Chicago blues and rock & roll -- but his formulaic approach helped him gain a rather large audience in the '80s, when his albums regularly went gold.
Originally, Thorogood was a minor-league baseball player but decided to become a musician in 1970 after seeing John Paul Hammond in concert. Three years later, he assembled the Destroyers in his home state of Delaware; in addition to Thorogood, the band featured bassist Michael Lenn, second guitarist Ron Smith, and drummer Jeff Simon. Shortly after the Destroyers were formed, he moved them to Boston, where they became regulars on the blues club circuit. In 1974, they cut a batch of demos that were later released in 1979 as the Better Than the Rest album.
Within a year of recording the demos, the Destroyers were discovered by John Forward, who helped them secure a contract with Rounder Records. Before they made their first album, Lenn was replaced by Billy Blough. Thorogood & the Destroyers' eponymous debut was released in early 1977. The group's second album, Move It on Over, was released in 1978. The title track, a cover of Hank Williams' classic, was pulled as a single and it received heavy FM airplay, helping the album enter the American Top 40 and go gold. Its success led to MCA's release of Better Than the Rest, which the band disdained. In 1980, Ron Smith left the band and the group added a saxophonist, Hank Carter, and released its third album, More George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
Following the release of More George Thorogood, the guitarist signed with EMI Records, releasing his major-label debut, Bad to the Bone, in 1982. The title track of the album became his first major crossover hit, thanks to MTV's saturation airplay of the song's video. The album went gold and spent nearly a full year on the charts. Thorogood's next three albums after Bad to the Bone all went gold. Between Bad to the Bone and Thorogood's next album, 1985's Maverick, the Destroyers added a second guitarist, Steve Chrismar.
By the beginning of the '90s, Thorogood's audience began to decrease. None of the albums he released went gold, even though the title track from 1993's Haircut was a number two album rock hit. Despite his declining record sales, Thorogood continued to tour blues and rock clubs and he usually drew large crowds; subsequent efforts included 1997's Rockin' My Life Away, 1999's Half a Boy/Half a Man, Live in '99, 2003's Ride 'Til I Die, and 2006's The Hard Stuff. Thorogood returned to EMI/Capitol in 2009, releasing the bar band covers album The Dirty Dozen. Two years later, he continued the covers journey with 2120 South Michigan Ave., a tribute to Chess Records.
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