The George Thorogood And The Destroyers album of the same name came out in 1977, with a track list (largely covers of blues evergreens at that stage) that included “You Got To Lose”, “Madison Blues”, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, “Ride On Josephine”, “I’ll Change My Style” and “Delaware Slide”.
Now GD and T, as they are sometimes known, or also George Thorogood And The Delaware Destroyers, are not exactly mainstream, so you didn’t hear a lot of them on the radio where I lived.
In fact you didn’t hear them at all, and it wasn’t till I returned to New Zealand from Germany for a few weeks in 1982 that I heard this record for the first time staying with friends in my old university town of Palmerston North, but since then it has been one of my favourites.
I bought a copy and took it back to Germany, where I introduced it to some acquaintances of mine in a blues band.
They probably don’t remember that, but I like to think in doing so I had a slight influence on their music…
Whatever.
The eponymous album, as music critics seem to like to say – meaning the name of the record was the same as the name of the artist, go figure – begins at a cracking pace with “You Got To Lose”:
The inimitable George Thorogood slide guitar sound continues with “Madison Blues”:
This one is nearly ten minutes long, look at the way those fingers and thumb move on the electric guitar on “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” – and note the “duel” between guitar and saxophone at around six minutes into the song:
I just looovvve this one, “Ride On Josephine”:
“Delaware Slide” is pure instrumental:
This next one is actually from later (1982), and was used a lot in films and television – “Back To The Bone”:
Finally, from the first album again, “I’ll Change My Style”
Be a shame if he did…
Paul