Blues brothers
Dean Cottrill
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Thorogood: Not b-b-b-bad
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George Thorogood and Colin James crossing swords for 23 years
CKUT's Cha Cha Cha in Blue host John Detcheverry: "Thorogood's been given a hard time by the press for never doing anything new. He's the Rodney Dangerfield of the blues - he gets no respect."Says Thorogood publicist David Budge: "George will talk until he's blue in the face about how he's not a blues player, how he plays blues-kind-of-tunes in a rock'n'roll style."
Call it what you want, Thorogood's 30 Years of Rock just made #1 on Billboard's blues chart. Yeah, baby.
Portentous moments from 30 years, 3,000 shows and 18 releases, according to Thorogood: "Jeff Beck came to see us [about three years back]. Jeff Beck doesn't do that. Also when Mick Jagger came and sang with us [in '82]."
Party tunes at tinnitus-rendering volume are GT's hallmark, but the Gibson ES125-slinger is coy about that. "Move It on Over is a song about a guy who's lost his woman and is forced to move out. Is that a party song? One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer - the guy's drinking because his woman's on the prowl. Is that happy?"
From growing up listening to The Rolling Stones to opening for them to headlining, it's passion that has kept The Destroyers happening, even through that record 50-states-in-50-days tour. Gruelling?
Not so bad, says Thorogood. "We have a great team and the passion to put it together. Five hundred shows in 500 days, now that would be something."
And speaking of a passion for the blues...
Some 20 years back I recall seeing strato-fier Colin James
for the first time at Edmonton's Sidetrack Cafe, barely known but heralded by Amos Garrett who gushed something like, "This kid's got it." And there was the CBC blues special, vintage footage of James jamming alongside Muddy, Sunnyland Slim and Little Walter.
"We wrapped the whole show in five hours. I didn't realize it would be distributed around the world," recalls James. It was.
On the upcoming two-nighter with Thorogood: "Me and George have crossed paths for so long now it's incredible. I opened up for him when I was 16. So this is 23 years later... I've always been impressed with his stage presence." Thorogood, to Colin James's surprise, "explained what a big John Hammond Jr. fan he is. I would've thought it would be someone like Elmore James."
Other thrills for a Saskatchewan-born bluesman: "The obvious one is Stevie Ray Vaughan dragging me onstage for encores. I got to play with Stevie maybe eight or ten times. Also being able to play with Hollywood Fats, Albert Collins, singing with Mavis Staples sitting around a bar just having fun, playing with Carlos Santana..."
Sigh.
James has been busy on several fronts and expects to do a Little Big Band 3 project as well as writing new original material for a follow-up to his ninth album, Traveler. Craig Northey of Vancouver's The Odds, who worked with Colin on that project, will be part of the five-piece on this tour. Expect to be rocked.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers
With Colin James at Métropolis, July 6 & 7
George Thorogood & The Destroyers have been performing for quite a while now and every time they perform they sound better than the last time they came to Montreal according to friends of minds. With classic songs like "Bad To The Bone" and "I drink Alone" have made George into a cult rock n' roll superstar. Chom 97.7 loves to play George on the radio to keep the rock n' roll spirit alive.
As for Colin James he has been a wonderful musician that has already put out the hit tunes that everyone enjoys listening too. Colin James and George Thorogood & The Destroyers is a dignified bill that Montreal will love to see live. George Thorogood is always welcomed back to Montreal every time.
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Carmela Sicurella
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| Screw the haircut, he's got a real job |
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After i first met george thorogood,i realized one thing:you don't have to be good looking to
make a hot chick want to screw the hell out of you. all you need is a guitar and a good shitkicking beat.at last years concert up at boubon street north, he made two real hot chicks
make out with each other. ah,the power of music. for my money it was one of the best shows that i have ever seen. i can't wait for him to come back.
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Marc Bedard
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