When it came to career trajectory, a young George Thorogood found himself divided. “When I was growing up, I wanted to be a poet or a comedian. That was my thing.” Life took a different turn when an underage Thorogood smuggled himself into a Chuck Berry show. “I broke in at the top and I stayed there.” It wasn’t just Berry’s performance that drew Thorogood to the world of rock n’ roll. “I saw a star on Chuck Berry’s dressing room door. That put the hook in. To this day, I don’t care if I’m playing a car wash or Carnegie Hall, if there’s not a star on my dressing room door, I’m not playing.”
Star-studded doors notwithstanding, Thorogood and his band, The Destroyers, have been bringing their brand of blues to live audiences for over 45 years. The band is currently commemorating the anniversary with its “Good To Be Bad” world tour. Thorogood credits the longevity of his decades-long career to sheer good luck. “It’s a wonder we lasted all this time. It’s a wonder we didn’t quit or worse. We were very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time with the right material and we have incredible fan support that’s never let us down.”
For Thorogood, timing and material have always taken precedence over tenor. “I can’t sing, but you don’t have to be a great singer. If you can admit your limitations, then you know your strengths. Look how far Tom Waits and Johnny Cash went with their voices. People would rather have a really great song sung really badly than a really awful song sung really well.”
How does touring at age 70 compare to life on the road as a younger man? “Playing at this age as opposed to playing at the age of 35? It’s twice as good. Things couldn’t be better,” Thorogood said with a laugh.
The wisecracking, Delaware-bred Thorogood first garnered airplay with his version of the blues standard, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.” He followed that with an electric interpretation of Hank Williams’ “Move It on Over.” Thorogood said of his string of successful renditions, “I’m more of a person who covers obscure material than a songwriter. I’m like the Indiana Jones of rock n’ roll: I dig up these rare things.”
When Thorogood does pick up the pen, it’s with a simple goal in mind, “With my songwriting, I try to do something that sounds familiar but that nobody’s done before. Something that will never go out of style.” Who would Thorogood like to see cover one of his songs? “I’ve been waiting around for Paul McCartney to do ‘Born To Be Bad.’ I don’t know what the hold-up is.”
Thorogood also has been waiting for a good excuse to return to Key West, though he plays coy when pressed for any standout memories of his time on the island. “There might be certain sensitive things that I am not at liberty to repeat, if you know what I mean.”
And speaking of liberty, Thorogood’s inaugural trip to Key West came soon after the Conch Republic’s brief, but storied secession from the United States in 1982. “You guys were your own country for one day. What spirit! That’s my kind of place.” A dedication to defiantly doing things your own way strikes a chord with Thorogood. “With music, from the beginning, I’ve said I’m going to do this for a living even if I’m not any good at it. Even if I only make five bucks a day this is what I’m going to do. I’m never going to get on the level of a Jeff Beck or a Roger Daltrey, but I’m still doing it. Just because you’re not the world’s greatest lover doesn’t mean you stop doing it, right?”
See Thorogood do what he does best when he takes the stage at the Sunset Green Event Lawn in Key West at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 8.
