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Rocker's First Anthology Has 23 Studio, 6 Live Tracks & Unreleased "Christine" on 2 CDs.
With 30 tracks from 30 years of making music, and songs from releases on three different record labels, Capitol Records' George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Anthology stands as the ultimate collection for any fan, new or old. Was in stores on August 29, the double CD features the hits "Bad To The Bone," "Move It On Over," "Willie And The Hand Jive" and the unreleased "Christine." Six tracks on the Anthology capture Thorogood where he is most comfortable and prefers to spend most of his time - onstage. Live recordings include "Who Do You Love?," "Let's Work Together," "Johnny B. Goode," "Reelin' And Rockin'," "Bottom Of The Sea" and "Night Time."
When the recording hits stores, the man who once played all 50 states in two months will be nearing the halfway point of his latest 88-city tour. In February of this year, Thorogood celebrated his 50th birthday with a show and party at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. In June, he got the thrill of a lifetime when Ringo Starr invited him onstage to jam with the All-Starr Band on "With A Little Help From My Friends." The George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Anthology marks the first anthology for this band, who continue to share their rockin' blues with the world on the road and on the radio, where their music continues to be heard across four different formats.
Asked how it feels to be the subject of such an in-depth anthology, Thorogood commented: "It's just great to have one. I'm thrilled my catalog is with Capitol Records. I went to an event a couple years ago at CBGB's when Capitol was celebrating an anniversary and I was looking at this picture on the wall. It was all their catalog artists--Steve Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, of course The Beatles. I thought, 'geez George, your picture is in with some heavy people! This is where you've ended up after all these years.' That's pretty cool."
George Thorogood & The Destroyers' distinctive brand of barroom boogie connected with fans immediately in 1977, when they released their version of bluesman John Lee Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer." Since then, they have placed ten albums on the Billboard charts and earned two platinum albums and five gold. Not bad for someone who started out as a minor league baseball player and switched to music in 1970 after seeing a concert by blues archivist John Paul Hammond.
Thorogood put The Destroyers together in 1973 and they were soon opening shows on the West Coast for artists like Bonnie Raitt, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. The Destroyers' self-titled debut album was released in 1977, but it was the title track from their second album,
Move It On Over, that first introduced them to a mainstream audience. Their raw adaptation of the Hank Williams classic became an FM radio hit and the album reached the Top 40 and went gold. Their third album, Better Than The Rest, also charted and was followed by More George Thorogood & The Destroyers in 1980. That brought an invitation to open some shows on The Rolling Stones' tour the following year. The title track of Bad To The Bone rose to #27 on the Album Rock charts in 1982, became an MTV favorite, and went on to become a benchmark of commercial TV and film. A follow-up hit, "You Talk Too Much" went Top Five on the Album Rock charts. Bad To The Bone launched a hot streak that resulted in three more gold albums in the '80s.
In 1985, Thorogood found himself onstage alongside some of his heroes like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Albert Collins when he appeared at Live Aid. That same year, he released Maverick. The pop and MTV hit "Willie And The Hand Jive," and the album rock hits "I Drink Alone" and "Gear Jammer" from that album are all included on Anthology. After a Greatest Hits package in the early '90s -- which continues to be a top-selling catalog title today -- Thorogood returned to the top of the album rock charts in 1991 with the #5 hit "If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)" and "Hello Little Girl" from Boogie People. The title tracks from 1993's Haircut and 1997's Rockin' My Life Away are also included on George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Anthology.
The Destroyers: Jeff Simon (drums); Bill Blough (bass); Hank Carter (saxophone); Jim Sewler (guitar).
Track Listing:
All material provided by EMI Distribution.
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