George Thorogood and the Destroyers

iTunes Review

Delaware-born George Thorogood muscled his way onto the charts thanks to the sheer ferocity of his blue-revivalist attack. Not one for subtlety, he firmly grasped the essentials of the Delta-cum-Chicago sound and squeezed them for their primal juices. His scalding slide guitar work and surly vocalizing bring out the naked lust and resentment in tunes like Elmore James’ “Madison Blues” and Bo Diddley’s “Ride On Josephine.” George slows down the tempo for Robert Johnson’s “Kind-Hearted Woman” and his own “I’ll Change My Style,” darkly stewing over life’s conundrums. Acknowledging his greatest influence, he rips into John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” with hooch-fueled gusto, turning this archetypical slice of blues-rock into his signature song. The Destroyers provide solid and sympathetic backup, with second guitarist’s Ron Smith’s scratchy rhythm lines worth special mention. Many blues purists turned up their noses at Thorogood’s rough-cut boogie riffs and brash barroom growl. He didn’t care, and you shouldn’t either. His first — and arguably best — album is an unpretentious classic of sweat-drenched, crowd-rousing showmanship.