The Dirty Dozen

iTunes Review

George Thorogood has spent four decades bringing bar-band blues to the masses. With a sandpaper and whiskey growl and a deliberately sloppy slide guitar technique that does away with finesse, Thorogood is a full-throttled belter who delivers the fat and rough R&B, blues and early rock ‘n’ roll without the commercial considerations of more mainstream performers. This “purist” approach guarantees a fidelity to the originals. Tackling such stone classics doesn’t leave much wiggle room. Howlin’ Wolf will forever own “Howlin’ for My Baby.” Thorogood, however, attacks it with all the desperation in his soul and when the guitar tone is as thick as it is on Willie Dixon’s “Tail Dragger,” “Drop Down Mama,” and Muddy Waters’ “Born Lover,” it kicks the cobwebs off the vintage material and brings it up to date. The second half of the collection features older recordings — “fan favorites” — that illustrate the Thorogood (with his back-up band the Destroyers) experience for anyone who has somehow missed it all these years.