George Thorogood Interview: 2120 South Michigan Ave.

He's the baddest of the bad, many consider him bad to the bone, but his newest CD 2120 South Michigan Ave. shows his love for his inspirations on Chess Records. Some of the best African- American artists got their start on this label before it closed. Greats like, Buddy Guy, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf and the ever so legendary Muddy Waters were part of this label. On this album, George Thorogood pays tribute to all these artists with his back up band, the Destroyers. I was lucky enough to score an interview with this acclaimed musician...

Max Timander: Why did you choose to cover and

make an album about the legendary Chess records?

George Thorogood: "I was presented it by Capitol Records, it was their idea and I thought it was a fantastic idea. It was about time we pay tribute to probably the most influential and important record label in American music at that time."

MT: Who was your favorite artist on Chess Records and did their music inspire you to become a musician?

GT: "Well it’s a real toss-up between Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Howlin’ Wolf is a close second, but I would say that Bo and Chuck are probably tied for first. We can call it, I like the music of Bo Chuck or we’ll call it Diddley Chuck or Chuck Diddley or Bo Berry."

MT: Even on your hit song, "Bad To The Bone" you had some similar structures to that of Muddy Waters, She moves me. Did any of your songs come from listening to tracks like these?

GT: "A lot of them. Actually, on that song we had the artist Muddy Waters in mind for him to cover that song, but he passed on it. Then, we offered it to Bo Diddley who wanted to do it, but he didn’t have a record label at the time. So we had Muddy Waters in mind to begin with."

MT: What have you been doing in between your last album the Dirty Dozen?

GT: "Touring and working on recording 2120 South Michigan Ave!"

MT: Over you career which has spanned almost 40 years now who of the greats have you met and have you met with/played with any of the Chess Records founding fathers?

GT: "Whoa! 40 years… yes to all the above. I have been fortunate to, let’s just keep it to Chess at this point, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley I have become friendly with and I have had the pleasure of working with Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. And you know Buddy Guy, he is not really on Chess, but he has been affiliated with it. I have had a couple experiences with Billy Dickson that went well."

MT: For a very amateur musician, like

myself or any of the young people reading, What advice would you give to them about starting a music career?

GT: "Stay out of Italian cars and don’t eat fried food."

MT: My band Stereo Confession is just starting High school and I personally would like to know how hard it is too make music while in this time period?

GT: "It’s hard in any time period. Play for personal pleasure and eventually all the things you want will come to you."

So I discovered during this interview that he is a truly great guy. The CD is really great to listen to with the classic blues feel. I hope people take a listen to this classic musicians newest album and buy it. He should make his annual round this summer playing a place like the Minnesota Zoo or so. So go check him out!

Rating: B-

Best Tracks: "Let It Rock", "Bo Diddley"

Hope You're Rockin!

-Mx2007