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NEW YORK: George Thorogood's The Dirty Dozen CD Review - by J. Blake
Posted on 11/10/2009 by J. Blake
I think that when you pop in a George Thorogood & The Destroyers CD, or download it from iTunes, you have a certain expectation. You are looking for some raunchy slide guitar, gritty vocals, roaring saxophone and some good ol’ fashioned electric blues with classic rock ‘n’ roll feel. I’m happy to say that the Delaware native’s latest CD, THE DIRTY DOZEN, delivers in spades.
This 2009 release marks Thorogood’s return to the EMI/Capitol label and consists of 6 new rollicking blues covers and 6 previously released gems (3 of which have been out-of-print). It has been almost 30 years since Thorogood and his band of Delaware Destroyers recorded their biggest hit, Bad to the Bone, and what THE DIRTY DOZEN seems to do best is illustrate just how little the aging slide player and thunderous bar band have changed over the years. If anything, they sound better now then they ever have. Besides slight variations in sound quality, the only difference between this album’s new material and the material recorded over two decades ago is the energy and experience they bring to it. The album’s opening six tracks feel like they are coming from a band of musical veterans, playing for fun and for the love of the music, instead of just trying to score their next big commercial hit. Songs like Willie Dixon’s Tale Dragger and Sleepy John Estes’ Drop Down Mama are performed with a certain fire and command that the band just couldn’t seem to capture on disc in the 1980s or 90s.
With this latest release, Thorogood’s most dedicated supporters will undoubtedly be disappointed by the fact that they are forced to re-purchase 6 tracks that they probably already own in order to get the newly recorded material, but for the casual fan, like myself, that doesn’t already have The Destroyers’ 1993 cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s Howlin’ For My Baby in their CD library, THE DIRTY DOZEN is well-worth the asking price.
This 2009 release marks Thorogood’s return to the EMI/Capitol label and consists of 6 new rollicking blues covers and 6 previously released gems (3 of which have been out-of-print). It has been almost 30 years since Thorogood and his band of Delaware Destroyers recorded their biggest hit, Bad to the Bone, and what THE DIRTY DOZEN seems to do best is illustrate just how little the aging slide player and thunderous bar band have changed over the years. If anything, they sound better now then they ever have. Besides slight variations in sound quality, the only difference between this album’s new material and the material recorded over two decades ago is the energy and experience they bring to it. The album’s opening six tracks feel like they are coming from a band of musical veterans, playing for fun and for the love of the music, instead of just trying to score their next big commercial hit. Songs like Willie Dixon’s Tale Dragger and Sleepy John Estes’ Drop Down Mama are performed with a certain fire and command that the band just couldn’t seem to capture on disc in the 1980s or 90s.
With this latest release, Thorogood’s most dedicated supporters will undoubtedly be disappointed by the fact that they are forced to re-purchase 6 tracks that they probably already own in order to get the newly recorded material, but for the casual fan, like myself, that doesn’t already have The Destroyers’ 1993 cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s Howlin’ For My Baby in their CD library, THE DIRTY DOZEN is well-worth the asking price.
*If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy: John Lee Hooker
Copyright © 2009 - J. Blake. All Rights Reserved
