“Somebody stop me!”
Such was the joyful shout from blues rocking guitarist as he threw out serving after serving of red meat guitar solos and licks to the ravenous crowd at the Ventura County Fair this warm Thursday night. One of the last of the standing gunslingers, George Thorogood is celebrating 45 years of touring around and serving up six strings of blues. This evening had the veteran playing many of his popular tunes, and while the packed arena may be head banging to the fist pumping beats, at the marrow of Thorogood’s bone is not “bad,” but “blue.”
While he can get the crowd in its feet with his own tunes like ”Rock Party” and “Get A Haircut,” Thorogood taps into the root of Americana by digging back into vintage sounds like Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love,” with thick pulsations, and the pounding 60s pop hit “Night Time” which he and tenor saxist Buddy Leach turn into a sweaty Memphis smoker. Thorogood’s voice starts out leathery, but like all great catcher’s mitts, turns warm and comfortable after a few pitches, and he is able to shout out the throbbing and ominous “I Drink Alone” as well as dig into the hard boogie shuffle of an Amos Milburn tune such as “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and make a 60 year old tale sound right up to the moment and even timeless.
Not only that, but he can use his guitar and voice as a paint brush and create a blues portrait of a Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over” and take ownership of it, fitting it in perfectly with his own “Get A Haircut” and “Gear Jammer.” So, while Thorogood may advertise through his material that he is “Born To Be Bad,” it became obvious by the end of the joyful night that this guitar wielding legend is “bad” in the sense of “good.”
