George Thorogood & The Destroyers To Kick-Off 40th Anniversary National U.S. & Canadian Tour
FOUR DECADES STRONG – THE LEGENDARY BAND HITS THE ROAD FOR CELEBRATION TOUR IN SUPPORT OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC ENTERPRISES RELEASE GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS ICON CD AND EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT’S LIVE AT MONTREUX DVD
George Thorogood & The Destroyers will be kicking off their 40th Anniversary with a 2014 national U.S. and Canadian tour starting February 27. The first leg 
of the tour will take off in the U.S. from February 27-March 22, then hit Canada from April 30-May 24, and then back to the U.S. for dates from June 19-July 20. Additional shows will be announced for the duration of the celebratory year. Touring in relation to their Universal Music Enterprises George Thorogood & The Destroyers ICON album and Eagle Rock Entertainment’s live DVD titled Live At Montreux, Thorogood and his band will give audiences the opportunity to hear their greatest hits live such as “Bad To The Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” “Who Do You Love,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and many more.
Says fellow guitar legend Slash, “George Thorogood’s genuine style and attitude continue to inspire me as he and The Destroyers rock on into their 40th year. He has been a hero of mine since I first heard his music in the 70’s, and is one of the baddest rock ‘n’ roll songwriters/electric slide guitar players ever.” Echoes Steve Miller, “For 40 years, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of sharing the stage with George many times, and what started as admiration has grown into a deep love and respect for the man, his music, his band, and his spirit. He is truly an original.”
George Thorogood and his longtime band The Destroyers – whose current lineup includes: Jeff Simon (drums, percussion), Bill Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (rhythm guitar) and Buddy Leach (saxophone), have released 16 studio albums, with two Platinum albums and six Gold albums. Taking the stage for the first time on December 1, 1973, the band has established themselves as a mega successful powerhouse rock group with bar roots, unchained attitude, and a love of its country and blues history.
The ICON album includes the following songs: “Bad To The Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” “Willie And The Hand Jive,” “Gear Jammer,” “If You Don’t Start Drinkin’ (I’m Gonna Leave),” “Who Do You Love? (Live),” “Treat Her Right,” “I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (Live),” “Get A Haircut” and “Do The Do.”
For list of tour dates....
Grammy Foundation 2013
Grammy Foundation Board members and honored Artists, "ham it up" on the Red Carpet at the Sabin Theater!
Thorogood's three Ds of Longevity
The guitarist and singer founded his Destroyers in Delaware in the early ‘70s, then moved to Boston. The band opened ears, piqued interest and got fans jumping in the late '70s for a reason: their rollicking covers of songs such as “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Madison Blues” and “Move It on Over” and Thorogood's “Bad to the Bone” struck primal chords in listeners. Last year, Thorogood and the Destroyers released “The Dirty Dozen” (Capitol/EMI), a collection of six new studio recordings and six fan favorites that topped the Billboard blues chart.
Tuesday, Thorogood and the Destroyers — the original rhythm section, Jeff Simon (drums) and Billy Blough (bass), Dallas guitarist Jim Suhler, leader of the band Monkey Beat, and sax man Buddy Leach — will hit the Majestic Theatre. Junior Brown will open with his “guitsteel,” his guitar/steel guitar hybrid, and his brand of turbo-country/honky-tonk/etc.
“There are times I'll say, ‘I guess that's it.' Then the phone will ring and someone will offer me some money,” Thorogood said. “We'll play, then the person who offered me the money will say, ‘You did a pretty good job. Wanna come back?' You have to have the three Ds: desire, demand and delivery.”
Thorogood has the three Ds, and a fitness tip.
“I decided to spend a little more time on the treadmill and a little less time at the bar,” he said, laughing. “Do you want another Corona or do you want to look good?”
The fitness tip was followed by a band-leading tip. Keeping the core of a band together for more than three decades is next to impossible. Yet Thorogood has done just that.
“I was asked by a band leader how I managed to do that,” Thorogood said. “I told him I respect them. He told me he respected his band. I told him, ‘No. I respect them,' and I rubbed my thumb and forefinger together (as in, the universal sign for paying real money). He said, ‘Oh.'”
The covers on “The Dirty Dozen” include old hits such as Roy Head's “Treat Her Right” along with selections that weren't hits, including Bo Diddley's “Let Me Pass.”
“We do some obscure tunes,” Thorogood said. “Some were known, but the tunes I look for are the ones I want to do. And I still need a couple new jokes to go with the old songs. We always need more ammo to flesh out the show.”
Guitar World magazine's Web site (www.guitarworld.com) features a George Thorogood guitar tutorial.
“It keeps my name out there,” Thorogood said. “I'm very awkward at these things because I don't have a lot of technique and I use only one guitar. I'd like to see guitar videos with Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa and Roy Buchanan. I play one chord. But it keeps me out of the bars and off the streets.”
Thorogood has long been a student of the masters.
“You can get inspiration from just about anywhere,” he said. “When I got serious about playing, I thought, ‘Where do I go?' Robert Johnson was a good start. And then there's John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. I graduated from the same school as Eric Clapton. He graduated with honors. I squeezed by with a C.”
The Bo Diddley Foundation
The Bo Diddley Foundation
The Bo Diddley Foundation is a charitable organization that was founded in 2008 to continue the charitable works that were a large, yet unspoken, part of Bo Diddley`s life when he was alive.
Among the causes that were near to Bo`s heart, are those programs and other opportunities that enrich the lives of children and lift them up to reach their highest potential. "Create. Don`t Imitate."
These are words from Bo himself, who was nicknamed "The Originator" because of his innovative style and rhythm that changed the course of music in the 1950s.
Bo Diddley was an American original; born in McComb, MS, reared in Chicago, IL, then later in life, chose as his home the quiet, family-oriented town of Archer, FL. This speaks volumes about the man who traveled the world, gave it it`s rhythm; whose original sound started a genre of music that revolutionized popular music. A legendary man who was famous in every corner of the world, yet humble, dedicated, and genuinely concerned about his family and the family of man.
Visit BoDiddley.com