George Thorogood and the Destroyers - I'm Wanted
#428
by Craig Fitzgerald
George Thorogood and the Destroyers
I'm Wanted (aka "More George Thorogood and the Destroyers")
Genre: Boogie Rock
Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Craig’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Allen’s Highlights:
Kids From Philly
Night Time
Craig’s Highlights:
I'm Wanted
Nighttime
House of Blue Lights
YOU THERE! ON THE COUCH! Do you enjoy the 1-4-5 chord progression, Willie Dixon guitar licks and cover songs played 23% faster and grittier than you've heard them before? THEN HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU.
Look, this isn't some fucking Radiohead record that's going to challenge you in any way. You know exactly what this is: Boogie rock, played largely fast and loud.
When I was in college, I had a good friend who loved the Byrds, CSNY, the Doors and Jefferson Airplane, and he hated George Thorogood. "He plays one lick. He can play it fast. He can play it slow. He can play it behind his head."
All of this, of course, is absolutely true. But nobody gave Wilco Johnson any shit for doing EXACTLY the same thing with Dr. Feelgood.
Recorded just up the road from where I sit right now at Blue Jay Recording Studios in Carlisle, Massachusetts, this is a really fun collection of songs that -- if you like rock and roll at all -- you'll have a hard time not enjoying.
Me, I like the fast songs. I'm Wanted is a ripper opening track. His cover of the Strangeloves' "Nighttime" is even better than the J. Geils version, which the band put on "Love Stinks" earlier in 1980. "Tip On In" is great. "House of Blue Lights" is a punch in the face.
I have less patience with the four-minute slow bluez jamz that sort of descend into
"Blueshammer" parody.
This record is a year or so in front of 1982's "Bad to the Bone," which is exactly the same formula, but with more original songs.
As people often say about the Fender Telecaster, George Thorogood is a one-trick pony, but it's a pretty fucking good trick.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PbBTetDsSM
