The man we are talking about is Mr. George Thorogood. We spoke to George Thorogood recently about his life and musical career.

Q - George, I see you played The New York State Fair in Syracuse on August 26th (2023). In looking at your schedule, I see that's the only Fair listed. I take it you don't play many Fairs then?

A - There are many Fairs on this tour. We did the California State Fair, The Jefferson Country Fair, The Clark County Fair. There's a couple coming up.

Q - Your songs have a universal appeal. You never did get caught up in what was the flavor or trend of the day. Did your record company ever pressure you to write and record a Disco song, or a Heavy Metal song, or a New Wave song?

A - No. The record companies we were with, after we left Rounder, when the record company sees something, like any other business that's working, they want more of it. How many Rocky movies have there been?

Q - Maybe five.

A - You don't have to answer that. A lot. How many Jaws movies?

Q - Two maybe.

A - No. More. You're missing the point I'm trying to say. How long has the Star Wars franchise been going on?

Q - Since 1977.

A - Exactly. When you get with a record company and something's working, they want more of it. You know, that's what they want. So, if something comes along like a certain style or a certain thing, it's usually the artist who says, "I want to go off in another direction." It's usually the record label that wants to stay with what sells, right? I wouldn't be able to play Disco if I tried. It's not that I avoid a trend, Gary. I don't know how to play any other way. This is it for me. So when someone says, "Thorogood sticks with the same old thing," I go, "That's all I know how to do." You don't tell Rodney Dangerfield to do Shakespeare. You don't tell Woody Allen to make Westerns. So, does that answer your question?

Q - It sure does.

A - There you go.

Q - There have been times when recording artists were pressured to try a different style and it didn't work.

A - Generally it doesn't. I mean, it would work if you're Taj Mahal or Paul McCartney because they're the most talented musicians on the planet. They can go in any direction they want to. If McCartney wanted to do a whole album of Beethoven, he could do it. If Taj Mahal wanted to do a whole album of Rock-A-Billy or Delta Blues, he could do that, but how many people are that talented? You know what I'm saying?

Q - I do. That song of yours, "Get A Haircut" sounds like something that maybe your father said to you.

A - No. My father said very little to me ever, (laughs) actually. First of all, I didn't write the song anyway. So, there you go. It was just a natural, rebellious Rock 'n' Roll theme of the '60s, '70s, and really right up until this day. That's just a natural. "You better do this song or The Ramones are gonna do it," or some Grunge band from Seattle. It's that common. So, we grabbed it when we could. It was written by some Australians. We were amazed by the response, but not surprised.

Q - You told Irwin Stambler, author of the book, Pop, Rock And Soul, "Guys come up to me and say 'George I know 100 guitar players who are better than you and I know 50 people who can sing better than you, but I don't know anybody I'd rather go see play'." With that in mind, when American Idol is pushing contestants to have this perfect voice, they've got it all wrong, haven't they? Pop music, Rock 'n' Roll music, Rock music is all about the spirit and the attitude, isn't it? It's not about perfection.

A - It's more about the song. The most popular song in the world is "A Boy Named Sue", and you don't have to be Beverly Sills or Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey to be able to sing it, but it's popular. That's really it. I watched that show (American Idol) and people will say, "What do you think of this person? What do you think of his voice?" "I don't know." "What about the song?" Does Tom Wait have a brilliant voice? No. Does he have great material? Yeah. Mick Jagger is the same way. He's got a pretty good voice, but he picked and wrote great material, great lyrics, and people loved his songs. And they go, "But that guy can't sing real good." That' irrelevant, Gary. That means nothing to the public. What really means something is, do they like it? Some of the greatest Rock 'n' Roll songs are put out by... I mean, how many people can really sing like Stevie Winwood or Stevie Wonder for that matter? I'm not one of 'em. So, you look at how far certain people have gone with their voice in Country or Rock 'n' Roll and it's because people like their songs.

Q - You were of the age in the 1960s when the whole British Invasion exploded in America, and the world for that matter. Then in 1981, you're touring with The Rolling Stones. That doesn't happen to many guys. What went through your mind at that point?

A - Well, I thought it was something proper and long overdue. Brian Jones is my favorite guitar player for the first three albums The Stones did, with a few very good originals. They were doing mostly American R&B covers. That's how I started out. I said The Rolling Stones taught me how to do this. They didn't know it, but they said at one time, "We want to take our idols and make them the other kid's idols." And that's exactly what they did for me. I didn't know who Howlin' Wolf was until I heard The Stones, Muddy Waters or any of those people. So, I got turned on to that and once I developed a certain style on successive records, I said, "When am I going to get a shot to play with The Stones?" They were long past that at the time. There were other, more popular bands. Keith was very into Reggae and he wanted Pater Tosh to play with him. Mick, at that time, was very into Disco-Soul. He wanted bands like Same And Dave and Prince. People like that. So, I was kind of late to the party. So, I said, "Yeah, but none of those bands play Chuck Berry. None of those bands do Bo Diddley. I don't get the connection here." So, when we got with it, it was a real blessing. But, I felt it was a natural evolution for us. Like if they graduated college with honors, I squeaked by with a C Plus average in the School Of Rock. I learned from the same things they learned from.

Q - I see you were inducted into the Mississippi Music Project Hall Of Fame in 2020. Have you been nominated or have you been inducted into Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

A - No.

Q - Why do you think that is?

A - You'll have to ask them.

Q - Your classmates in Wilmington, Delaware voted you "Least Likely To Succeed" because you spent a lot of time playing baseball. Do you ever run into any of your classmates?

A - Well, I played very little baseball in high school. I spent most of my time in the library, listening to music, looking in the mirror, trying to get my hair to look like Keith Richards or Jeff Beck. I enjoyed baseball, but I didn't play any baseball in high school. Not at all. I just wasn't interested in the things most people were interested in, going to college and learning a trade. I wasn't any good at academic things. The high school I went to was one of the top public schools in all of America. In 1968 it was in the Top 100 Best Schools of America, along with private schools. So, it was a higher echelon of academic achievement and I was just not part of that. They just probably figured I was never going to amount to anything. In my mind it was being successful in the Rock business. Being successful in the Rock business in their minds was being a bum. (laughs) That's not successful to them. Graduating from Harvard and being the President of U.S. Steel, now that's doing something. But that wasn't me.

Q - Bud, do you ever run into any of your former classmates?

A - No. It's a small town. It's small place. Very, very rarely. It's been a long time. They didn't like me to begin with, Gary.

Q - They know who you are today, don't they?

A - I don't know. You'll have to ask them.

Q - If I knew where they were, I'd ask 'em.

A - There you go.

Official Website: www.GeorgeThorogood.com