Q & A: George Thorogood

Last week, rock legend George Thorogood agreed to an interview with the Montana Kaimin in anticipation of tonight’s Missoula concert. So here’s a special Tuesday Kaimin Arts feature, a one-on-one with Thorogood in which he speaks to his inspiration, his music and the aspirations he has yet to realize:

Montana Kaimin: Is the blues still your main musical inspiration?

George Thorogood: It’s everybody’s, not just mine. If you don’t start there you’re not going to get a real handle on playing rock ‘n’ roll and later, rock music authentically, which was my goal from day one. Like anybody else, I listened to the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Zeppelin and Beck and all those people. And I said, ‘Where did these guys get this music from? They didn’t create it.’ Then I listened to people like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry and I said, ‘Well, who did they listen to?’ They listened to Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Charlie Hooker, and I said ‘Who did they listen to?’ They listened to Robert Johnson. That’s where I stopped. So I actually started my education on guitar listening to Robert Johnson and going on from there, and Elmore James, people like that. It was more of an educational thing to research the instrument and try to get close to where it all came from to begin with … Jimmy Page, he listened to all the good stuff. Robert Plant listened to Robert Johnson. And Hendrix listened to everybody … And I said, ‘If those are the guys that educated the biggest guys around, then that’s the school I’m going to go to.’ So, I was just following suite, so to speak. Playing by the rules.

MK: Were you ever surprised by how popular ‘Bad to the Bone’ has become over the years?

GT: No, because I knew that someone was going to like it eventually. I mean, the title alone … In 1981, when we put that thing together, first I wanted Muddy Waters to do it and he rejected it. Then I wanted Bo Diddley to do it and he wanted to do it, but didn’t have a record label. So I said, ‘I guess we’ll have to do it.
Eventually someone would write a song with that title, it’s just too obvious.’ The saying is bigger than the song. The song is bigger than the artist who did it.
And it’s almost like American slang now, isn’t it?

MK: Out of all of your songs, which one describes you or your life the best?

GT: ‘Get a Haircut and Get a Real Job.’ It’s what every kid went through in the 60s. And it’s still going on today. People say, ‘Well, you have that tattoo and get a real job,’ or ‘grow your hair back,’ if someone just shaved their head. The fashion changes, but the attitude is still the same. With ‘Get a Haircut and Get a Real Job,’I thought with the way I look and my attitude towards working I might as well just join a rock band. Because it’s the only thing I’m interested in and the only thing I look like I do … so I heard that song, and said ‘that’s the George story, right there.’

MK: What would your all time favorite drink be?

GT: Water. It’ll keep you alive. (Laughs)

MK: Good answer. You’re known for a pretty intense touring schedule. Do you still get the same fun out of touring as you used to?

GT: It’s more fun now. In the old days, it wasn’t fun at all. You know, you had to drive yourself and haul your own equipment in, and the PAs weren’t very good. The venues themselves were real small or hard to get to. It just wasn’t very fun. It started being fun about five years ago. They have better stuff now and more places to play. The fact that I can play the House of Blues in Iowa allows me enough money to travel all the way to Montana and play. I couldn’t do that years ago. And it would have taken me ages to get there, and no place to play in between. Now we can get there, we can afford to get there, because there’s places to play. You’re a little isolated, you know what I mean?

MK: Which is more important, Sex, Drugs or Rock ‘n’ Roll, or all three in equal amounts?

GT: Well, if you’re in a lot of pain, let’s say you just had your leg amputated, sex or drugs or rock ‘n’ roll can help you out, you know what I mean? They are the three things, the only three things, that people will drive 200 miles to do. People will wait in the mud, sleep in the mud, pay money they should be spending on rent, and they’ll buy a rock ticket or they’ll buy drugs or they’ll do something. You would sleep in the rain and mud if the Beatles were getting back together. If you heard there was a chance, just a chance, that Michelle Pfieffer was interested in having sex with you and you had to swim through barbed wire to get her, you’d do it. That’s why those three things are strong … Look at Woodstock. There was supposed to be 25,000, and 400,000 people showed up.

MK: Is there anything you’d like to do in your career or life but haven’t had a chance to?

GT: Yeah. I’d like to make a Western with Peter Fonda. Or a movie with Robert De Niro. Bob Dylan hasn’t called me to play slide guitar on his album yet.  I’m still waiting for Scorsese to call me, you know what I mean? I ain’t cheap, but I can be had (Laughs).