George Thorogood & the Destroyers CD Preview

Blues-rock guitarist George Thorogood, and his houserockin' band the Destroyers, return to the land of major labels for the July 29, 2009 release of The Dirty Dozen. Thorogood's first album in three years will be released by Capitol/EMI Records, The Dirty Dozen an eclectic collection of something old, something new, something borrowed, and a whole lotta blues….

The Dirty Dozen will feature six brand new studio recordings, including covers of Willie Dixon's "Tail Dragger," Muddy Waters' "Born Lover," Bo Diddley's rockin' "Let Me Pass," Sleepy John Estes' "Drop Down Mama" (as performed by John Hammond), Mickey Bones' "Twenty Dollar Gig," and the Holmes Brothers' "Run Myself Out Of Town."

The album will also feature six "fan favorites," including Thorogood's juke-joint rave-up on the country classic "Six Days On The Road," which was previously unreleased in the United States. Two other cuts that have never seen the light of day stateside are also included – covers of Chuck Berry's "Hello Little Girl" and Howlin' Wolf's Willie Dixon-penned "Howlin' For My Baby," as well as Wolf's "Highway 49," and "Treat Her Right" and "Blue Highway." The album, which will be available on both CD and vinyl, is formatted like a classic LP so that the new songs represent the "side one," the fan favorites and rarities as "side two."

“I’m a big fan of vinyl,” says George Thorogood in a press release for the new album. “It’s important to me to make The Dirty Dozen available on LP, and I definitely had vinyl in mind as one of the formats for this release when we were recording the new tracks. When we started sequencing the track list, I thought it would be fun to group the songs like an LP, for all of the formats – vinyl, CD, and digital – just as they would be placed for a classic vinyl album.”

Of course, Thorogood & the Destroyers will be on the road all summer supporting the new album, appearing with fellow blues-rock barn-burner Jonny Lang on several dates. “This album is also a homecoming of sorts for us," says Thorogood in his press release, "it’s a real rocker, full of songs we’ve always loved playing, including some that our fans have told us they like a lot but haven’t been available for a while. We’re definitely going to be playing some of these songs on our tour. I’m ready to mix it up and crank it up, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the shows this summer.”

Related Content:
George Thorogood profile
George Thorogood & the Destroyers tour dates

Photo courtesy Capitol/EMI Records