George Thorogood's first studio album in three years also marks his return to the major label world, The Dirty Dozen a collection of six brand new studio recordings and a half-dozen "fan favorites" that have been performed by the band for years, but have persistently dodged release on any of Thorogood's stateside albums.
The Dirty Dozen is being released on both CD and vinyl formats, and it has been deliberately sequenced by Thorogood to resemble a classic vinyl LP. The band's six new recordings comprise "Side 1," while the fan favorites and rarities make up "Side 2." All of the songs are covers of Thorogood's favorite artists and songwriters, including blues giants like Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, as well as rock 'n' roll Hall of Famers like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.
George Thorogood's The Dirty Dozen
Of the half-dozen new songs here, Willie Dixon's "Tail Dragger" is one of the blues scribes' lesser-known, but no less influential tunes. Thorogood uses it as an energetic intro for The Dirty Dozen, imbuing the song with a bluesy, roots-rock vibe that pairs a locomotive rhythm with wide slashes of fast-burning fretwork. Just as acoustic bluesman John Hammond grabbed Sleepy John Estes' "Drop Down Mama" and made it one of his own signature songs, Thorogood and the Destroyers build upon Hammond's solid foundation with gruff vocals, a strutting rhythmic backdrop, and George's slinky slide-guitar riffs.
Thorogood brings a true Chicago blues swagger to his cover of Muddy Waters' "Born Lover," the Destroyers setting up a strong beat behind Thorogood's freewheeling vocals and jaunty guitarplay. The guitar solo about a third of the way in is particularly tasty, Thorogood's blazing strings offering a fine counterpoint to the band's driving rhythms. Covering Bo Diddley should come as easy as pie to Thorogood, who has incorporated more than a little of the famous "Bo Diddley Beat" in his work through the years. "Let Me Pass" is a high-octane, roots-rock raver with the click-clack rhythm of the highway, an anarchic spirit, and energetic swipes of rockabilly-tinged guitar.
Thorogood's Fan Favorites
The second half of The Dirty Dozen - or "Side 2," as it's labeled - is made up of Thorogood rarities, fan favorites that have been time-tested on the road and released overseas, but somehow never made their way onto an album here in the states. The Dirty Dozen really picks up speed with "Howlin' For My Baby," a Dixon-penned gem best performed by the great Howlin' Wolf. With powerful blasts of Buddy Leach's sax blowing above an insistent rhythm and a staggering drumbeat, Thorogood delivers one of his most soulful vocal performances, adding generous thunderclaps of lightnin'-strike slide-guitar.
The trucker's anthem "Six Days On The Road" is a country music classic, played pretty straight here by Thorogood and the crew, with plenty of twangy guitar, wheels-a-rollin'-drums, and spirited white-line fever vocals. Chuck Berry's "Hello Little Girl" is a ramshackle rocker with plenty o' juice blastin' out of the amps, Thorogood's duckwalkin' fretwork matched by a roller-coaster soundtrack that bounces down the tracks with reckless disregard for the listener's health and welfare, but crankin' up the cheap thrills nonetheless.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Although the first half of The Dirty Dozen certainly has its moments - the fine cover of "Born Lover" and Bo Diddley's blistering "Let Me Pass" come to mind - much of the rest seems like a tentative warm-up for the blustery, inspired blues-and-roots-rock of the album's second half. Maybe it's the familiarity of the songs, or the fan feedback experienced with their live performances, but tunes like "Highway 49" and "Treat Her Right" display an energy and playfulness lacking on much of the album's first six songs.
Bottom line: if you like George Thorogood (and I do), there's not much that I could say to dampen your enthusiasm for The Dirty Dozen. You'll find plenty of the artist's trademark blues-rock fretwork fueling these 12 tracks, and the Destroyers are one of the better bands that you'll find on the concert trail these days.
The Dirty Dozen is an uneven album, though, and the difference between much of "Side 1" and the entirety of "Side 2" is like night and day. Sure, all 12 of these rockers will sound great when Thorogood and the Destroyers are ripping up the stage, but it's not too much to ask for a little consistency in the studio from a talent of Thorogood's caliber. The Dirty Dozen is recommended for the hardcore Thorogood fan, but with reservations.... (Capitol Records, released July 28, 2009)
