As a young man back in 1977, two years out of high school, I remember FM radio playing a healthy dose of roots music from a new artist, George Thorogood, and his band, The Destroyers. Then I was barely aware of Rounder Records, a label that I grew to highly respect. But listening to the whiskey-soaked growl of Thorogood’s voice, his rockin’ guitar, and his excellent band, I not only fell in love with the music, but I paid closer attention to Rounder Records and what they were putting out afterwards.
Last month I was informed that Rounder would be reissuing the first two Thorogood classics (George Thorogood And The Destroyers, 1977; Move It On Over, 1978). As reported last month in a short notation, it is now clear what the upcoming Rounder reissues of George Thorogood will carry with them.
The first release, the eponymous debut, offered up “One Bourbon, “One Scotch, One Beer””, “Kind Hearted Woman”, “You Got To Lose”, and seven more excellent songs. It was followed by Move It On Over that carried the stunning title track, “Who Do You Love”, “Cocaine Blues”, “I’m Just Your Good Thing”, and seven other ‘tear it up’ tracks to complete the excellent album.
Each album will be remastered using digital transfers from the original analog master tapes. I don’t know if the albums will contain new booklets, extra materials, or anything but it is quite nice to know that the albums that put Rounder on the “pay attention to” board, will get an audio refresh.
Both 10-track albums will be reissued on July 30 with no additional tracks other than the great raw music that they were originally released as. And you and I know just how fiery those songs were!
Andrew Latimer of Camel HAS to be in the discussion .