The BluesPowR Blog

George Thorogood certainly isn’t the first rocker to make an album of all blues and roots music (see, for example, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Gary Hoey, and this recent announcement from Black Stone Cherry), nor is he really the last you might expect to do so, considering the success he’s had over the years with his covers of songs like John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?”, and Elmore James’ “Madison Blues”. But what might surprise some about Thorogood’s brand-new album is that he chose to record the project in the same manner in which he’s made it known he likes to drink: alone.

The first solo album of Thorogood’s more than 40-year career, Party of One marks a true back-to-the-roots approach for the singer and guitarist who has sold some 15 million albums worldwide and performed more than 8,000 live shows, not only in that Thorogood began his career as a solo acoustic musician, but also in both his return to Rounder Records, the label on which Thorogood first signed back in 1976 and recorded his first three hit albums, and reunion with producer Jim Gaines (John Lee Hooker, Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan), who produced several of Thorogood’s earlier albums.

Thorogood’s response to the self-posed question of “what’s the one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done yet?”, Party of One is described in press materials as “Thorogood’s long-awaited tribute to the artists that shaped his musical consciousness” and features the rocker’s unique, mostly acoustic, takes on 15 tracks including blues classics from Hooker, James, Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, John Hammond Jr., and Brownie McGhee; country numbers from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Gary Nicholson; and gems from The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Each of the songs features Thorogood entirely on his own — including playing slide guitar, Dobro or harmonica on some numbers — as recorded live in the studio with minimal overdubs.
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