Thorogood Puts Creedence Into His Music

“We’ve had a few gold records,” George Thorogood was saying. “We’ve had a few that came close, and, like anyone, we’ve had a few that fell flat on their face. Overall I’d have to say that I’m pleased.

“But,” added the veteran blues rocker--who plays Orange County three times this week, starting tonight--”our contract with EMI Records elapsed recently, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get to make another record again. So I figured: Why not take a few risks?”

Singer-guitarist Thorogood said that when he and his Delaware Destroyers (drummer Jeff Simon, bassist Bill Blough and saxophonist Hank Carter) recorded “Rockin’ My Life Away,” their final album under the EMI contact, “we pulled out all the stops and did anything we wanted to do.”

The album finds them mining unexpected sources. From Frank Zappa’s “Trouble Comin’ Every Day” to Merle Haggard’s “Living With the Shades Pulled Down” to John Hiatt’s “The Usual” and a pair of mid-tempo, rock ‘n’ roll originals, this album transcends Thorogood’s customary, formulaic, gut-bucket blues m.o.

The usual suspects are represented via Slim Harpo and Elmore James covers, but “Rockin’ My Life Away,” produced by Waddy Wachtel, has a swampier, more groove-based vibe than Thorogood’s previous albums. It almost sounds like a lost Creedence LP.

“John Fogerty is an idol of mine, so that’s not a bad way of looking at things,” Thorogood, 44, said of the analogy. “If I ever had to say, ‘This is the style I’d like to be,’ it probably would be John Fogerty’s. He writes the greatest songs in the world; he’s a great singer, a great player, a great guy. . . . Creedence played good, fun rock ‘n’ roll.

“It’s a funny thing about this group,” he added. “When we were kids, when we were younger and just starting out, we wanted to play blues while most people wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll. Now that we’re getting up there, now that we’re not kids any longer, we wanna do rock ‘n’ roll more than we wanna do the blues. This band has always done everything ass-backwards.”

Thorogood got a late start as a musician. He didn’t pick up a guitar until he was out of high school. He studied long and hard to make up for lost time and was inspired by an array of guitarists--but was particularly taken with the bottleneck work of Hound Dog Taylor and John Paul Hammond.

“I listened to all the same guys that, like, Eric Clapton and Ry Cooder did. I didn’t graduate with honors like Eric or Ry, but I did graduate--maybe with a C minus while those guys got A pluses, but at least I got through the course. I can’t play any other way than what I do. This is how I’ve always played, and for me to try to get out of that bag would be ludicrous. Woody Allen does comedy; John Wayne does westerns.”

While it’s true that Thorogood isn’t likely to dazzle anyone with displays of technical brilliance, his raunchy tone, raw enthusiasm and limitless energy have made him a consistent crowd-pleaser.

“I’m not exactly dissatisfied with my playing, but I would like to get better at it,” he said. “I did some shows with Carlos Santana recently, and he hasn’t changed his style since ‘69, but he has gotten like a thousand times better than he was then. He’s gone from fantastic to almost supernatural; it’s really amazing how he just keeps getting better and better and better.

“I’d like to be like that. I’d like people to say, ‘George is doing the same thing he was doing in the ‘70s, but now he does it better.’ ”

* George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers play tonight at 8 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, and Wednesday and Thursday at 8 at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. Tickets to all shows: $32.50-$34.50. (714) 496-8930.