WCSX Classic Cuts : One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
WCSX Classic Cuts
George Thorogood and the Destroyers: “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”
The Hook: He wanted it as his signature song.
Album: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Year: 1977
Writer: Rudy Toombs (and John Lee Hooker, who wrote “House Rent Boogie”)
Stats: Not released as a single.
Background: George Thorogood had something specific in mind when he covered the blues number “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” on his 1977 debut album, George Thorogood and the Destroyers. He tells us what it was, and where he first heard the song.
George Thorogood on his version of “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.” OC:…that song. :20
“I heard John Lee Hooker do it in 1971 and then I heard Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry do it again. And later I added the ‘House Rent Blues’ part to the beginning of it. That was a very conscious piece on my part. That was a song that I wanted in our repertoire so people would identify that song with our band. Like, a signature tune. I was really trying to do that with that song.”
