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The Michigan Daily-Thursday, February 8, 1979-Page 7

PLA YING R&B IN A BA.R NEA R YOU.

The guitar that ate Delaware

NOON LUNCHEON
Homemade Soup & Sandwich 75C
FRIDAY, FEB. 9
Brother David Steindl-Rast
Benedictine Monk:
"Budiasm, Hinduism, Christianity"
GUILD HOUSE-8o2 Monroe

By KEITH TOSOLT
"And the joint was a-rokin',
reelin' round and round . .."
It's only fitting that a quotation from
Chuck Berry begin a review of a George
Thorogood and the Destroyers stage
show. Thorogood grabs that early
essence of rock and roll laid down by
Berry and others, supplying his own
vibrancy as hotshot guitarist and
showman. The material he plays,
whether blues, R&B or country, all
rocksiwith the same intensity, an inten-
sity that roused his "Tuesday Night
Jamboree" audience at the Second
Chance to a state nothing less than ec-
static boogie. Thorogood's guitar can
definitely "rock away your blues."
After an opening set by the acoustic
group Footloose, who performed songs
ranging from the Dead and the Drifters
to Dan Hicks and Martin Mull,
Thorogood and his rhythm section (Jeff
Simon on drums and Billy Blough on
bass) took the stage and ripped into the
old R&B classic "The House of Blue
Lights." Wearing a black T-shirtand
jeans, sporting a well-worn Gibson
hollow-bodied guitar and looking like a
Delaware country boy with city street
experience, Thorogood quickly became
the main focus of attention. He laun-
ched into one of the gems from his first
album, John Lee Hooker's "One Bour-
bon, One Scotch and One Beer" ("It's
,safer when you're having more than
one," George advised). Thorogood
prowled the stage, throwing leg kicks,
taking duck walks and generally
playing it up, simultaneously holding
down some of the hardest driving guitar
heard in a long time.
THERE IS a large measure of the
showman apparent in Thorogood, ad-
ding to the all-around good-times at-
mosphere and perhaps even enhancing
his guitar playing style. He approaches
his playing via country/bluegrass
roots, plucking the strings with the
thumb and fingers of his right hand in-
stead of the single pick style of most
blues and rock guitarists. The speed he
achieves using this technique was sim-
ply amazing; his wind-milling right
hand gave his playing an extremely
fluid texture.
Thorogood played his Chuck Berry
licks while switching often to slide
guitar, attacking both techniques with
the same verocity. Amidst all of the
flash of the guitarist, the other
Destroyers are pushed to the back and
go relatively unnoticed. Yet the support
they provide, especially Simon's
drumming, is essential to driving the
songs when Thorogood's shuffling
guitar plays on the offbeats.
THE TWO hour-long sets of the con-
cert featured a cross-section from the
two Destroyer albums (songs such as
Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" and the
Bo Diddely-like "Ride On Josephine"),
four Chuck Berry tunes ("Carol" and,
of course, "Johnny B. Goode"), an
Elmore James slide blues, and "Night
Time," a hit from the mid-60's by The
Strangeloves. As part of his encore,
Thorogood saved the song which may
well be his first substantial hit, his
ROAD MOBILITY
WASHINGTON (AP)-Cars and
buses are the only form of inter-city
transportation for some 15,000 cities in
the United States, making the nation's
roads responsible for most of the per-
sonal mobility Americans enjoy.
According to the Road Information

Program, highway vehicles accounted
for 87 per cent of all inter-city travel
last year, compared with 13 per cent for
air, rail and water traffic combined.
MANN THEATRES
" L"LAGET"N
MAPLE VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER
769-1300
ADMISSION
$Adut-$4.OO Child-$2.00

rocking version of Hank Williams'
"Move It On Over."
With the Blues Brothers holding down
the number one slot on the records
charts, it seems. that blues and R&B
have a chance of breaking into rigid
Top 40 playlists. Thorogood's Move It
On Over has made its way into the
programming of at least two Detroit
FM stations on a limited basis - hear-
tening sign if there ever was one that
AOR formated radio can be salvaged.
Ann Arbor's WIQB realized a good
thing early on when it got the first
Thorogood album, released on the in-
dependent Rounder Records label, and
gave it extensive airplay last summer.
HAVING NO trouble winning over
audiences, Thorogood is gaining a
following, and a little more airplay may
push him to the top. The rock scene of1
the 80's may see the formation of
another "New Wave," led by those like
Thorogood and the Destroyers playing
vintage R&B from three decades
earlier. The mood could be right for an
authentic revival (not the put-on of a
Blues Brothers) of music from the first
era of rock and roll.
Even if Thorogood does find a wide-
ranging success, one, gets the im-
pression his basic boogie attack will
undoubtedly never change. He deals in
good times, having as much fun enter-
taining as his audience has dancing.

_v - -------,

TERRENCE YOUNG'S

1964

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
The Sean Bond is shadowed by Robert Show and spectre when he is lured
to Instanbul by a striking Russian blonde. There, Connery encounters
exotic girls, catches a lot of local color and action and befriends his
Turkish contact who runs intelligence operations as a family business.
In color. FRI: SLAUGHTER HOUSE FIVE
SAT: THE EIGER SANCTION
SUN: WIZARD OF OZ

CINEMA GUILD

TONIGHT AT

OLD ARCH. AUD.

. ISTUDENTS!I
LOW COST VACATION IN EUROPE
SPECIAL-CAR 'N' TENT-PROGRAM
Drive throughout Europe for as little as
$28.00 per week*
CHARTERS TO FRANKFURT
from $349.00
EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNTS
*Based on 4 passenger to a car
For information and reservation call or write:
EURORENT-TOURS OF EXCELLENT
801 Newport, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
769-1238
MEDIATRICS presents:
THE BEST YEARS
!1*VAc1W0 tO F OUR LIVES
(William Wyler, 1946) Set in post World War II, the film centers
around the frustrations and adjustments experienced by three
servicemen. Winner of nine Academy Awards in5luding Best
Thurs., Feb. 8 Assembly Hall, Mich Union 7:00, 9:30
GOLDRUSH
(Charlie Chaplin, 1925) Chaplin plays the pathetic, lone pros-
pector who journeys to the Klondike hoping to discover gold
and make his fortune.
Fri., Feb. 9 Not. Sci. Aud. 7:00, 8:30, 10:00
--nd-
SILENT MOVIE
(Mel Brooks) MEL BROOKS, DOM DE LUISE and MARTY FELD-
MAN convince SID CEASER to finance a silent comedy provided
Brooks can supply big name stars for the production.
Sat.,Feb. 10 Nat. Sci. Aud. 7:00, 8:30, 10:00
admission $1.50

Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY

Portrait in Blues
George Thorogood, the Delaware-born guitar wonder, got down to the roots
of rock and roll Tuesday evening at Second Chance.

The major concern of a Destroyer show
is getting the rockin' house party off to
an early start, and with Thorogood'sin-


fectious hard edged mixture of blues,
R&B, and rock, everything would hap-
pen by itself even if showman George
wasn't there to direct the proceedings.
He likes to ham things up, but it never
becomes a parody - it's always just
George having a high old time, an at-
titude which prompted him to remark,
"I can't believe they're actually paying
me for this." If GeorgeThorogood
"wasn't playing his own brand of R&B
guitar, he'd probably be watching
someone else play those rockin' blues,
chasing away his own blues with
whiskey and a beat.

a ____________________

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Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
No, that's C-h-a-p-i-n ...
Harry Chapin, folkster and full-time political activist, sends out for pizza and
Dr. Peppers after a show last summer at Pine Knob. Chapin will perform
tonight at Hill auditorium.

I ENTERTAINMENT FRONT BROWSER
FEB.8,1979 8:00PM.

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WEDNESDAY IS MONDAY IS ADULTS F2.17SAT., SUN.
"BARGAIN DAY" "GUEST NIGNT" EVE. & HOLIDAYS $3.50
$1.50 until 5:30 TWO ADULTS ADMITTED M AN-THUR SAEVE. $3.00
FORPRICE OF ONE CMHILDTON $1.50

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FRIDAY & SATURDAY MIDNIGHT SHOW
The Beetles Magicl Mystery Tour

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EVERYDAY

HARRYCHAPIN


HARRY CHAPIN

AT


Schoolkids'
$7.98 LIST ALBUMS649-
$7.98 LIST TAPES $55.

[PI A Unted Arst/
SHOW TIMES


pmt UF
2 L.P. $6.99 TAPE $7.99

MON.-FRI.
6:30-9:00
SAT. & SUN.
1:45 6:30
3:45 9:00
Tickets on Sole 15 Minutes
Prior to Showtime


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YOU'LL BELIEVE
A MAN CAN FLY

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