George Thorogood & The Destroyers Return to Capitol/EMI

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George Thorogood & The Destroyers have returned to Capitol/EMI for the July 28 release of The Dirty Dozen, a scorching new blues-rock album pairing six new studio recordings with six classic fan favorites, including three popular tracks that were previously out-of-print in the U.S. The album will be widely available on CD and digitally, and it will also be exclusively available for purchase on vinyl LP from www.georgethorogood.com and at the band's concerts on tour. Thorogood & The Destroyers will travel to more than 30 U.S. cities this summer on a tour that includes 22 co-headlining dates with Jonny Lang.

The Dirty Dozen features Thorogood's signature blues-rock vocals and guitar playing on 12 songs, many of which were written by a who's-who of American blues legends, including Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, "Sleepy" John Estes, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, and Willie Dixon. The album's new recordings and fan favorites are grouped as LP-inspired "sides."

"I'm a big fan of vinyl, " says George Thorogood, "It's important to me to make The Dirty Dozen available on LP, and I definitely had vinyl in mind as one of the formats for this release when we were recording the new tracks. When we started sequencing the track list, I thought it would be fun to group the songs like an LP, for all of the formats - vinyl, CD, and digital - just as they would be placed for a classic vinyl album. So the new recordings are Side One and the rare tracks are Side Two."

Launching the new recordings on Side One of The Dirty Dozen is Willie Dixon's swaggering "Tail Dragger, " vividly illustrated by Thorogood's vocals and guitar, followed by his new take on John Hammond's version of "Sleepy" John Estes' "Drop Down Mama, " a rocking jam that's driven by Thorogood's muscular guitar playing. Also on Side One are Thorogood's new recordings of Muddy Waters' "Born Lover, " Bo Diddley's "Let Me Pass, " "Twenty Dollar Gig, " by Mickey Bones, and The Holmes Brothers' "Run Myself Out Of Town."

Side Two's fan favorites open with Thorogood's previously out-of-print guitar and sax-propelled take on Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf's "Howlin' For My Baby, " followed by Howlin' Wolf's "Highway 49, " a bona fide juke joint roof-raiser loaded with slide-laden guitar riffs. Side Two also features two other previously out-of-print tracks: Chuck Berry's "Hello Little Girl" and country standard "Six Days On The Road." "Treat Her Right" and "Blue Highway" are also included.

For more than 30 years, George Thorogood & The Destroyers have been a powerful force in blues rock music. Since releasing their self-titled debut album in 1977, they have toured and performed with many of blues' most legendary artists, including Hound Dog Taylor, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Albert Collins, Johnny Johnson, John Hammond, Elvin Bishop, Eddie Shaw and Buddy Guy.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers released their self-titled debut album in 1977 and quickly established themselves as radio favorites and as a touring machine. They signed with EMI for their major label debut, 1982's, Bad To The Bone, and they recorded seven studio albums during their tenure with the label, departing after 1997's Rockin' My Life Away. Described as "the world's greatest bar band, " the group has had tremendous success with Thorogood's original compositions like "You Talk Too Much, " "I Drink Alone" and of course "Bad To The Bone;" he's also had hits with covers of iconic blues-rock songs like "Who Do You Love" (Bo Diddley), "Move It On Over" (Hank Williams) and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (John Lee Hooker). 2004's Greatest Hits: 30 Years Of Rock was Billboard's #1 Blues Album in 2004 and 2005, and the band's 12th studio album, 2006's The Hard Stuff, hit #2 on Billboard's Blues chart.

"It feels like a homecoming for me, to be back with Capitol/EMI for The Dirty Dozen, " says Thorogood. "This album is also a homecoming of sorts for us - it's a real rocker, full of songs we've always loved playing, including some that our fans have told us they like a lot but haven't been available for a while. We're definitely going to be playing some of these songs on our tour. I'm ready to mix it up and crank it up, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the shows this summer."

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