E9582 - George Thorogood: 50 States in 50 Days and a Career Built on Endurance

In 1981 George Thorogood played all 50 US states in 50 days, squeezing in Washington, DC and Maryland on the same day for 51 shows. This episode uses that tour as a lens on a career built on physical stamina rather than trends. Born in February 1950 in Wilmington, Delaware, Thorogood played semi-professional baseball before a guitar slide gift and a 1970 John Hammond concert redirected him toward blues. We follow him from busking in San Francisco to playing behind Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and to the advice from Robert Lockwood Jr. that put a hollow-body electric guitar in his hands.

With...