Not a diary...just the celebration of a single song.
Written in 1953 by long forgotten Rudy Toombs and Amos Milburn...it made the top ten of the Billboard R&B charts when it was first released...and then was quickly forgotten. Until John Lee Hooker resurrected the song on a 1966 album of his, and totally owned it.
Here's the original version:
A great song rings through in every version that it's recorded in. I wonder where the "Aladdin Chicken Shackers" are now?
So I goes to the Landlady...and she's got nothing nice to say to me"
Does it really get any better than that? I think Delaware should make this there state song. This is bar room blues rock at its best. I don't know where George is these days, but when he hit the scene in 1976, it was like a breath of fresh air. The FM air waves were full of synthesizers and disco beats, and George Thorogood wasn't the most innovative guy on the scene...but he was one of the most real. It just felt good.
It still feels good.
Here's Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee doing their version of this song.
And how about Elvin Bishop and George Thorogood? How Thoroughly good is that?