George Thorogood and the Destoyers – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

I accidentally published this yesterday around 5:30 CST by mistake…I took it back off the market pretty quick…I apologize to anyone who was trying to view it.

I first heard of George Thorogood when I watched the movie Christine back in the 1980s and the song Bad to the Bone. This song is what a grimy bar (not a dance club) in the 1980s sounded like…trust me. When I heard this song I was in high school in Graphic Arts class while Mr Hall, the teacher, was listening to it. He would tell us stories of traveling to Memphis to see artists like Jimi Hendrix.

The song’s roots trace back to the 1950s, originally written by Rudy Toombs and recorded by rhythm and blues artist Amos Milburn in 1953. Milburn’s version was a straightforward R&B number, capturing the era. John Lee Hooker gave the song a new lease on life. Hooker’s rendition infused it with a talking blues style, adding to the future interpretations.

Thorogood supercharged the song. He didn’t just cover it…he transformed it into an epic medley by incorporating elements from Hooker’s House Rent Boogie. It was released by George Thorogood and the Destoyers on their self-titled debut album in 1977.

What makes the live version work so well is the storytelling. It sets up the dynamics of the song perfectly.

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer

Want to tell you a storyAbout the house-man bluesI come home one FridayHad to tell the landlady I’da lost my job

She said that don’t confront meLong as I get my money next FridayNow next Friday come I didn’t get the rentAnd out the door I went

So I goes to the landladyI said you let me slide?I’ll have the rent for you in a monthNext I don’t know

So said let me slide it onI notice when I come home in the eveningShe ain’t got nothing nice to say to meBut for five year she was so nice

Loh’ she was lovy-dovyI come home one particular eveningThe landlady saidYou got the rent money yet?

I said no, can’t find no jobTherefore I ain’t got no moneyTo pay the rentShe said I don’t believe

You’re tryin’ to find no jobSaid I seen you today you was standin’ on a cornerLeaning up against a postI said but I’m tired

I’ve been walkin’ all dayShe said that don’t confront meLong as I get my money next FridayNow next Friday come I didn’t have the rent

And out the door I wentSo I go down the streetsDown to my good friend’s houseI said look man

I’m outdoors you knowCan I stay with you maybe a couple days?He said let me go and ask my wifeHe come out of the house

I could see it in his faceI know that was noHe said I don’t know manAh she kinda funny, you know

I said I knowEverybody funny, now you funny tooSo I go back homeI tell the landlady I got a job

I’m gonna pay the rentShe said yeah? I said oh yeahAnd then she was so niceLoh’ she was lovy-dovy

So I go in my roomPack up my things and I goI slip on out the back doorAnd down the streets I go

She a-howlin’ about the front rentShe’ll be lucky to get any back rentShe ain’t gonna get none of itSo I stop in the local bar you know people

I go to the bar, I ring my coatI call the bartenderSaid look man, come down hereHe got down there

So what you want?One bourbon, one scotch, one beerWell I ain’t seen my babySince I don’t know when

I’ve been drinking bourbon, whiskeyScotch and ginGonna get high man I’m gonna get looseNeed me a triple shot of that juice

Gonna get drunk don’t you have no fearI want one bourbonOne scotch and one beerOne bourbon, one scotch, one beer

But I’m sitting now at the barI’m getting drunk, I’m feelin’ mellowI’m drinkin’ bourbonI’m drinkin’ scotch

I’m drinkin’ beerLooked down the barHere come the bartenderI said look man, come down here

So what you want?One bourbon, one scotch, one beerNo I ain’t seen my baby sinceThe night before last

Gotta get a drink manI’m gonna get gassedGonna get high manI ain’t had enough

Need me a triple shot of that stuffGonna get drunkWon’t you listen right hereI want one bourbon

One shot and one beerOne bourbon, one scotch, one beer

Now by this timeI’m plenty highYou know when your mouth a-getting dryYou’re plenty high

Looked down the barI say to my bartenderI said look manCome down here

He got down thereSo what you want this time?I said look manA-what time is it?

He said the clock on the wallSay three o’clockLast call for alcoholSo what you need?

One bourbon, one scotch, one beerNo I ain’t seen my baby sinceA nigh’ and a weekGotta get drunk man

Till I can’t even speakGonna get high manListen to meOne drink ain’t enough

Jack you better make it threeI want to get drunkI’m gonna make it real clearI want one bourbon

One scotch and one beerOne bourbon, one scotch, one beer

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

30 thoughts on “George Thorogood and the Destoyers – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”

  1. That is an awesome song and good details on the origin. I read that George Thorogood says he doesn’t cover songs he interprets them. Well George that is one hell of an interpretation!

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    1. Oh yea…that is where I heard this one lol…our teacher was a cool guy…in fact I would like to look him up. He saw some great concerts when he was a teen.

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  4. Scotch is the worst, and I don’t understand how anyone could develop a taste for it. I had no idea this was a cover, but the way George Thorogood and the Destoyers did it, it became a completely different song. This has to be one of the greatest rockers of all time.

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      1. I caught an early show of his when he was just making some traction, small club. Rod Stewart (When he was you know not playing the music I was digging) was at a mega stadium the same night. George mentioned that and the crowd gave a unified Bronx Cheer. It was very funny, GT had a big grin after that one. Moral of the story. Rod was laughing all the way to the bank.

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      2. Thats funny. I saw Rod the Mod in the early 80s…Young Turks I believe…it sure as hell wasn’t his seventies stuff.
        The Kinks and Def Leppard was playing on the same night here…of course I picked the Kinks and never regretted it. Nothing against them…but the Kinks are the Kinks. Good choices in life.
        I would like to see Thorogood.

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  6. What a coincide, I literally saw George Thorogood & The Destroyers last night, together with John Fogerty – my most spontaneous decision to get a concert ticket at the last minute – and without meaning to brag, one of my best! I’ll have more on that tomorrow. 🙂

    I knew “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” isn’t one of Thorogood’s songs but had never heard the original by Amos Milburn – cool!

    Thorogood who also played that song last night is one friggin’ b-b-b-b-b-b-b blues rock freight train!

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    1. I know! I was laughing when you texted…that doesn’t happen all of the time….I just got finished writing it.
      I would imagine live he is very aggressive and loud.

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  7. The energy George Thorogood brings to an album (‘Live’ or not) is amazing. I’d loved to have seen him back in the day. A pal I worked with, now sadly departed, got me into George and The Destroyers in the mid-80s … he was almost ‘punk’ like in his drive and directness and combined with the Blues influence, I was sold on the spot!

    I have a couple albums in my collection … AND believe it or not, a vinyl album of Amos Milburn (‘Chicken Shack Boogie’) that I bought with money my Granda gave me when I was young, naively thinking he’d be impressed.

    He’d never heard of him!

    https://youtu.be/dU9UOd5Mp6c?si=UQZwSRnOEI_9KIGL

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    1. The movie Christine was my starting point with Bad To The Bone. I thought…no synth or fake drums…I love this!
      Oh that is really cool that you have Amos Milburn! Awesome music…it swings.

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