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 story
About the house-man blues I come home one Friday Had to tell the landlady I’da lost my jobShe said that don’t confront me
Long as I get my money next Friday Now next Friday come I didn’t get the rent And out the door I wentSo I goes to the landlady
I said you let me slide? I’ll have the rent for you in a month Next I don’t knowSo said let me slide it on
I notice when I come home in the evening She ain’t got nothing nice to say to me But for five year she was so niceLoh’ she was lovy-dovy
I come home one particular evening The landlady said You got the rent money yet?I said no, can’t find no job
Therefore I ain’t got no money To pay the rent She said I don’t believeYou’re tryin’ to find no job
Said I seen you today you was standin’ on a corner Leaning up against a post I said but I’m tiredI’ve been walkin’ all day
She said that don’t confront me Long as I get my money next Friday Now next Friday come I didn’t have the rentAnd out the door I went
So I go down the streets Down to my good friend’s house I said look manI’m outdoors you know
Can I stay with you maybe a couple days? He said let me go and ask my wife He come out of the houseI could see it in his face
I know that was no He said I don’t know man Ah she kinda funny, you knowI said I know
Everybody funny, now you funny too So I go back home I tell the landlady I got a jobI’m gonna pay the rent
She said yeah? I said oh yeah And then she was so nice Loh’ she was lovy-dovySo I go in my room
Pack up my things and I go I slip on out the back door And down the streets I goShe a-howlin’ about the front rent
She’ll be lucky to get any back rent She ain’t gonna get none of it So I stop in the local bar you know peopleI go to the bar, I ring my coat
I call the bartender Said look man, come down here He got down thereSo what you want?
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer Well I ain’t seen my baby Since I don’t know whenI’ve been drinking bourbon, whiskey
Scotch and gin Gonna get high man I’m gonna get loose Need me a triple shot of that juiceGonna get drunk don’t you have no fear
I want one bourbon One scotch and one beer One bourbon, one scotch, one beerBut I’m sitting now at the bar
I’m getting drunk, I’m feelin’ mellow I’m drinkin’ bourbon I’m drinkin’ scotchI’m drinkin’ beer
Looked down the bar Here come the bartender I said look man, come down hereSo what you want?
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer No I ain’t seen my baby since The night before lastGotta get a drink man
I’m gonna get gassed Gonna get high man I ain’t had enoughNeed me a triple shot of that stuff
Gonna get drunk Won’t you listen right here I want one bourbonOne shot and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beerNow by this time
I’m plenty high You know when your mouth a-getting dry You’re plenty highLooked down the bar
I say to my bartender I said look man Come down hereHe got down there
So what you want this time? I said look man A-what time is it?He said the clock on the wall
Say three o’clock Last call for alcohol So what you need?One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
No I ain’t seen my baby since A nigh’ and a week Gotta get drunk manTill I can’t even speak
Gonna get high man Listen to me One drink ain’t enoughJack you better make it three
I want to get drunk I’m gonna make it real clear I want one bourbonOne scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer…