George Thorogood & the Destroyers

GEORGE THOROGOOD has a theory. “In any field, especially the arts, there are always two things—‘genius’ and ‘very clever.’ There’s no in-between. You’re either a genius or very clever. I’m going to throw out two names at you. John Lennon--genius, right? And Mick Jagger? Very clever. See what I’m saying? I’ll give you another example. Einstein--genius. And George Thorogood--very clever.”

Yet what about the people who think Thorogood is a genius in his own way? “OK, I’m a genius at being very clever,’’ he says with a hearty laugh. Thorogood loves quips almost as much as he loves the blues, so here’s another: “Let’s put it this way. Dylan has a Rolls-Royce dealership. I have a used Chevy dealership. But I’m in the business. You got it? That’s all I wanted from this thing. A gig, man. And I got a gig.’’