George Thorogood Discusses '12 x 5' & 'The Rolling Stones, Now!' - The Record That Changed My Life

The Rolling Stones
12 x 5 & The Rolling Stones, Now! (1964 & 1965)

“These are the first two Rolling Stones albums I got, and I bought them both on the same day. I listened to those albums over and over again. At that time, the Beatles and Bob Dylan were the big things, but they both wrote their own songs. The Rolling Stones were on the eve of coming out with ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and some great originals, but at the time they were doing very obscure blues covers. I listened to these two albums and thought, There’s a chance for a guy like me.

“I knew I’d never be able to write something like [the Beatles’] ‘Day Tripper,’ ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’ And I’d never be able to play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix or do what Dylan’s done. No one’s gonna do what Dylan’s done. Forget it! But when I heard the Stones do ‘Little Red Rooster’ and Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley I thought, This is what I can do. So I did it the best that I could. And that was that.”