DISCOGRAPHY 1971-2004 (19CD)
Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 (although some sources
say 1917). He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he
was 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942.
BIOGRAPHY
Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 (although some sources
say 1917). He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he
was 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942.
He became a full-time musician around 1957 but remained unknown outside
of the Chicago area where he played small clubs in the black
neighborhoods and also at the open-air Maxwell Street Market.
He was known for his electrified slide guitar playing roughly styled
after that of Elmore James, his cheap Japanese Teisco guitars, and his
raucous boogie beats. He was also famed among guitar players for having
six fingers on his left hand.
After hearing Taylor with his band, the HouseRockers (Brewer Phillips
on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums) in 1970 at Florence's Lounge
on Chicago's South Side, Bruce Iglauer - at the time a shipping clerk
for Delmark Records - tried to get him signed by his employer. Having no
success getting Delmark to sign Taylor, Iglauer formed a small record
label with a $2500 inheritance and recorded Taylor's debut album, Hound
Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, on his fledgling Alligator Records in
1971. It was the first release on Alligator records, now a major blues
label. It was recorded in a studio in just two nights.
Iglauer began managing and booking the band, which toured nationwide
and performed with Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton.[citation needed]
The band became particularly popular in the Boston area, where Taylor
inspired a young protege named George Thorogood. A live album Live At
Joe's Place documents a Boston appearance from 1972.
Their second release, Natural Boogie, was recorded in late 1973, and
led to greater acclaim and touring. In 1975, Taylor and his band toured
Australia and New Zealand with Freddie King and Sonny Terry and Brownie
McGhee. His third Alligator album, Beware of the Dog, was recorded live
in 1974 but was only released after his death.[3] More posthumous
releases occurred as well, including Genuine Houserocking Music and
Release the Hound, on the Alligator label as well as some bootleg live
recordings.
Taylor died of lung cancer in 1975, and was buried in Restvale Cemetery
in Alsip, Illinois.
Taylor was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in
1984.
NEW!
Vol. 772 Hound Dog Taylor (2CD) @FLAC