Hound Dog Taylor

Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (born April 12, 1915 in Natchez , Mississippi , † December 17, 1975 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American singer and played piano and guitar in the genres Chicago blues and boogie .

Life

“Hound Dog” Taylor was born with an abnormality: he had a sixth, very pinky finger on each hand. He grew up around Tchule and Greenwood in the Mississippi Delta, as did several other black blues musicians ( BB King , Albert King , John Lee Hooker , Muddy Waters , etc.). He made his first musical experiences playing the piano. He didn't really start playing the guitar until he was 21 years old. His musical style was strongly influenced by the then rising Elmore James . In his twenties he played in the Mississippi area, where he could be heard with Sonny Boy Williamson on the legendary radio show " King Biscuit Time ". But Taylor was expelled from Mississippi by the Ku Klux Klan in 1942 because he had a relationship with a white woman.

He worked in Chicago as an electrician and other part-time jobs until the late 1950s. He also appeared as a guitarist in pompous night bars in southern Chicago. He was called “Hound Dog” because he was so fond of women and chased the steppe wolfish after them. During this time he changed his previously classic e-tuning to an energetic bottleneck style. In 1957 he finally devoted himself only to his music career.

In 1960 he met the guitarist Brewer Phillips . The two became friends and formed the band The HouseRockers . With the first singles such as Baby Is Coming Home, Take Five and Christine , however, they met with little interest outside of Chicago. In 1965, drummer Ted Harvey joined the band. With him, the HouseRockers found their typically loud, hard blues accent with Taylor's rough voice and his slide play (bottleneck) on cheap Japanese guitars as well as Phillips' bass lines, which, played on a Fender Telecaster , replaced the missing bass.

Bruce Iglauer , later Taylor's manager, got to hear the band for the first time in 1969 in Chicago's Eddie Shaw's. However, Iglauer's boss did not want to sign a record deal with Taylor. With its own financial support, Iglauer made it possible in 1971 to release Taylor's first record on the Alligator Records label . Without knowing it, he founded the now world-famous blues label. The album was a success with 9,000 records sold. The singles Give Me Back My Wig and It's Alright became the most famous songs. In 1973 the second record Natural Boogie came out on the market.

Taylor was at the height of his career. But there was a serious argument between the guitarists Phillips and Taylor, who were actually good friends. It was triggered by a derogatory remark by Phillips about Taylor's wife, Fredda. Taylor beat Phillips; as a result, he suffered injuries. Shortly thereafter, Taylor, a passionate smoker, developed fatal lung cancer . His last request was to see Phillips. He forgave Phillips, the band's second guitarist and longtime friend, for his deathbed act. Theodore Roosevelt Taylor died in December 1975.

After his death, Taylor's last alligator album, Beware of the Dog, was released in 1976 .

In 1984 he was honored with an entry into the Blues Hall of Fame for his musical achievements.

Other blues artists like Eric Clapton and Albert King were inspired by Hound Dog Taylor (e.g. for Hideaway). It is one of the classics of the electric blues. In 2003 Alligator Records released Hound Dog Taylor - A Tribute , in which Luther Allison , Sonny Landreth , Bob Margolin , Elvin Bishop , George Thorogood and Lil 'Ed and The Blues Imperials interpret Taylor's works.

Discography

• 1971 - Hound Dog Taylor and The HouseRockers (Alligator)
• 1973 - Natural Boogie (Alligator)
• 1975 - Beware of the Dog (Alligator)
• 1982 - Genuine Houserocking Music (Alligator)
• 1994 - Freddie's Blues (Wolf)
• 1999 - Deluxe Edition (Alligator)
• 2004 - Release the Hound (P-Vine Records)

Remarks

1. ↑ This does not mean the mouth region of the Mississippi south of Baton Rouge , Louisiana , but a region on the Mississippi in the state of the same name, see →  Lower Mississippi Delta Region and →  Yazoo River

Web links

• Works by and about Hound Dog Taylor in the catalog of the German National Library
• Biography at Alligator Records (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Picture of his left hand with six fingers ( memento of the original from November 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.