Hound Dog Taylor • Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers

 

Review by Cub Koda
The first album and the perfect place to start. Wild, raucous, crazy music straight out of the South Side clubs. The incessant drive of Hound Dog's playing is best heard on "Give Me Back My Wig," "55th Street Boogie," and "Taylor's Rock," while the sound of Brewer Phillips' Telecaster on "Phillips' Theme" gives new meaning to the phrase "sheet metal tone." One of the greatest slide guitar albums of all time.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/hound-dog-taylor-the-houserockers-mw0000200356



Biography by Bill Dahl
Alligator Records, Chicago's leading contemporary blues label, might never have been launched at all if not for the crashing, slashing slide guitar antics of Hound Dog Taylor. Bruce Iglauer, then an employee of Delmark Records, couldn't convince his boss, Bob Koester, of Taylor's potential, so Iglauer took matters into his own hands. In 1971, Alligator was born for the express purpose of releasing Hound Dog's debut album. We all know what transpired after that.

Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, Mississippi-native Taylor took up the guitar when he was 20 years old. He made a few appearances on Sonny Boy Williamson's fabled KFFA King Biscuit Time radio broadcasts out of Helena, Arkansas, before coming to Chicago in 1942. It was another 15 years before Taylor made blues his full-time vocation, though. Taylor was a favorite on Chicago's South and West sides during the late '50s and early '60s. It's generally accepted that Freddy King copped a good portion of his classic "Hide Away" from an instrumental he heard Taylor cranking out on the bandstand.

Taylor's pre-Alligator credits were light -- only a 1960 single for Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby imprint ("Baby Is Coming Home"/"Take Five"), a 1962 45 for Carl Jones' Firma Records ("Christine"/"Alley Music"), and a 1967 effort for Checker ("Watch Out"/"Down Home") predated his output for Iglauer.

Taylor's relentlessly raucous band, the HouseRockers, consisted of only two men, though their combined racket sounded like quite a few more. Second guitarist Brewer Phillips, who often supplied buzzing pseudo-basslines on his guitar, had developed such an empathy with Taylor that their guitars intertwined with ESP-like force, while drummer Ted Harvey kept everything moving along at a brisk pace.

Their eponymous 1971 debut LP contained the typically rowdy "Give Me Back My Wig," while Taylor's first Alligator encore in 1973, Natural Boogie, boasted the hypnotic "Sadie" and a stomping "Roll Your Moneymaker." Beware of the Dog, a live set, vividly captured the good-time vibe that the perpetually beaming guitarist emanated, but Taylor didn't live to see its release -- he died of cancer shortly before it hit the shelves.

Hound Dog Taylor was the obvious inspiration for Alligator's "Genuine Houserocking Music" motto, a credo Iglauer's firm has followed for four decades and counting. He wasn't the most accomplished of slide guitarists, but Hound Dog Taylor could definitely rock any house that he played.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hound-dog-taylor-mn0000225754/biography

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Reseña de Cub Koda
El primer álbum y el lugar perfecto para empezar. Música salvaje, estridente y alocada directamente de los clubes del South Side. El impulso incesante de la forma de tocar de Hound Dog se escucha mejor en "Give Me Back My Wig", "55th Street Boogie" y "Taylor's Rock", mientras que el sonido de la Telecaster de Brewer Phillips en "Phillips' Theme" da un nuevo significado a la frase "tono de chapa". Uno de los mejores álbumes de guitarra slide de todos los tiempos.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/hound-dog-taylor-the-houserockers-mw0000200356



Biografía de Bill Dahl
Alligator Records, el principal sello de blues contemporáneo de Chicago, podría no haberse lanzado nunca si no fuera por la estruendosa y fulminante guitarra slide de Hound Dog Taylor. Bruce Iglauer, entonces empleado de Delmark Records, no pudo convencer a su jefe, Bob Koester, del potencial de Taylor, así que Iglauer tomó cartas en el asunto. En 1971, Alligator nació con el propósito expreso de publicar el álbum de debut de Hound Dog. Todos sabemos lo que ocurrió después.

Taylor, oriundo de Mississippi, tomó la guitarra a los 20 años en honor al presidente Theodore Roosevelt. Hizo algunas apariciones en las legendarias emisiones de radio de KFFA King Biscuit Time de Helena, Arkansas, antes de llegar a Chicago en 1942. Sin embargo, pasaron otros 15 años antes de que Taylor hiciera del blues su vocación a tiempo completo. Taylor era uno de los favoritos en los lados sur y oeste de Chicago a finales de los 50 y principios de los 60. Es generalmente aceptado que Freddy King copió una buena parte de su clásico "Hide Away" de un instrumental que escuchó a Taylor en el quiosco.

Los créditos de Taylor antes de Alligator eran escasos: sólo un sencillo de 1960 para el sello Bea & Baby de Cadillac Baby ("Baby Is Coming Home"/"Take Five"), un 45 de 1962 para Firma Records de Carl Jones ("Christine"/"Alley Music") y un trabajo de 1967 para Checker ("Watch Out"/"Down Home") precedieron a su producción para Iglauer.

La implacable y estridente banda de Taylor, los HouseRockers, estaba formada por sólo dos hombres, aunque su ruido combinado sonaba como si fueran muchos más. El segundo guitarrista, Brewer Phillips, que a menudo proporcionaba zumbidos en su guitarra, había desarrollado tal empatía con Taylor que sus guitarras se entrelazaban con una fuerza similar a la de ESP, mientras que el batería Ted Harvey mantenía todo en movimiento a un ritmo rápido.

Su LP de debut homónimo de 1971 contenía la típicamente alborotada "Give Me Back My Wig", mientras que el primer bis de Taylor en Alligator en 1973, Natural Boogie, contaba con la hipnótica "Sadie" y un contundente "Roll Your Moneymaker". Beware of the Dog, un disco en directo, capturó vívidamente el ambiente de buen tiempo que emanaba el guitarrista siempre radiante, pero Taylor no vivió para ver su publicación: murió de cáncer poco antes de que llegara a las tiendas.

Hound Dog Taylor fue la inspiración obvia para el lema "Genuine Houserocking Music" de Alligator, un credo que la empresa de Iglauer ha seguido durante cuatro décadas y más. No era el más consumado de los guitarristas de slide, pero Hound Dog Taylor podía hacer vibrar cualquier casa en la que tocara.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hound-dog-taylor-mn0000225754/biography

Tracklist
1 - She's Gone - 3:46
2 - Walking The Ceiling - 3:12
3 - Held My Baby Last Night - 4:14
4 - Taylor's Rock - 3:50
5 - It's Alright - 3:10
6 - Phillips' Theme - 5:27
7 - Wild About You, Baby - 3:35
8 - I Just Can't Make It - 3:15
9 - It Hurts Me Too - 3:47
10 - 44 Blues - 2:52
11 - Give Me Back My Wig - 3:31
12 - 55th Street Boogie - 2:59


Credits:
    Design [Logo] – Michael Trossman
    Drums – Ted Harvey
    Engineer – Stu Black
    Guitar – Brewer Phillips
    Guitar, Vocals, Producer – Hound Dog Taylor
    Photography By, Design – Peter Amft
    Producer, Liner Notes – Wesley Race
    Producer, Liner Notes [Reissue] – Bruce Iglauer
    Written-By – Hound Dog Taylor (tracks: Except 3, 7, 9, 10)

Notes:
Originally released in 1971.

Label: Alligator Records ‎– ALCD 4701
Released: 2003
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Country Blues, Blues Rock
https://www.discogs.com/Hound-Dog-Taylor-And-The-HouseRockers-Hound-Dog-Taylor-And-The-HouseRockers/release/11683892

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