Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers

Theodore Roosevelt “Hound Dog” Taylor was born & raised in Mississippi and came to Chicago in the early 40’s, became a full time blues musician by the late 50’s but didn’t have an album released until this one in 1971! He made a name for himself in Chicago by playing constantly and creating a raw bottleneck style. His guitar is fiercely distorted and he plays mostly energetic boogie-blues. His backing would vary, but mostly consisted of the two on this record – Brewer Phillips on second guitar (he plays the non-slide leads here) and Ted Harvey on drums. After this album, his notoriety expanded and he toured throughout the world until his death in 1975.

This album sounds like Taylor must have sounded in concert – live, rockin’, rough, unrefined, sloppy, and exciting as hell! I’ve seen some videos and it looked like Hound Dog had a blast playing – and I’m sure that the audience reciprocated! This is the punk rock of the blues – check it out for some wild boogie!