Hound Dog Taylor
Deluxe Edition
(Alligator CD 5605)
Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves. This CD is not for the faint of heart. Theodore "Hound Dog" Taylor and The Houserockers (Brewer Phillips on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums) created some of the most raucous, greasy
rockin' blues ever committed to wax. This disc is a collection of some of their finest songs culled from their early seventies albums released on Alligator records.
The influence of slide guitar legend Elmore James is present here, with several James covers, including "Wild About You, Baby," "The Sun Is Shining," and "It Hurts Me Too." "Roll Your Moneymaker" is basically a rewrite of James' "Shake Your Moneymaker." Taylor and his cronies have a much more raw, ragged sound than James, which they work to great advantage on a wonderful cover of Ray Charles "What'd I Say" which is transcendent in it's let's have a party ebullience. Hound Dog's slashing slide sound (which he achieved with the use of a cheap Japanese guitar and sheer volume) cuts like a rusty razor on "See Me In The Morning," which bears a striking similarity to Jimmy Reed's "You Got Me Dizzy." The live tracks "Gimme Back My Wig," "Rock Me," drawn from one of the finest live blues LP's ever, Beware Of The Dog, are highlights, as well as two instrumental tracks featuring second guitarist Brewer Phillips, the appropriately titled "Phillips Goes Bananas" and "Phillips Theme," which shows Phillips, Taylor and Harvey to great advantage on a masterfully nasty slow blues, somewhat reminiscent of another Hound Dog tune "Freddie's Blues."
The hypnotic one chord romp "She's Gone" is nothing short of mesmerizing. A real bonus is an unlisted bit of studio banter, surreptitiously recorded by producer Bruce
Iglauer, a hilarious recitation of the merits of Heaven versus Hell, sorta like The Gospel According To Hound Dog.
There is not a lot of tonal or melodic variety here, but who cares? Deluxe Edition is a perfect introduction to Hound Dog Taylor and The
Houserockers. An essential addition to any blues collection.
- Jim Suhler -
Southwest Blues CD Review - August 1999
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