Hound Dog Taylor was a Mississippi bluesman who, like many others, migrated to Chicago to peddle his art. Oddly he suffered from polydactyly – a condition that left him with six fingers on both hands! Blues legend has it that he sawed off the extra digit on his right hand with a cutthroat razor to make playing guitar easier. Sadly, despite that painful sacrifice, he never quite made the blues major league, but he was a mainstay on the Chicago circuit. He did cut a few records for Alligator Records, though, but died relatively unknown in 1975.
That said his wild, boogie style did influence a generation of white rockers – notably George Thorogood and modern blues trio GA-20 who comprise guitarist Matt Stubbs, guitarist/vocalist Pat Faherty, and drummer Tim Carman. The band are committed to keeping alive the real blues heritage and to that end, next week, they’ll be releasing their tribute to Hound Dog…‘Try It…You Might Like It! GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor’,
The album is a concise 10 tracker that offers authentic covers of Taylor favourites like ‘She’s Gone’ (surely the inspiration for Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit In The Sky’!). Amongst the highlights is a version of Elmore James’ ‘It Hurts Me Too’ – James was a big influence on Taylor.
We’re told that this album’s authentic sound was achieved by using vintage gear and instruments and keeping the recording process as close to old school ways as possible. See if they achieve proper authenticity when ‘Try It…You Might Like It! GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor’ wins release on August 20th via Colemine/Alligator.
