Thursday, November 1, 2012

HOW TO PLAY LIKE HOUND DOG TAYLOR



"BLUE" JIMMY:  SLIDEWINDER

BLIND DOG OZZY:  NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Theodore Roosevelt Hound Dog Taylor was a bluesman extraordinaire who influenced pretty much everyone who put a slide on their finger and tried to make Hawaiian noises on a guitar.  Born in Natchez, Mississippi with six fingers on each hand, he took Elmore James' style of slamming slide guitar, played it louder and harder and put out a series of albums and live shows that drove big Afro and bell bottom audiences into a frenzy mostly in the 70's.

BD OZZY:  Together with his band The Houserockers, made up of Brewer Phillips on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums, they literally rocked houses down and were a huge influence on George Thorogood, whose band The Destroyers were modeled after Taylor's band.

"BLUE" JIMMY:  His buck-toothed grin and between-song jive made him a favorite with the audience even though no one could understand a word he was saying.  Then he would take a sip of Canadian Club, put a slide made from the leg of a kitchen chair on his finger and peel the paint off the walls with a cheap, pawn shop guitar through an amp about to melt down with ear-splitting distortion.  The example in the video is played on an Eastwood electric/resonator guitar through a 100 watt Marshall MG series amp on full gain using a tapered, heavy brass slide and a thumb pick.  I'm not sure what tuning Hound Dog played in but the example is in open E tuning which will always give you that electrified delta sound.

BD OZZY:  Skull and glass a whiskey optional.

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Copy it as best you can and then take it somewhere with your own style.  That's how Hound Dog would've told you.

BD OZZY:  Maybe someday they'll write on your gravestone what Hound Dog wanted on his:  "He couldn't play s**t, but he sure made it sound good!"

"BLUE" JIMMY:  Sake's Alive!

BD OZZY:  Wow!  Wow!


No comments:

Post a Comment