'Beware Of The Dog!' was recorded in late 1974 at Northwestern University and Cleveland's Smiling Dog Saloon, and released on the Alligator Records label in 1976. It was produced by Alligator Records founder, Bruce Iglauer. The album was posthumously released as Hound Dog died of lung cancer in December 1975 at the age of just 59.
This Grammy-nominated release is probably the most raucous live blues albums ever recorded. It's Loud, distorted and played using cheap Japanese Teisco brand guitars, which I'm guessing they bought at the Chicago Sears Roebuck store. Oh, and there's no bass, it's just Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor on vocals and slide guitar, Brewer Phillips on guitar, and Ted Harvey on drums. The untamed interplay between these three musicians is something else!
If you like your music rough raw, and fun then this is for you. Hound Dog Taylor and the House Rockers just go out and have a great time, a band just having fun and enjoying every minute. Hound Dog while not the greatest guitarist or singer, makes up for it with a joyful enthusiasm that is evident throughout this recording.
The sound quality and balance is unusual by todays immaculately polished standards, with Hound Dogs' screeching slide guitar way up front that adds to the intimate feel.
The freeload is a 24bit/96kHz vinyl rip, play it LOUD, and you'll feel as if you're in the front row, with sweat dripping down your neck.
For the freeload, lets talk about artist and groups, that aren't the greatest musicians, but make up for it in other ways.
Mr Dog was from Natchez, Mississippi, about 80 miles north of Baton Rouge along the river. At some point early in high school I saw him in BRLA at some sorta "blues festival" on the campus of Southern University out on Scott's Bluff. He said he was there "by accident," which sent him into a paroxysm of laughter which seemed beyond his control and segued into a hellish coughing fit. He was so loud, slightly out of control, and amazing.
ReplyDeleteNot the greatest musicians but sure could/can put on a show:
Louis Prima
Jerry Lee Lewis
Bruce Springsteen
Jerry Jeff Walker
Mick Jagger (trying to be James Brown)
Doug Sahm
Johnny Thunders
Alex Chilton
Jonathan Richman
Springsteen, Chilton and Jerry Lee are all excellent musicians. They will never play jazz, but as far as rockers go, can play with anyone.
DeleteMaybe Springsteen, Jerry Lee could play anything and LX wasn't far behind, but both, as LX admitted about himself, were lazy...I suppose you can be great and lazy.
DeleteYeah, I'd contest that Springsteen mention as well. Now Chilton, I love him, but he definitely wasted his talent for most of is career...
DeleteOBG, I get what you are saying about Chilton, but he was doing exactly what he wanted, and he was happy. I lived not that far from him during the time that he was in NO (and, died there, while mowing his lawn). Was a genuinely nice guy who never would tell who who he was, other than a guy named Alex, who worked odd jobs for a living.
DeleteYeah, i remember you guys were almost-neighbours. Here's the thing, good for Mr; 'Chill'ton, and I believe that doing what he wanted when he wanted made him happy - it's a shame for us who got teases of greatness in Big Star that he never really delivered on...oh well...
DeleteI never had a conversation like this with him, but mutual friends we had said that he was just completely mentally and emotionally exhausted over the demise of Big Star and the group's inability to capture a market that met their critical acclaim. I still frequently play No. 1 Record and am just amazed at how contemporary it still sounds. But, he went from that to playing solo acoustic covers of Volare and What's Your Name in dive bars.
DeleteI met him at one point in Austin--1979?--and he chose to sleep outside under a tree after we'd all eaten at the Laisy Daisy around 3A...I am a long time huge fan and have most all his myriad recordings...but still not sure I'd call him a great musician. Pretty fascinating, though. Because of BRLA and various low-rent outdoor festivals, state fairs, und so weiter, I saw The Killer too many times and, again, he could play anything and with incredible skill. But a great musician? I think not? He could put on a show though.
DeleteGuten Nachmittag, alle zusammen,
ReplyDeleteIggy Pop, Ron Wood, Sid Vicious,
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Mike
Lightnin' Hopkins often struck me as being a little rough around the edges, especially when the whiskey had flowed more than usual. As the night progressed, it was anybody's guess where the turnaround would come in his blues, and sidemen would have to remain vigilant in order to make the changes with him.
ReplyDeleteUnschooled but brimming with musical enthusiasm and authenticity, is country bluesman Super Chikan. He's the real deal, even if he's a lot less polished than some of our city blues men and women. Rough around the edges, he makes up for that with his ability to share his presence and a love for the music.
Taj Mahal is hardly a maestro on any of the instruments he plays, but his warmth and reverence for the songs shines through.
And lastly, the Small Faces, later The Faces, always seemed to be having a lot of fun, even if things were a bit ragged at times.
Jake & Elwood. Fortunately they had a helluva band.
ReplyDeleteThanks Babs
The Cramps, The Ramones, Andre Williams
ReplyDeleteJames Chance ( or White, if you prefer), Big Brother, Son Seals, Captain Beefheart (although the Magic Bands were killer), Lightnin' Slim.....
ReplyDeleteANON RF: I've got a very strong internal 4/4 beat, often expressed on the off beat, but always 4/4. John Lee Hooker makes me jump up and down screaming when he ignores time signatures, it's like fingernails on the blackboard, and I fly into a panic listening to top musicians running all around trying to second guess where's he's going next from bar to bar. BUT. His voice is wonderful and his songwriting exuberant and he's hella jaunty and generally awesome, so that helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteTo add one to the list, the late R. L. Boyce. As a guitarist, he couldn't hold a candle next to (any available) Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, or Kenny Brown. But he had an infectious, gap-toothed grin and that old school make-em-up-on-the-spot way with lyrics. R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteAs an unrelated aside, I got to hear Junior's son last weekend. Appropriately, he is "Senior."
Absolutely love Hound Dog Taylor. All his albums are rocking good times.
ReplyDeleteI love my early Chrome records. Some racket they provided.
ReplyDeleteBat
Wesley Willis
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Willis
Beat Happening
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Happening
Scout Niblett
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_Niblett
No Neck Blues Band
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-Neck_Blues_Band
Entourage
https://www.tompkinssquare.com/entourage.html
Portsmouth Sinfonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Sinfonia
Sonic Youth
Florence Foster Jenkins
The Imps
Dagmar Zuniga
https://dagmarzuniga.bandcamp.com/album/in-filth-your-mystery-is-kingdom-far-smile-peasant-in-yellow-music
Throbbing Gristle
Muslimgauze (Bryn Jones)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslimgauze
David Lynch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch_discography
There's so many that I love, but I'll stop there...
~ Jon in California
The Monkees
ReplyDeleteJohn Prine. Great songwriter, limited musician, but he worked well within his range.
ReplyDeleteJust came over to see how pmac is holding up after his side got trounced by the plucky Brits.
ReplyDeletePretty much the entire subgenre of Punk.
ReplyDeleteSlade
I wanted to mention the Sex Pistols, but yeah, that about covers that. Enthusiasm trumped musicianship for sure in most cases...
DeleteLink
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/T5dHztvJZmW
No fans of The Shaggs? Ah, JK.
ReplyDeletePunk in general favored feel over skills, but anyone who listened to X or Squirrel Bait or Minutemen knows musicianship can be stellar. Fellow Californian Jon's nom of Beat Happening is valid, tho I think they initially went out of their way to sound unskilled (or at least played it up). Early Meat Puppets were close to unlistenable, but Curt Kirkwood's guitar skills became undeniable by their 3rd album Up On The Sun (no Sinatra on vox, tho).
C in California
My Pal Foot Foot!
Delete