Twelve fingered rough and ready blues maestro.

Theodore Roosevelt "H… Read Full Bio ↴Twelve fingered rough and ready blues maestro.

Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (April 12, 1915 - December 17, 1975) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.

Career

Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 (although some sources say 1917). He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942.

He became a full-time musician around 1957 but remained unknown outside of the Chicago area where he played small clubs in the black neighborhoods and also at the open-air Maxwell Street Market. He was known for his electrified slide guitar playing roughly styled after that of Elmore James, his cheap Japanese Teisco guitars, and his raucous boogie beats. He was also famed among guitar players for having six fingers on his left hand.

After hearing Taylor with his band, the HouseRockers (Brewer Phillips on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums) in 1970 at Florence's Lounge on Chicago's South Side, Bruce Iglauer - at the time a shipping clerk for Delmark Records - tried to get him signed by his employer. Having no success getting Delmark to sign Taylor, Iglauer formed a small record label with a $2500 inheritance and recorded Taylor's debut album, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, on his fledgling Alligator Records in 1971. It was the first release on Alligator, now a major blues label. It was recorded in a studio in just two nights. Iglauer began managing and booking the band, which toured nationwide and performed with Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton.[citation needed] The band became particularly popular in the Boston area, where Taylor inspired a young protégé named George Thorogood. A live album Live At Joe's Place documented a Boston appearance from 1972.

Their second release, Natural Boogie, was recorded in late 1973, and led to greater acclaim and touring. In 1975, Taylor and his band toured Australia and New Zealand with Freddie King and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. His third Alligator album, Beware of the Dog, was recorded live in 1974 but was only released after his death. More posthumous releases occurred as well, including Genuine Houserocking Music and Release the Hound, on the Alligator label as well as some bootleg live recordings.

Taylor died of lung cancer in 1975, and was buried in Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Taylor was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984.[citation needed]
Discography

Hound Dog Taylor and The HouseRockers (1971)(Alligator Records)

Natural Boogie (1974)(Alligator Records)

Beware The Dog! (1976)(Alligator Records)

Genuine Houserocking Music (1982)(Alligator Records)

Hound Dog Taylor - Deluxe Edition (1999)(Alligator Records)

Release The Hound (2004)(Alligator Records)
Legacy

George Thorogood dedicated "The Sky Is Crying" (song 9) to "the memory of the late great Hound Dog Taylor" on his Live album (EMI America CDP 7 46329 2).

Gonna Send You Back to Georgia
Hound Dog Taylor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Hound Dog Taylor)

Yeah I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
Honey that's where you belong
I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
Honey that's where you belong
Hang around here baby
And break up my happy home

I swear my mama told me
And your daddy too
As soon as you get a-what you want back
The way she's gonna do
I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
Honey that's where you belong
Hang around here baby
And break up my happy home
(repeat after break)

Goodby little woman
Is all I have to say
Give me back what I brought you
And be on your merry way
I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
Honey that's where you belong

Hang around here babe
And break up my happy home

Overall Meaning

In "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia," Hound Dog Taylor is addressing his lover, telling her that he's going to send her back to Georgia, which is where she belongs. He's expressing his frustration with her behavior, which has caused problems in his home. He believes she doesn't belong with him and that she's better off back in her home state.

He accuses her of breaking up his happy home and warns her that he's going to send her back to Georgia so that she can't cause any more problems. He references his mother and her father, saying they warned him about her and that he should have listened to their advice.

The song's tone is one of anger and frustration, with Hound Dog Taylor venting his feelings about the situation that he finds himself in. He believes that his lover is at fault and that she needs to be sent away so that he can regain his peace of mind.

Line by Line Meaning

Yeah I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
I'm definitely going to make you go back to Georgia

Honey that's where you belong
Georgia is the perfect place for you

I'm gonna send you back to Georgia
You're going back to Georgia, no matter what

Honey that's where you belong
Georgia is the place you should call home

Hang around here baby
Stay nearby, my love

And break up my happy home
Even though you'll cause trouble in my home

I swear my mama told me
My mother warned me about this

And your daddy too
Your father was not left behind in this matter either

As soon as you get a-what you want back
Once you have what you came for

The way she's gonna do
This is exactly how it's going to be

Goodby little woman
Farewell, my dear