SCFB 260: GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor

GA-20 was formed by friends Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs in Boston, MA  in 2018. The project was born out of their mutual love of heavy  traditional Blues, R&B, and Rock & Roll of the late 50s and  early 60s. Faherty and Stubbs bonded over legendary artists like Lazy  Lester, J.B. Lenoir, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Junior Wells.  Feeling a void in current music, the duo have set out to write, record  and perform a modern version of this beloved art form. Joined by drummer  Tim Carman in 2019, GA-20 is a trio of 2 guitars, vocals and drums.  Raw, passionate and honest performance, both on stage and in the studio,  is the only goal.    

In June 2021 GA-20 announced the new album “GA-20 Does Hound Dog  Taylor: Try It…You Might Like It!,” a 50th anniversary celebration of  Hound Dog Taylor, to be released August 20 via Colemine Records in  partnership with the legendary Alligator Records.  Stubbs has spent the past 13 years as guitarist for Blues legend Charlie  Musselwhite. During that time he has also backed up and toured with  such Blues giants as John Hammond, James Cotton, Junior Watson and James  Harman. Stubbs also leads his own original instrumental psych-rock  band, 'The Antiguas.’

Hound Dog Taylor as per Wiki 

“Hound Dog” Taylor was born with an abnormality: he had a sixth, very  pinky finger on each hand. He grew up around Tchule and Greenwood in the  Mississippi Delta, as did several other black blues musicians ( BB King  , Albert King , John Lee Hooker , Muddy Waters , etc.). He made his  first musical experiences playing the piano. He didn't really start  playing the guitar until he was 21 years old. His musical style was  strongly influenced by the then rising Elmore James . In his twenties he  played in the Mississippi area, where he could be heard with Sonny Boy  Williamson on the legendary radio show " King Biscuit Time ". But Taylor  was expelled from Mississippi by the Ku Klux Klan in 1942 because he  had a relationship with a white woman.  

He worked in Chicago as an electrician and other part-time jobs until  the late 1950s. He also appeared as a guitarist in pompous night bars in  southern Chicago. He was called “Hound Dog” because he was so fond of  women and chased the steppe wolfish after them. During this time he  changed his previously classic e-tuning to an energetic bottleneck  style. In 1957 he finally devoted himself only to his music career.  

In 1960 he met the guitarist Brewer Phillips . The two became friends  and formed the band The HouseRockers . With the first singles such as  Baby Is Coming Home, Take Five and Christine , however, they met with  little interest outside of Chicago. In 1965, drummer Ted Harvey joined  the band. With him, the HouseRockers found their typically loud, hard  blues accent with Taylor's rough voice and his slide play (bottleneck)  on cheap Japanese guitars as well as Phillips' bass lines, which, played  on a Fender Telecaster , replaced the missing bass. 

 Bruce Iglauer , later Taylor's manager, got to hear the band for the  first time in 1969 in Chicago's Eddie Shaw's. However, Iglauer's boss  did not want to sign a record deal with Taylor. With its own financial  support, Iglauer made it possible in 1971 to release Taylor's first  record on the Alligator Records label . Without knowing it, he founded  the now world-famous blues label. The album was a success with 9,000  records sold. The singles Give Me Back My Wig and It's Alright became  the most famous songs. In 1973 the second record Natural Boogie came out  on the market.

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