Chicago Blues Lesson: Hound Dog Taylor's Guitarist Brewer Phillips

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Chicago Blues Lesson: Hound Dog Taylor's Guitarist Brewer Phillips

Рет қаралды 7,932

Күн бұрын

Brewer Phillips was an irreplaceable part of Hound Dog Taylor's sound, which was so old it was new. The two guitar attack-- who needs a bass?-- was raw, loud and straight from Mississippi to the South Side Chicago taverns. Playing the bass role in a two guitar-drums band requires a consistently driving guitarist who has mastered the bass strings, and Brewer was that first and foremost. His sound is an intoxicated, amped-up, careening-off-the-road version of the classic driving boogies of Dave Meyers, Jimmy Rogers, and Memphis Minnie, who had a hand in raising him as a boy in Mississippi. His leads are great: raw, in your face, and similar to Magic Slim's and I think early Pat Hare; no reverb, nothing fancy, just pedal to the metal. Like Magic Slim, he gets his speed and attack from a combination of his thumpick and finger. Although he is best known for his several records with Hound Dog Taylor on Alligator (which each include several tracks of him on lead guitar), he has also made some great records for JSP, Delmark, and my personal favorite, Well Alright on Black Rose in 2008 of unreleased mostly live material.
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Пікірлер: 80

@janetceja3708 Жыл бұрын

You always sound like the real deal. Because of your passion for history and the details

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

dear Janet thanks for your kind words!

@johnw4659 Жыл бұрын

Thank you, Johnny for this great lesson. Hound Dog Taylors first record was never far from a turntable during my college years, and it was the very first CD I ever purchased - even before I had a CD player!

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

Awesome! I'm gonna come back to this topic and talk about some great HDT songs. Thanks for watching JOhn!

@rolandpouilloux7153 11 ай бұрын

kitchen sink boogie on the LP Beware of the dog ,is a real masterpiece!! Brewer Phillips at his peak!!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 11 ай бұрын

oh yeah! thanks Roland!

@graemero5532 3 жыл бұрын

Your enthusiasm for theses blues is infectious Johnny. Cheers

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

right on Graeme thank you!

@dengie75 Жыл бұрын

great playing so rare anyone plays with that loose playing, its about the drive !!

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

thanks so much Dengie75!

@faunoram 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video !! Love how you show Brewer techniques ! Cheers from South America - Bolivia !!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

thank you very much Ramiro!

@jipes 3 жыл бұрын

Such an intense playing ! Love Brewster Philips probably one of the most original trio with Ted HArvey and the fabulous Hound Dog TAylor

@CoyoteSlim 3 жыл бұрын

I'm just enjoying hearing you play

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Right on thanks so much CoyoteSlim!

@jdhinckley1954 4 ай бұрын

Oh my, this is a great tutorial and overview. Thanks so much! You do a great job at breaking things down. I was grateful to see the Houserockers in Cambridge years back. Play those blues!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 4 ай бұрын

wow! thanks so much jd!

@ulfersson5775 2 жыл бұрын

Hej Johnny! I play drums in Swedish Bluesband Hjalmar Kings, Brewer came over to Sweden -92 and we had a 10 days tour in some Swedish cities, great fun.many good stories from Brewer Love your playing,

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

wow! thanks so much! we gotta chat about that one day when I finally get back there again. Stay in touch Ulf and thank you

@MrPnew1 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I was aware of this, and I loved how you guys thought to get Brewer over there and do those shows. Much respect

@64hardtail 3 жыл бұрын

Great lesson Johnny. I saw Hound Dog Taylor at Lincolonland Community College in 71-72. The album was out. The college brought in blues package shows. There'd be Koko Taylor, Sun Seals, Big Walter, etc. And, in this case, Hound Dog with Brewer Phillips and Ted Harvey. I didn't know what to expect. I was stunned. Still probably the wildest show I ever saw. I was learning Lightnin' Hopkins style guitar stuff at the time. My dad had his records. Brewer and Hound Dog were both plugged into one amp. A Silverface Fender. Maybe a Super Reverb or even a Quad. Sounded like it had a busted speaker. This wasn't some archival recreation of blues music. Words like "wild" or "untamed" barely described it. Maybe "insane" is more accurate. Hound Dog's guitar had more switches than the Apollo command module. Really buzzy and noisy. Brewer had that while telecaster. I sounded like he used that muffled front pick up sound a lot. I got the record, of course. It sounded rather polite compared to the live show. People danced the whole time. I later encountered Hound Dog chugging from a fifth of Seagram's 7 in the men's room. Unforgettable.

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Dean! Thanks a lot for watching and for this great story man! Awesome story. You know, there's a Dutch AND a Japanese Hound Dog cover band. This music is so wild it'll never go away.

@frankrussell4664 10 ай бұрын

Great video! So glad to find an in-depth look at Brewer Phillips’ guitar style.

@JohnnyBurginBlues 10 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot Frank!

@MrPnew1 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Johnny absolutely fantastic. Always loved Brewers playing

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

thank you so much Pedro!

@snakehips81 Жыл бұрын

Another fantastic video !!

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

right on!

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

One time my friend told me about this gig he played with John Wrencher (I know this isn't directly a Hound Dog or Brewer story but you did mention Ted Harvey and it reminded me), and they were coming back from a gig in South Bend. John had his pedal to the metal on his huge ass station wagon and Ted, ever the spendthrift when it came to gear because he had that level of skill which enabled him to make even a countertop work, had his drums secured (or so he thought) to the roof of John's wagon. My friend is carrying the PA and God knows who and what else (I have since smoked a lot of this story away, so pardon me), and all of a sudden Ted's drums go FLYING every which a way onto the expressway on the count a John driving like a damn maniac!! They get home and ain't but a floor tom or something left on the roof. Ted gets out, my friend gets outta his van, stunned at what he saw, Ted starts cracking up laughing saying "Did ya SEE MY DRUMS GO FLYING ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE?? AW SHIT!!" and then doubles over, nearly throwing a rod in even more laughter. Gotta love moments like that!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues Thank you! I was crying laughing all over again typing that in, I tell you. It presented its own challenge therein but for you and fans of all music, for the grace of God go I 🙏

@sethdoss8731 Жыл бұрын

Man just those licks in the first clip were perfect 🤘

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

thanks a lot Seth rock on!

@russstrick6229 2 жыл бұрын

Nice work, RJ. I love hearing the stories.

@ruthiesbbq 3 жыл бұрын

His bass lines are killer!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

They really are.

@ruthiesbbq 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues what’s that thing he does it is so cool bass line turn around

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

@@ruthiesbbq there's a bunch of em! I THINK I know the one you're talking about. at the end of the my next video I do (not tomorrow's) I'll try to answer that. maybe you could post a time the riff occurs?

@elducko1951 3 жыл бұрын

Great Lesson, Johnny! I was fortunate to play a gig in Blue Island with Brewer, Ted Harvey, Dave Weld, and Carl Snyder in the late '80s. We backed up Shirley King (one of B.B.'s children) Brewer had this wonderful "Verge of Speaker Wreckage" tone that was the real deal. Dave did his best to emulate Hound Dog's slide work and acquitted himself quite well! Your vids are always a pleasure to watch!!

@duckman531 3 жыл бұрын

I am in awe!

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

right on man thanks a lot!

@duckman531 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues And on a Rickenbacker, yet!

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

And he bent that shit out sharp on PURPOSE, my brother... Believe you me 😉

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

All from the lost art of West Memphis, AR guitar: a little known subgenre of approach to the guitar that few know of

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Right. I am hearing the a bit of Pat Hare like in the intro of Pretty Baby by Jr Parker

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues Totally: you hear the same thing I did

@MrFrapster 2 жыл бұрын

I'm widya baby :) 10 outa 10.

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

Rock on!

@paultownsend6043 3 жыл бұрын

Since discovering this channel the other week, it it by far and away my favorite, such a awsome player, great feel and tone. When lock down finishes in the uk i recon i will look into trying a thumb pick as i show as hell can't play with a normal pick and the amount of times i've tried doing those real fast stum licks and nearly chopped my finger off when just using thumb and fingers, or could be i just have real bad technique. Anyway love your vids man, keep on grooving.

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Paul! It's great to have a variety of right hand techniques

@pgroove163 Жыл бұрын

that Rick sound nice

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

thanks man rock on!

@valerieworboyes2460 3 жыл бұрын

Very nice Johnny from john in the uk

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

Right on John thanks for watching!

@martybrown8559 2 жыл бұрын

Man...I can't remember where I heard this story...Oh It was a drummer that used to play for T-Model Ford sometimes in Greenville..I was a huge HDT fan and he told me that Hound actually shot Brewer Phillips over some girl...you ever hear that story?

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

that's part of blues lore! thanks marty! there's a desciption in the Bruce Iglauer book Btiten by the Blues.

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah: another quick one. This is also from the same Chicago source I get many of my stories from. I imagine you have an idea who this source is I am referring to. He told me when he used to play out on Maxwell Street with whoever, Brewer was infamous for coming up either way hungover or nipping on the hair of the dog that took a proper chunk out of his behind and would put in a wet dollar bill. How it got wet, trust me, you already know and didn't want to know if you have been that drunk before 😔

@ideasoldier 3 жыл бұрын

Though Brewer himself hailed from Coila, MS from what we are told: but then again ya never can trust a document on where to say you were born

@EXPORT1867 3 жыл бұрын

To meet him

@JohnnyBurginBlues 2 жыл бұрын

a few times. Martin Lang and I visited him in his home. And he came out to the 5105 Club right before Tail Dragger went to jail. He played my rickenbacher and didn't care for it too much!

@EXPORT1867 2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues I wonder what happen to his telecaster

@EXPORT1867 3 жыл бұрын

Did you get to Brewer

@kevinmerrill1531 3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful lesson and discussion. I love how you make these great players so accessible. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of looper pedal do you use?

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

thanks a lot Kevin. I have a a Boss but my favorite is the Ditto. it's the easiest and simplest to use for me

@alxrchn Жыл бұрын

Would brewers leads be based around the minor penatonic scale?

@JohnnyBurginBlues Жыл бұрын

well it's a good place to start thanks for watching

@EXPORT1867 3 жыл бұрын

Finally someone realizes how great Brewer Phillips is. And how Hound dog would not have made it with out Ted and Brewer . Check out this Hound dog with out Brewer ( but with Lefty Diz) it just doesn't work. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qdxkqqidqqnaZ3U.html

@JohnnyBurginBlues 3 жыл бұрын

that's a cool clip though. thanks man for posting. Yes, Brewer and HD were a special team. Brewer's solo records have some great moments I think

@EXPORT1867 3 жыл бұрын

@@JohnnyBurginBlues No they do check out lunch bucket blues with Cub Koda its a killer.