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BLUESMAN
BREWER PHILLIPS DEAD;
RECORDED
WITH HOUND DOG TAYLOR
Blues guitarist Brewer Phillips, best known
for his recordings and live
performances as a member of Hound Dog
Taylor and the Houserockers, died
of natural causes in his South Side apartment
on Monday, August 30,
1999.
His signature tune, "Phillips' Theme" was
featured on Taylor's 1971
debut album, HOUND
DOG TAYLOR AND THE HOUSEROCKERS for the
then-brand-new label, Alligator Records.
That album was inducted into
the Blues Hall Of Fame in 1996. The song
(as well as "Phillips Goes
Bananas") was recently included on DELUXE
EDITION, a collection of Hound
Dog Taylor's greatest recordings.
Phillips' unique style -- alternating between playing bass lines and wild
lead guitar -- made the Houserockers rock without the need for a
bass player. He was idolized by younger
generation blues players, especially
George Thorogood.
According to Alligator Records president
Bruce Iglauer, "Brewer was one
of the rawest and most energized bluesmen
I ever heard. His playing and
singing were totally unpolished; he took
lots of musical chances and
made tons of mistakes, but his playing
was full of infectious rhythmic
drive, and he had more fun on the bandstand
than virtually anyone I've
ever seen. His sound was from the
earliest days of electric blues guitar. It
combined Delta and Chicago styles with
wild string bending, natural
distortion and overdrive that younger
blues rockers have never quite
been able to match."
In 1997, Phillips joined Cub Koda on Hound
Dog Taylor's song, "Take
Five," on Alligator's HOUND
DOG TAYLOR -- A TRIBUTE. Hound Dog Taylor
recordings featuring Phillips were 1974's
NATURAL
BOOGIE, and two
posthumously released albums: 1976's
live, Grammy Award-nominated BEWARE
OF THE DOG, and 1982's Grammy Award
- nominated GENUINE
HOUSEROCKING MUSIC.
Phillips was born in Coila, Mississippi,
probably in 1930, and grew up
on a small farm. He started playing blues
as a boy, and gigged around
West Memphis in the late 1940s. First
taught by Memphis Minnie, Phillips
backed Roosevelt Sykes, Joe Hill Louis
and Memphis Slim. Phillips found
work as a carpenter when he came to Chicago
in 1952, and considered
music mostly as a hobby until he
recorded with Taylor in 1971. Phillips played in
the raw, distorted style of West Memphis,
but considered Memphis Minnie,
Jimmy Reed and Hound Dog Taylor
the main influences on his music. He teamed up
with Hound Dog in 1957 in a West Side
tavern and stayed with him until
Taylor's death in 1975. While with Taylor,
Phillips played the Ann Arbor
Blues Festival in 1970, 1972 and 1973,
and toured nationally as well as
touring Australia and New Zealand.
After Taylor's death, Phillips continued
making music. He gigged and
recorded with J.B. Hutto and Cub Koda.
He played the Chicago Blues
Festival and released his only solo album,
HOME
BREW, on Delmark Records
in 1996. Information on funeral arrangements
is pending.
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Natural
Causes
