The Postcard
A carte postale which was posted in Paris on Monday the 12th. April 1915 to:
Madame Martein,
Liquidateur,
Boulevard Frederic Degeorges,
Bethune,
Pas de Calais.
The message on the back of the card was as follows:
"Ma chère Marie,
Reçu ta carte.
Suis bien désolé de ne
pas te voir.
Toujours la Guerre, et
jamais de nouvelles de
Lille. Vivement la fin.
Bien des choses à Lucien,
et pour toi nos meilleurs
baisers.
Jane et Jan Vannobel".
Charles-François Gounod
Charles-François Gounod (17th. June 1818 – 17th. October 1893) was a French composer, best known for his Ave Maria, based on a work by Bach, as well as his opera Faust. Another opera by Gounod that is still performed today is Roméo et Juliette.
Gounod died at Saint-Cloud in 1893, after a final revision of his twelve operas. His funeral took place ten days later at the Church of the Madeleine, with Camille Saint-Saëns playing the organ and Gabriel Fauré conducting. He was buried at the Cimetière d'Auteuil in Paris.
Hound Dog Taylor
So what else happened on the day that Jane and Jan posted the card?
Well, the 12th. April 1915 marked the birth in Natchez, Mississippi of Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor. He was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.
He initially played the piano, and began playing the guitar when he was 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942.
He was famous among guitar players for having six fingers on both hands, a condition called polydactyly. As is usual with the condition, the extra digits were rudimentary nubbins, and could not be moved. One night, while drunk, he cut off the extra digit on his right hand using a straight razor.
He became a full-time musician around 1957, but remained unknown outside the Chicago area, where he played small clubs in black neighbourhoods and 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.
In 1967, Taylor toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, performing with Little Walter and Koko Taylor.
Bruce Iglauer
After hearing Hound Dog Taylor with his band, the HouseRockers in 1970 at Florence's Lounge on Chicago's South Side, Bruce Iglauer (then a shipping clerk for Delmark Records) tried to persuade his employer to sign Taylor to a recording contract.
Taylor's Albums
In 1971, having no success in getting Delmark to sign Taylor, Iglauer used a $2,500 inheritance to form Alligator Records, which recorded Taylor's debut album, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers.
The album was recorded in just two nights. It was the first release for Alligator, which eventually became a major blues label.
Iglauer began managing and booking the band, which toured nationwide and performed with Muddy Waters, Freddie King, and Big Mama Thornton. The band became especially popular in the Boston area, where Taylor inspired the young George Thorogood. The album 'Live at Joe's Place' documents a performance in Boston in 1972.
The second release by Taylor and his band, 'Natural Boogie', recorded in late 1973, received greater acclaim, and led to more touring. In 1975, they toured Australia and New Zealand with Freddie King and the duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.
Taylor's third album for Alligator, 'Beware of the Dog', was recorded live in 1974, but was not released until after his death. Alligator also released, posthumously, 'Genuine Houserocking Music' and 'Release the Hound'. Some bootleg live recordings were also circulated after Taylor's death.
The Death of Hound Dog Taylor
Hound Dog Taylor died of lung cancer on the 17th. December 1975. He was buried in Restvale Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois.
Hound Dog Taylor died at the young age of 60 years, 8 months and 5 days.
