Blues guitarist Brewer Phillips, best known for his recordings and live

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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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