About Hound Dog Taylor
Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (April 12, 1917 – December 17, 1975) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer. == Life and career == Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1917, though some sources say 1915 or 1916. He first played the piano and began playing the guitar at 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942. Taylor had a condition known as polydactyly, which resulted in him having six fingers on both hands. 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 neighborhoods 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 boogie beats. In 1967, Taylor toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, performing with Little Walter and Koko Taylor.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.