Call it Treble In Mind. Hound Dog Taylor was all about making the blues screech: Japanese guitars with a wicked slide, cheap amps from Sears, an extra guitar, a raucous drummer and (usually) no bass to be found. It sounds like a recipe for an earache, and to certain tastes, it might be. But if you like the blues served so raw it’s still bleeding, here’s something you should own.

One of a new, excellent, must have series of artist retrospectives from Alligator, Deluxe Edition is just that-remastered, repackaged, and retooled in a way that’s so upfront you’ll practically smell the smoke from Hound Dog’s Pall Malls. Covering his tragically brief recording period-from 1971 to his death in 1975-these tracks showcase the squalling majesty of Taylor’s guitar so clearly that even his amp distortion is enhanced.

Taylor was easily as adept at penning his own songs as interpreting others’, and this CD offers ample evidence of that. That cheap guitar demolishes no less than three of Elmore James’ classics, and gives similar business to Big Bill Broonzy’s “Rock Me” and Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say.” Taylor smokes equally hot on his own evergreens like on “Roll Your’ Moneymaker” and the monster, joint-ripping instrumental “Walkin’ The Ceiling.”

However, the real revelations  occur with the two previously unreleased live tracks. “Phillip’s Theme,” showcases Houserocker Brewer Phillips as he steps up for six minutes of truly spooky slow groove, and “Ain’t It Lonesome,” a gloriously sloppy, reverb-drenched weeper that shows the pain behind the distortion, proves that sound wasn’t the only thing rough in Hound Dog’s world.