Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (April 12, 1915 – December 17, 1975) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer.

[3] 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.

Bruce Iglauer (then a shipping clerk for Delmark Records) tried to persuade his employer to sign Taylor to a recording contract after he heard Taylor with his band, the HouseRockers (Brewer Phillips on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums), in 1970 at Florence's Lounge on Chicago's South Side.

[8] Iglauer began managing and booking the band, which toured nationwide and performed with Muddy Waters, Freddie King, and Big Mama Thornton.

The second release by Taylor and his band, Natural Boogie, recorded in late 1973, received greater acclaim and led to more touring.

A live recording by George Thorogood of Elmore James' "The Sky Is Crying" is dedicated to "the memory of the late great Hound Dog Taylor".