<back - KOKO TAYLOR - Queen of the Blues! - Koko Taylor was born Cora Walton on September 28, 1935 in Memphis. Her family sharecropped and young Koko (a relative called her Koko instead of Cora) began singing Gospel music in church and songs she heard on BB King's radio program. She was influenced by Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thorton, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Koko began her career singing at the age of 15. She soon met Robert 'Pops' Taylor, who was a part of the Memphis Blues scene, and married him. The two moved to Chicago in 1953. At the age of 18, Koko Taylor and her husband settled into Chicago's Southside.

Koko found work as a domestic, but continued to pursue her musical career. Pops n' Koko began making the local Blues club scene in the Chicago area. After songwriter-producer Willie Dixon heard her sing, he became her mentor. With 'Pops' as her manager and under Dixon's tutelage, Koko Taylor cut her first record Honky Tonky in 1963. Koko then moved to Chess Records and scored a big hit in 1966 with Wang Dang Doodle. The song hit #4 on the R&B charts. Koko continued with Chess and released a self-titled debut album in 1969 followed by 1972's Basic Soul. She worked the Blues circuit and played the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival as well as the Montreux Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the film The Blues Is Alive And Well In Chicago. Koko Taylor decided to sign with the Alligator Record label and released I Got What It Takes in 1975. She followed this with hit after hit including Queen of the Blues, The Earthshaker, Live From Chicago, Force of Nature. In 1990, she appeared in the David Lynch film Wild At Heart. Koko Taylor continues to play over 200 concerts a year. It is not easy being a woman succeeding in the male-dominated Blues world, but Koko Taylor has done just that. She’s taken her music from the tiny clubs on the South Side of Chicago to giant festivals around the world. She’s appeared on national television numerous times and has even been the subject of a PBS documentary. Through good times and personal hardships, Koko Taylor has remained a major force in the Blues. “It’s a challenge,” she says. “It’s tough being out here doing what I’m doing in what they call a man’s world. It’s not every woman that can hang in there and do what I am doing today.” Koko was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1997 and received the Pioneer Award from the R&B Foundation in 2003.
MP3 - WANG DANG DOODLE | INSANE ASYLUM |