Also in the Blues File series
Blues File: Mose Allison "The Way Of The World"
(00:04:46)
From: WXPN
Review of Mose Allison's album "The Way Of The World"
Blues File: Zora Young "The French Connection"
(00:03:38)
From: WXPN
Review of Zora Young's album "The French Connection"
Blues File: Quintus McCormick - Hey Jodie!
(00:03:19)
From: WXPN
After years as a top blues player, Quintus McCormick has released his debut album. It's a good one.
Blues File: Joe Louis Walker "Between A Rock And The Blues"
(00:03:38)
From: WXPN
Joe Louis Walker "Between A Rock And The Blues" reviewed
Blues File: Otis Taylor "Pentatonic Wars & Love Songs"
(00:03:30)
From: WXPN
Review: Otis Taylor album "Pentatonic Wars & Love Songs"
Blues File: Frederick Usher's "One-String Blues" with Eddie "One-String" Jones & Edward Hazelton
(00:04:24)
From: WXPN
Frederick Usher, a collector and scholar of many kinds of art and music has died. He gave us the intriguing 1960 album "One String Blues."
Blues File: Chuck Berry - "You Never Can Tell" Boxed Set
(00:03:29)
From: WXPN
Blues File review of Chuck Berry boxed set "You Never Can Tell: His Complete Chess Recordings 1960-1966"
Blues File: Muddy Waters "Authorized Bootleg"
(00:03:30)
From: WXPN
Review of a new fake bootleg album called "Authorized Bootleg" of Muddy Waters in concert at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 1966
Blues File: Lester "Mad Dog" Davenport
(00:03:30)
From: WXPN
Remembrance of Lester "Mad Dog" davenport who died 3-17-2009
Piece Description
Koko Taylor has died at age 80. Cora Walton grew up in Shelby County TN near Memphis and was known as Koko because of her fondness for chocolate. (early in her career it was spelled "Cocoa" but morphed into "Koko" in the early 60's). She had arrived in the windy city in her late teens. She and husband Robert "Pops" Taylor had only pocket change and a box of crackers and took whatever work they could find. Her first record was recorded without her knowledge that it was being recorded in 1961. The year after she received $25 in royalties for it. Koko hit the Chicago blues clubs in the early 1960s and met Willie Dixon who worked with her on the USA label for her first real record, Honky Tonk in 1963. Koko then went with Dixon to Chess and cut "I Got What It Takes". In 1965 she recorded her biggest hit "Wang Dang Doodle" for Chess; it was the label's last major blues hit. After "Wang Dang Doodle" Chess Records slipped and Koko's career with it. She recorded in Europe for The Black & Blue label in 1973 during what might be called The Eclipse Of The Blues in the States. In 1975, Koko signed with the fledgling blues label Alligator. Her first album was called "I Got What It Takes" -- which had been her first song for Chess years before. Taylor's and Alligator's fortunes slowly rose together. Chicago blues was reviving and growing. Koko Taylor was singing it like no one else. By the mid-80's she was called "Queen Of The Blues" and no one disputed the claim. In this century she has battled severe health problems. Her last album "Old School" came out in 2007 after a seven-year absence from the studio, but it was fresh with vocal power, and a few of her own songs such as "Piece Of Man." Koko's magnitude as a blues singer is beyond measure.
Broadcast History
WXPN-FM Philadelphia 6-4-2009
Timing and Cues
5:59 self-contained - opens with intro theme and host intro. Ends with music fade after host outro.





