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.