Koko Taylor profile picture

Koko Taylor

The Queen of the Blues

About Me


“I come from a poor family,” recalls Koko Taylor. “A very poor family. I was raised up on what they call a sharecropper’s farm.” Born Cora Walton just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, Koko was an orphan by age 11 (an early love of chocolate earned her the lifelong nickname Koko). Along with her five brothers and sisters, Koko developed a love for music from a mixture of songs she heard in church and songs she heard on B.B. King’s daily radio show beaming in from Memphis. Even though her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Koko and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues.
With one brother accompanying on a guitar made out of bailing wire and nails and one brother on a fife made out of a corncob, Koko began her career as a blues woman. As a youngster, Koko listened to as many blues artists as she could. Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith were particular influences, as were Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. She would listen to their songs over and over again. Although she loved to sing, she never dreamed of joining their ranks.
When she was 18, Koko and her soon-to-be husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, moved to Chicago to look for work. With nothing but, in Koko’s words, “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz crackers,” the couple set up house on the city’s South Side, the cradle of the rough-edged sound of Chicago blues. Taylor found work cleaning house for a wealthy couple in the ritzy northern suburbs. At night and on weekends, Koko and Pops would visit the various clubs, where they would hear singers like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. And thanks to prodding from Pops, it wasn’t long before Taylor was sitting in with many of the most legendary blues bands on a regular basis.
Taylor’s big break came in 1962. After a particularly fiery performance, arranger/ composer Willie Dixon approached her. Much to Koko’s astonishment, he told her, “My God, I never heard a woman sing the blues like you sing the blues. There are lots of men singing the blues today, but not enough women. That’s what the world needs today, a woman with a voice like yours to sing the blues.” Dixon got Koko a Chess recording contract and produced several singles (and two albums) for her, including the million-selling 1965 hit, Wang Dang Doodle. That song firmly established Koko as the world’s number one female blues talent.
In the early 1970s, Taylor was among the first of the South Side Chicago blues artists to find work —and an audience—on the city’s North Side. In 1972, Koko played at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival in front of more people than ever before (including a young Bruce Iglauer). Atlantic Records recorded the festival (including her performance) and released a live album, which brought Koko to the attention of a large, national audience. In 1975, Koko found a home with the city’s newest blues label, Iglauer’s Alligator Records. Her first album for the fledgling label, I GOT WHAT IT TAKES (AL 4706), earned her a Grammy nomination. Since then, Koko’s recorded seven more albums for Alligator (and received five more Grammy nominations) and has made numerous guest appearances on various tribute albums and recordings of her famous friends. She’s been in movies and on television, on radio and in print all over the world.
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.” Indeed, Koko Taylor is the preeminent blues woman in the world. And that’s why she is – and will remain – the undisputed QUEEN OF THE BLUES.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/17/2007
Band Website: KOKOTAYLOR.COM
Band Members:
Influences: RECORDINGS on Alligator Records

OLD SCHOOL 2007
DELUXE EDITION 2002
ROYAL BLUE 2000
FORCE OF NATURE 1993
JUMP FOR JOY 1990
LIVE FROM CHICAGO: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEEN 1987
QUEEN OF THE BLUES 1985
FROM THE HEART OF A WOMAN 1981
THE EARTHSHAKER 1978
I GOT WHAT IT TAKES 1975

SOLO RECORDINGS

KOKO TAYLOR (Chess)
BASIC SOUL (Chess)
SOUTH SIDE BABY
(originally Black & Blue; reissued on Evidence)

GUEST APPEARANCES

BLUES DELUXE (XRT)
THE ALLIGATOR RECORDS
20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR (Alligator)
THE ALLIGATOR RECORDS
CHRISTMAS COLLECTION (Alligator)
BLUES EXPLOSION (Atlantic
COAST TO COAST (Paul Shaffer – Capitol)
BLUES SUMMIT (B.B. King – MCA)
BLUES DOWN DEEP: SONGS
OF JANIS JOPLIN (House Of Blues)
BLUES POWER: SONGS OF ERIC CLAPTON (House Of Blues)

Record Label: Alligator Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Koko's Biography

  "I come from a poor family," recalls Koko Taylor. "A very poor family. I was raised up on what they call a sharecropper's farm." Born Cora Walton just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, Koko was an...
Posted by Koko Taylor on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:02:00 PST

Koko's Awards

2 Grammys8 Grammy Nominations25 W. C. Handy Awards (more than any other artist)2004 - The National Endowment For The Arts (NEA) - National Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest honor in the folk a...
Posted by Koko Taylor on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:45:00 PST

NEWS - Koko Co-Hosting Radio Show

Koko is now co-hosting the "Blues You Can Use Radio Show" with Clarence Stevens when she is not touring or recording.
Posted by Koko Taylor on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 12:34:00 PST

KOKO TAYLOR CELEBRITY AID FOUNDATION

MISSION STATEMENTThe mission of the Koko Taylor Celebrity Aid Foundation is to provide social services to the arts and entertainment industry. Our goal is to provide Case Management services and couns...
Posted by Koko Taylor on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:37:00 PST