Koko Taylor - From The Heart Of A Woman
  • Something Strange Is Going On
  • I'd Rather Go Blind
  • Keep Your Hands Off Him
  • Thanks, But No Thanks
  • If You Got A Heartache
  • Never Trust A Man
  • Sure Had A Wonderful Time Last Night
  • Blow Top Blues
  • If Walls Could Talk
  • It Took A Long Time
  • Something Strange Is Going On
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:04) [9.3 MB]
  • I'd Rather Go Blind
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (05:01) [11.46 MB]
  • Keep Your Hands Off Him
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:52) [8.86 MB]
  • Thanks, But No Thanks
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:17) [9.81 MB]
  • If You Got A Heartache
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:41) [8.44 MB]
  • Never Trust A Man
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:22) [7.69 MB]
  • Sure Had A Wonderful Time Last Night
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:07) [7.13 MB]
  • Blow Top Blues
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:18) [9.86 MB]
  • If Walls Could Talk
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (03:31) [8.03 MB]
  • It Took A Long Time
    Genre: Blues
    MP3 (04:02) [9.22 MB]
Biography
Radio Contact:
Tim Kolleth
radio@allig.com

Click here to go to The Alligator Records Main Page

Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago, IL, as a result of complications following her May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed. On May 7, 2009, the critically acclaimed Taylor, known worldwide as the “Queen of the Blues,” won her 29th Blues Music Award (for Traditional Female Blues Artist Of The Year), making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In 2004 she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, which is among the highest honors given to an American artist. Her most recent CD, 2007’s Old School, was nominated for a Grammy (eight of her nine Alligator albums were Grammy-nominated). She won a Grammy in 1984 for her guest appearance on the compilation album Blues Explosion on Atlantic.

Born Cora Walton on a sharecropper’s farm just outside Memphis, TN, on September 28, 1928, Koko, nicknamed for her love of chocolate, fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by gospel music and WDIA blues disc jockeys B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, Taylor began belting the blues with her five brothers and sisters, accompanying themselves on their homemade instruments. In 1952, Taylor and her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, traveled to Chicago with nothing but, in Koko’s words, “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers.”

In Chicago, “Pops” worked for a packing company, and Koko cleaned houses. Together they frequented the city’s blues clubs nightly. Encouraged by her husband, Koko began to sit in with the city’s top blues bands, and soon she was in demand as a guest artist. One evening in 1962 Koko was approached by arranger/composer Willie Dixon. Overwhelmed by Koko’s performance, Dixon landed Koko a Chess Records recording contract, where he produced her several singles, two albums and penned her million-selling 1965 hit “Wang Dang Doodle,” which would become Taylor’s signature song.

After Chess Records was sold, Taylor found a home with the Chicago’s Alligator Records in 1975 and released the Grammy-nominated I Got What It Takes. She recorded eight more albums for Alligator between 1978 and 2007, received seven more Grammy nominations and made numerous guest appearances on various albums and tribute recordings. Koko appeared in the films Wild At Heart, Mercury Rising and Blues Brothers 2000. She performed on Late Night With David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, CBS-TV’s This Morning, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, CBS-TV’s Early Edition, and numerous regional television programs.

Over the course of her 40-plus-year career, Taylor received every award the blues world has to offer. On March 3, 1993, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley honored Taylor with a “Legend Of The Year” Award and declared “Koko Taylor Day” throughout Chicago. In 1997, she was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame. A year later, Chicago Magazine named her “Chicagoan Of The Year” and, in 1999, Taylor received the Blues Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 Taylor performed in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center Honors honoring Morgan Freeman.

Koko Taylor was one of very few women who found success in the male-dominated blues world. She took her music from the tiny clubs of Chicago’s South Side to concert halls and major festivals all over the world. She shared stages with every major blues star, including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy as well as rock icons Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

Taylor’s final performance was on May 7, 2009 in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards, where she sang “Wang Dang Doodle” after receiving her award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year.
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  • Members:
    KOKO TAYLOR: Vocals; CRISS JOHNSON: Guitar; SAMMY LAWHORN: Guitar; BILL HEID: Keyboards; BILLY BRANCH: Harmonica; ABB LOCKE: Sax; CORNELIUS "MULE" BOYSON: Bass; VINCE CHAPPELLE: Drums; EMMETT "MAESTRO" SANDERS: Guitar; A.C. REED: Tenor Sax
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  • AirPlay Direct Member Since:
    07/25/16
  • Profile Last Updated:
    08/28/23 07:51:05

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