When she was 18, Koko and her soon-to-be husband, the late Robert "Pops" Taylor, moved to Chicago. Arriving with nothing but, in Koko's words, "thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz crackers," the couple settled down on the city's South Side, the cradle of the rough-edged sound of Chicago blues. Taylor found work doing house cleaning for a wealthy family in the city's plush northern suburbs. At night and on weekends, Koko and her husband would visit the clubs, hearing Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. And thanks to prodding from 'Pops,' it wasn't long before Koko was sitting in with those legendary blues artists on a regular basis.
Her big break came in 1962. After she gave a particularly fiery performance with Howlin' Wolf's band, famed blues producer/songwriter Willie Dixon approached her. Much to Koko's astonishment, he told her, "My God, I never heard a woman sing the blues like you. 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." Dixon got Koko a Chess recording contract and produced several singles and two albums for her, including the million-selling 1966 hit single "Wang Dang Doodle." That song firmly established Koko as one of the hottest female blues talents.
In the early 1970s, Taylor was among the first of the South Side Chicago blues artists to perform on the city's North Side. In 1972, she played at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival in front of more people than ever before in her career (including Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer). Atlantic Records recorded the festival and released a live album, which brought Koko to the attention of a large national audience. In 1975, Koko found a home with Alligator Records. Her first album for the fledgling label, I Got What It Takes, earned a Grammy nomination. Since then, Koko has recorded seven more critically acclaimed albums for Alligator and has made numerous guest appearances on recordings by her famous friends. Her most recent recorded appearance was the opening song on Alligator Records' Genuine Houserockin' Christmas, released in the fall of 2003.
Aside from her many recordings, Koko has also made her mark in movies and on television. She was recently featured in the PBS television series Martin Scorsese's The Blues. She appeared in the feature films Wild At Heart, Mercury Rising and Blues Brothers 2000. She has 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, FOX-TV's New York Undercover and many regional television programs. People, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Life are just a few of the national publications to run Koko Taylor features and reviews.
Article comments
1 - James
I remember in 1986 going to see Koko and her band at a small club on the campus of Northwestern University. She was spectacular and after her set, she sat at our table since I happened to be sitting with one of her friends. She was really cool and it is an experience that I have never forgotten.
2 - Eric Olsen
Great story James, thanks! It's great she is dong well.