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Koko Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Koko Taylor | ||
|---|---|---|
 Promo picture of Koko Taylor taken by Christopher Jacobs.
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Cora Walton | |
| Also known as | KoKo | |
| Born | 28 September 1935 | |
| Origin | Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Genre(s) | blues R&B |
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| Occupation(s) | singer | |
| Years active | 1960's - present | |
| Label(s) | Alligator Records | |
| Website | http://www.kokotaylor.com | |
Koko Taylor sometimes called 'KoKo Taylor' (born Cora Walton, 28 September 1935, on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee) is an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She is known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.
Taylor left Memphis for Chicago, Illinois in 1954 with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor and in the late 1950s began singing in Chicago blues clubs. She was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, and this led to wider performances and her first recording contract. In 1965, Taylor was signed by Chess Records, for which her single "Wang Dang Doodle" (written by Dixon, and a hit for Howlin' Wolf five years earlier) became a major hit, reaching number four on the R&B charts in 1966, and selling a million copies. Taylor has recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past few decades and has added more material, both original and covers, but has never repeated that initial chart success.
National touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan base, and she became accessible to a wider record-buying public when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. She has since recorded over a dozen albums for that label, many nominated for Grammy Awards, and come to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning twenty five W. C. Handy Awards (more than any other artist). After her recovery from a near-fatal car crash in 1989, the 1990s found Taylor in films such as Blues Brothers 2000, and she opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but it closed in 1999.
Taylor has influenced musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi. She currently performs over 100 concerts a year, and resides in Chicago.
- Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album - 1984
- Howlin' Wolf Award - 1996
- Blues Hall of Fame - Inducted 1997
- Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award - 1999
- NEA National Heritage Fellowship - 2004
- W. C. Handy Award (a.k.a. the Blues Music Award) - 24 times, including the following categories:
- Contemporary Blues Female Artist
- Entertainer of the Year
- Female Artist
- Traditional Blues Female Artist
- Vocalist of the Year
- Koko Taylor (MCA/Chess) - 1969
- Basic Soul (Chess) - 1972
- South Side Lady (Evidence Records) - 1973
- I Got What It Takes (Alligator) - 1975
- Queen of the Blues (Alligator) - 1975
- Southside Baby (Black & Blue) - 1975
- The Earthshaker (Alligator) - 1978
- From the Heart of a Woman (Alligator) - 1981
- An Audience with Koko Taylor (Alligator) - 1987
- Live from Chicago (Alligator) - 1987
- Jump for Joy (Alligator) - 1989
- Love You Like a Woman (Charly Records) - 1990
- Wang Dang Doodle (Huub Records) - 1991
- Force of Nature (Alligator) - 1993
- Royal Blue (Alligator) - 2000
- Old School (Alligator) - 2007