Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
Cora "Koko Taylor" Walton was hailed by many as the "Queen of the Blues," helped prove that the blues wasn't just a man's game, and sang her ass off for decades. She won just about every musical award known to the industry, she was a ball of fire and could "make love to a alligator crocodile." And sadly, she passed away here in Chicago yesterday due to complications from gastrointestinal surgery.
Born in Tennessee on a sharecropper's farm, she came to town in 1952 to eke out a living cleaning houses. In 1962 she scored a record deal with Chess records, and later moved to Alligator records in 1975. Her final performance was just last month in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards.
Rather than get too far into reviewing her entire career, we'd rather let Taylor's music speak for both her and us. Youtube is rich with Koko's music, but we've picked out a couple different clips. After the jump is a tribute put together featuring "I'm A Woman."
And here's the song that defined her, this version filmed just a couple years after its release in 1965: Koko Taylor and Little Walter singing "Wang Dang Doodle."
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may she rest in peace
An amazing woman, an amazing voice, an amazing performer. She embodied the heart and soul of Chicago blues and was a legend in every sense of the word.
that 60s footage is fantastic! yay for koko. we'll miss her.
I'm sorry that I never took the time to learn more about her
Crocodile, not alligator.
Jesus, did you even look at the lyrics you linked to?
anyways, RIP Koko, truly a legend who will be greatly missed.
You're right.
I heard "crocodile" and for some reason the letters "alligator" exited my fingertips as I wrote. My eternal apologies to Ms. Taylor and the thousands offended by my error.
Post has been adjusted.
In fairness, she DID record for Alligator Records.
A funny thing ... I don't know Taylor's music well enough to know these were lyrics, so I found myself looking at the correction wondering how you guys had rechecked the species of reptile she had made love to. The process I was imagining was hilarious.