The Musical Box

koko taylor

Few artists lived, breathed and celebrated the blues the way Koko Taylor did.

A sharecropper’s daughter born near Memphis, she became one of the few women - maybe the only one - to fully tap into the electric energy of the 1950s Chicago blues scene. From her early Chess recordings to the string of albums she cut for the Alligator label over the past 30 years, Taylor could be as fearsome or sweet as she chose. She seemed to all but channel the great Big Mama Thornton on such trademark tunes as Wang Dang Doodle and I’m a Woman as well as the overlooked Black Rat, a song Thornton popularized in the ‘60s. Taylor’s version of the latter remains a highlight of her 2007 album Old School.

But there was also a graciousness and command about her performances that rightly earned Taylor the uncontested title of Queen of the Blues. During a 45-plus year career, the Grammy winning Taylor wore her crown with dignity and soul.

Yesterday afternoon, the Queen abdicated. Following complications from gastrointestinal surgery, Taylor died in Chicago at the age of 80.

For Lexngton blues fans, this is a seriously tough loss. Taylor was a frequent visitor here through the years thanks to appearances at the old Breeding’s locations on New Circle Road and Main Street, as well as at numerous regional blues festivals.

“The blues came from slavery,” Taylor told me prior to a July 2004 benefit concert for WUKY-FM at The Red Mile. “It came from hard times. I mean, we are black people out here singing the blues. Some of the young people today have no idea what I’m talking about. I picked and chopped cotton. I pulled corn and picked blackberries for our next meal. But I don’t regret how I came up. Them hard times brought me a mighty long way.”

Recommended listening for those unfamiliar with the Queen of the Blues is the 1978 Alligator recording The Earthshaker and its killer treatment of three Willie Dixon gems. She amplifies the already hearty juke joint spirit of Hey Bartender, delivers a version of Spoonful that is nothing short of rattlesnake mean and updates Wang Dang Doodle for a new blues generation.

“All I think about is pleasing my fans, not me,” Taylor added in the 2004 interview. “I don’t need to please me. When I come offstage, I want to hear everyone say, ‘Oh, Koko sounded great.’ That kind of response just does something to me.”