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Biography
Infobox musical artist | | name = Koko Taylor| image = KokoTaylor2006.jpg| caption = Taylor at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival , 2006| image_size = | background = solo_singer| birth_name = Cora Walton| alias = KoKo| birth_date = Birth date|1928|9|28|mf=yes|birth_place = Shelby County, Tennessee , United States | death_date = Death date and age|2009|6|3|1928|9|28|mf=yes|death_place = Chicago , Illinois , United States| origin = Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis , Tennessee | instrument = Singing|Vocalist | genre = Electric blues , Chicago blues , Rhythm and blues|R& B cite book| first= Paul| last= Du Noyer| year= 2003| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music| edition= 1st| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing| location= Fulham, London| isbn= 1-904041-96-5| page= 181| occupation = Musician | years_active = 1960s–2009| label = Alligator Records , MCA Records|MCA , Chess Records|Chess , Yambo Records , Charly Records ,| associated_acts =| website = http://www.kokotaylor.com Koko Taylor.com| current_members =| notable_instruments = Koko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor (September 28, 1928 & ndash; June 3, 2009) http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/reviews/critics/chi-0604-koko-taylor-obitjun04,0,33572.story Kot, Greg. "Koko Taylor 1928& ndash;2009: Chicago's legendary 'Queen of the blues'," Chicago Tribune , Thursday, June 4, 2009. was an United States|American Chicago blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful human voice|vocals and traditional blues stylings.
Life and career
Born Cora Walton in Shelby County, Tennessee|Shelby County , Tennessee , Taylor was the daughter of a sharecropper. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090604/ap_on_en_mu/us_obit_taylor Associated Press: Blues queen Koko Taylor dies at 80 June 3, 2009 She left Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis for Chicago, Illinois|Chicago , Illinois in 1952 with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she 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 where she recorded " Wang Dang Doodle ," a song written by Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf five years earlier. The song became a hit, reaching number four on the R& B charts in 1966, and selling a million copies. Taylor recorded several versions of "Wang Dang Doodle" over the years, including a live version at the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival with harmonica player Little Walter and guitarist Hound Dog Taylor . Taylor subsequently recorded more material, both original and cover version|covers , but never repeated that initial chart success.
National touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan (person)|fan base, and she became accessible to a wider record-buying public when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. She recorded nine albums for Alligator, 8 of which were Grammy-nominated, and came to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning twenty five Blues Music Award|W. C. Handy Award s (more than any other artist). After her recovery from a near-fatal Traffic collision|car crash in 1989, the 1990s found Taylor in film s such as Blues Brothers 2000 and Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart , and she opened a blues nightclub|club on Division Street (Chicago)|Division Street in Chicago in 1994, which relocated to Wabash Ave in Chicago's South Loop in 2000. (The club is now closed.)
Taylor influenced musicians such as Bonnie Raitt , Shemekia Copeland , Janis Joplin , Shannon Curfman , and Susan Tedeschi . In the years prior to her death, she performed over 70 concerts a year and resided just south of Chicago in Country Club Hills, Illinois .
In 2008, the Internal Revenue Service said that Taylor owed $400,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest. Her tax problems concerned 1998, 2000 and 2001; for those years combined, her adjusted gross income was $949,000.cite news |title=Singing Tax Blues |author=Janet Novack and William P. Barrett |work=Forbes Magazine |date= June 2, 2008 |url= http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0602/036.html
Taylor died on June 3, 2009, after complications from surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding on May 19, 2009. http://www.thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2009.html Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed June 2009 Her final performance was at the Blues Music Awards , on May 7, 2009.
Awards
Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album|Best Traditional Blues Album - 1985
Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award - 1999
National Endowment for the Arts|NEA National Heritage Fellowship - 2004
Blues Music Award (formerly the W. C. Handy 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
At age 76 in 2004, she appeared as a special guest with Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal on an episode of Arthur (TV series)|Arthur .
At age 80 in 2008, she appeared as a special guest with Umphrey's McGee at their New Year's Eve performance at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago.
Taylor won for Best Blues Album in The 7th Annual The Independent Music Awards|Independent Music Awards http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/jukebox2008.asp 7th annual IMA winners
Discography
Love You Like a Woman ( Charly Records ) - November 30, 1968
Koko Taylor ( MCA Records|MCA / Chess Records|Chess ) - 1969
Basic Soul ( Chess Records ) - 1972
South Side Lady (Evidence Records) - 1973
I Got What It Takes ( Alligator Records|Alligator )
Southside Baby ( Black and Blue Records ) - 1975
The Earthshaker (Alligator) - 1978
From The Heart Of A Woman (Alligator) - 1981
Queen of the Blues (Alligator) - 1985
An Audience with Koko Taylor (Alligator) - 1987
Live from Chicago (Alligator) - 1987
" Wang Dang Doodle " (Huub Records) - 1991
Jump for Joy (Alligator) - 1992
Force of Nature (Koko Taylor Album)|Force of Nature (Alligator) - 1993
Royal Blue (Alligator) - 2000
Deluxe Edition (Alligator) - 2002
Old School (Alligator) - 2007
See also
Chicago Blues Festival
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.kokotaylor.com/ Official website
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/music/1605461,koko-taylor-chicago-queen-blues-dead-060309.article Hoekstra, Dave. "Chicago legend and 'Queen of the Blues' Koko Taylor dead at 80," Chicago Sun-Times , Wednesday, June 3, 2009.
http://www.blueswebradio.com/ Co-host of "Blues you can use", FM radio station WGVE 88.7, Gary, Indiana
http://centerstagechicago.com/whoswho/articles/kokotaylor.html Interview with Koko Taylor on Centerstage Chicago (June 2007)
IMDb name | id=0852725 | name=Koko Taylor
http://titan.iwu.edu/%7Ejplath/taylor.html "Queen of the Blues: Koko Taylor Talks About Her Subjects", interview by James Plath, 1994
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p544|label=Koko Taylor
http://www.kokotaylor.com/ Wild Women Don't Have the Blues features interviews with Koko Taylor
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/5446469/Koko-Taylor.html Koko Taylor - Daily Telegraph obituary
Persondata | NAME =Taylor, Koko | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American Chicago blues musician | DATE OF BIRTH =September 28, 1928 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Shelby County, Tennessee , United States | DATE OF DEATH =June 3, 2009 | PLACE OF DEATH = Chicago , Illinois , United States DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Koko Category:1928 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American blues singers Category:African American female singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Deaths from surgical complications Category:Grammy Award winners Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Shelby County, Tennessee Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Independent Music Awards winners Category:Chess Records artists
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