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Chicago blues legend Koko Taylor has died

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* A sad announcement from Alligator Records…

Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago, IL, as a result of complications following her May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed.

On May 7, 2009, the critically acclaimed Taylor, known worldwide as the “Queen of the Blues,” won her 29th Blues Music Award (for Traditional Female Blues Artist Of The Year), making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In 2004 she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, which is among the highest honors given to an American artist. Her most recent CD, 2007’s Old School, was nominated for a Grammy (eight of her nine Alligator albums were Grammy-nominated). She won a Grammy in 1984 for her guest appearance on the compilation album Blues Explosion on Atlantic.

Born Cora Walton on a sharecropper’s farm just outside Memphis, TN, on September 28, 1928, Koko, nicknamed for her love of chocolate, fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by gospel music and WDIA blues disc jockeys B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, Taylor began belting the blues with her five brothers and sisters, accompanying themselves on their homemade instruments. In 1952, Taylor and her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, traveled to Chicago with nothing but, in Koko’s words, “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers.”

Man, she was something. I saw her play several times, loved every minute of it. Here’s one of my favorites…

I got dust from a rattlesnake,
I got a black spider bone,
If that don’t do it baby,
You’d better leave it all alone

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 4:47 pm

Comments

That’s really sad. I remember seeing her at a club (probably on Lincoln Ave. back in the day). I told her I was moving to Paris the next week. She hugged me and told me to take care of myself.

It was the best send-off a guy from Chicago, new to foreign countries, could have gotten.

RIP.

Comment by leo Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 4:53 pm
Always a good show. My favorite was back in the 80s on a blazing hot Fourth of July at the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport. Played an hour and a half in stifling heat.

Great fest, by the way, on the banks of the Mississippi in LeClaire Park in downtown Davenport.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 5:04 pm
I have seen Koko 4 times. One time, she, Buddy Guy, and Pinetop Perkins were all on the stage together. Man!!! What a show. She will be sadly missed in the Blues community. The world has lost a talented, accomplished, sweet person.

Comment by Telemaster2 Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 6:01 pm
When she had her bar in the south loop, it became my neighborhood hangout - and it was always a special treat when she graced us with her presence. She will be missed, this year’s BluesFest won’t be the same.

Comment by 312 Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 6:17 pm
Sad news. Koko was an important person in the blues.

Comment by Steve Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 6:22 pm
Saw her several times and loved every show.

Comment by zatoichi Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 6:38 pm
I partied with Koko, Pops and Cookie in the early 70’s. I happened on a plane with her from ORD to Madrid in 1997. She is an entertainer that slides right under my skin every time.
No subtleness just character. A real Chicagoan.
What its all about Alfie?

Hey everybody Koko Taylor’s in town.
I’ve got a dollar & quarter but don’t play me cheap … I’ve got fifty cents more than I inted to keep. Let the good times roll!

Comment by gg Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 6:42 pm
Great show, hot voice, screamin’ performer! She was one of a kind.

Comment by Captain Flume Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 7:12 pm
I was fortunate enough to see her. Anyone who hasn’t heard her music should give it a try.

Comment by Steve Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 7:21 pm
Mr. Miller,
I’m so glad you are paying tribute to her. not many people know that I know her daughter and in the last years of Koko’s life I made sure we’d been aquainted. She was my favorit eBlues Singer (ask any of my friends) and I am going to seriously miss her. My condolences go out to Hays, Cookie and Lee.

Comment by JakeCP Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 8:02 pm
I’m a big fan of the album ‘Koko Taylor’ — young Koko with the some of the best sidemen ever. Also saw her live 4-5 times, she always gave it her all.

Comment by Quizzical Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 8:25 pm
:(

Comment by Stu Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 8:26 pm
I have hosted a blues radio show for the last ten years in Carbondale, and I play KoKo all the time. I never did get to see her live though. I knew that her health was getting bad, but I didnt realize that she was this close to going to the other side.

Looks like this week will be an hour long tribute to KoKo, she definatly deserves it.

Comment by Speaking at Will Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 9:03 pm
I love chocolate too, Koko, Rest in Peace.

Comment by state employee Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 10:19 pm
I saw her several times over the years at Biddy Mulligan’s, and I think once at Wise Fool’s Pub, but I would have to say the best time was at Chicago Fest at Navy Pier. I am pretty sure it was still the Jane Byrne era, and with a little back scratching, we were able to dock a friends boat right to the pier behind the Blues Stage.

Oh lordy, lordy, lordy, what a party that was! We could climb off the boat and slide out in front of the stage (more back scratching), and dance the night away, and whenever necessary slide back to the boat for a cold beverage re-fill or to use the head.

I think I may actually still have one of those Chicago Fest light pole banners from that era somewhere, I’ll have to search the basement now to see if I still have that.

Comment by Quinn T. Sential Wednesday, Jun 3, 09 @ 11:48 pm
When my overseas friends came to town, I would ensure that they witness one of her time-stopping performances. She was the real deal and I knew eventually she would be unable to perform, so I made sure to always hunt her down and rediscover the true roots of the blues.

A real legend and the sweetest soul!

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 4, 09 @ 8:49 am