Wang Dang Doodle

"Wang Dang Doodle" was written by Willie Dixon for Howlin' Wolf at Chess Records in Chicago. Willie Dixon says in his autobiography that of all the songs he wrote for Howlin' Wolf, "Wang Dang Doodle" is the one he hated the most. However everyone seems to know it and has been heavily covered.

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RIP Queen of the Blues KoKo Taylor

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting in an article titled 'Queen of the Blues' Koko Taylor dead at 80 the death of blues singer Koko Taylor.

May she rest in peace and condolences go out to her family, friends and fans.

Koko Taylor @SqueezeMyLemon

Koko Taylor Recovering from Surgery

According to an Alligator Records Press Release;

Koko Taylor, 80, Grammy Award-winning "Queen of the Blues," is recovering from surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed. The surgery was performed on May 19 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Her doctors anticipate a full recovery. Taylor is not accepting visitors or phone calls at this time.

Taylor's most recent live performance was at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, TN, on May 7, 2009. She performed her signature song, "Wang Dang Doodle," after receiving the award for Traditional Blues Female Blues Artist Of The Year. This was Taylor's 29th Blues Music Award, making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In addition, she has 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 Records albums were Grammy-nominated). She won a Grammy in 1984 for her guest appearance on the compilation album Blues Explosion on Atlantic Records

Friday Blues Funny - Raven Symone Does Koko Taylor

This clip from the Cosby Show of a young Raven Symone lip syching the Koko Taylor song "I'm A Woman" is too funny.

Koko Taylor - I'm A Woman mp3 @Amazon.com

Life, Love, Heartache, and Taxes.

People, the blues is about life, love, heartache, and sometimes taxes. It is real stuff, it is the life of people that we know and love. The new administration would probably concur with my assessment, but that is a different story. Consider the sad case of our beloved blues singer Koko Taylor.

She recently lost her case against the IRS. I'm very sad to have to report this, but Forbes.com has an online article titled More Tax Blues For Koko Taylor that provides the details.

According to the article;

Grammy-winning blues singer Koko Taylor has lost her unusual lawsuit seeking to force the Internal Revenue Service to scale back its efforts to collect upward of $400,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest from her, some dating to 1998.

Koko Taylor @SqueezeMyLemon

Koko Taylor ft. Little Walter - Wang Dang Doodle

You probably will have to stop the playlist a couple of post down the blog to enjoy this.

This video is too cool. Not only is it of Koko Taylor, with Little Walter on harp, but there are a few other surprises. Feel free to leave me a comment naming all the bluesmen that you see in this video. The only bad thing about it is that it is out of sync. But it is so rare that can be forgiven.

More Koko Taylor

Another Koko Taylor Video

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music, blues, video

Great Blues Recordings - Koko Taylor, I Got What it Takes

In my continuing series of what I think of as the great blues recordings I want to present Koko Taylor's album "I Got What it Takes."

To say that I love this album is an understatement. It takes me back to a time in my boyhood that I became aware of the women who hung out at juke joints. The kind of woman who would make a statement like "I Got What it Takes" and mean it.

And if you listen to this album you will come away from it secure in the knowledge that Mrs. Taylor has what it takes too. The album was recorded in 1975, and this was just about around the time that I am talking about. This was Taylor's first release for Alligator Records and is a good introduction to her later work for that label. This CD contains 11 tracks which make for the kind of modern party music played in juke joints all over the blues world at the time, they all have that gritty but upbeat sound that I love to wallow in.

The liner notes to the release state, Koko Taylor has "no hesitation at all to put you right down in blues alley. There's total involvement, total commitment to the truth of the blues. Whether you want to or not — she'll make you get down." If you buy this CD and give it a listen, you will have no doubt about this.

Tracks from this CD

01. Trying To Make A Living <- Click here to sample this song.
02. I Got What It Takes
03. Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
04. Voodoo Woman
05. Be What You Want To Be
06. Honkey Tonkey
07. Big Boss Man
08. Blues Never Die
09. Find A Fool
10. Happy Home
11. That's Why I'm Crying

I did a search for some cool Koko Taylor video, but could not find anything from this album. Please take a look at this video to get a sense of what it is like to see Mrs. Taylor perform in person.



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music, blues, video

Koko Taylor Still Has Got What It Takes

Koko Taylor headlines the first night of the sixth annual Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival, at the Heritage Amphitheatre.

The blues diva who turns 70 next month has had some health problems but she is doing well enough to head line this fetival.

You can read about it here, in an article from the EdmontonSun.com Hot Koko and the Blues by Jermey Loome.

Check out Koko's web site ->> Koko Taylor.com where you will find among other things some sound clips.

I'm A Woman

Voodoo Woman

Stop Watching Your Enemies


And here is an mp3 from Download.com.

Don't Let Me Catch You with Your Drawers Down.Mp3

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Koko Taylor, music, blues, mp3s