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Koko Taylor - Koko Taylor (1969)

Track listing:
  1. Love You Like A Woman [1968] 2:11
  2. I Love A Lover Like You [1969] 2:48
  3. Don't Mess With The Messer [1965] 2:48
  4. I Don't Care Who Knows [1968] 2:14
  5. Wang Dang Doodle [1965] 3:03
  6. I'm A Little Messed Up [1965] 2:43
  7. Nitty Gritty [1969] 2:47
  8. Fire [1967] 2:32
  9. Whatever I Am, You Made Me [1965] 2:29
  10. Twenty-Nine Way (To Me Baby's Door) [1969] 3:15
  11. Insane Asylum [1967] 4:23
  12. Yes, It's Good For You [1968] 2:44
  13. Love Sick Tears (Bonus) [Unreleased] 2:47
  14. He Always Knocks Me Out (Bonus) [Unreleased] 3:05

Notes

Size: 77.3 MB
Bitrate: 256
mp3
Artwork Included
Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Koko Taylor sometimes spelled 'KoKo Taylor' (born Cora Walton, 28 September 1928, in Shelby County, Tennessee) is an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She is known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.

Taylor left Memphis for Chicago, Illinois in 1954 with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor and in the late 1950s 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, for which her single "Wang Dang Doodle" (written by Dixon, and a hit for Howlin' Wolf five years earlier) became a major hit, reaching number four on the R&B charts in 1966, and selling a million copies. Taylor has recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past few decades and has added more material, both original and covers, but has never repeated that initial chart success.

National touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan base, and she became accessible to a wider record-buying public when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. She has since recorded over a dozen albums for that label, many nominated for Grammy Awards, and come to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning twenty five W. C. Handy Awards (more than any other artist). After her recovery from a near-fatal car crash in 1989, the 1990s found Taylor in films such as Blues Brothers 2000, and she opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but it closed in 1999.

Taylor has influenced musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi. She currently performs over 70 concerts a year, and resides just south of Chicago in Country Club Hills, Illinois.

Her self-titled debut, containing songs recorded from 1965 through 1969, shows Koko Taylor's brash, gut-deep vocal style already well established; it's a voice that's made her the queen of Chicago blues. Produced by Willie Dixon, who (unsurprisingly) wrote several of the songs here (including Taylor's signature hit, "Wang Dang Doodle") and contributes backing vocals and bass work, Koko Taylor is an excellent representation of Taylor's years at the prestigious Chess label. While not as comprehensive as What It Takes: The Chess Years, the album includes much of Taylor's classic work: the aforementioned "Doodle," the extremely sexy "I Love a Lover Like You," the solid-as-a-brick-wall "I'm a Little Mixed Up," and the hilariously funny "Twenty-Nine Ways." Taylor had some great sidemen for these sessions, too: Buddy Guy, Johnny Shines, Walter Horton, and Sunnyland Slim all make appearances.

01. Love You Like A Woman [1968]
02. I Love A Lover Like You [1969]
03. Don't Mess With the Messer [1965]
04. I Don't Care Who Knows [1968]
05. Wang Dang Doodle [1965]
06. I'm A Little Mixed Up [1965]
07. Nitty Gritty [1969]
08. Fire [1967]
09. Whatever I Am, You Made Me [1965]
10. Twenty-Nine Ways [1969]
11. Insane Asylum [1967]
12. Yes, It's Good For You [1968]
13. Love Sick Tears (Bonus) [Unreleased]
14. He Always Knocks Me Out (Bonus) [Unreleased]