Koko Taylor
Koko Taylor (September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.
Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading to wider performances and her first recording contract. Read Full BioKoko Taylor (September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.
Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading 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 recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past several decades and added more material, both original and covers, but 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. Recording over a dozen albums for that label (many nominated for Grammy awards), she came to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning 24 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 movies such as Blues Brothers 2000. She opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but closed it in 1999. Taylor released a new album in 2007 called "Old School."
Koko Taylor influenced such musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi.
Koko Taylor died on the afternoon of June 3rd 2009 (at the age of 80), while recovering from surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding. Koko Taylor is still referred to by fellow blues musicians and her fans as the "Queen of the Blues".
Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading to wider performances and her first recording contract. Read Full BioKoko Taylor (September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.
Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading 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 recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past several decades and added more material, both original and covers, but 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. Recording over a dozen albums for that label (many nominated for Grammy awards), she came to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning 24 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 movies such as Blues Brothers 2000. She opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but closed it in 1999. Taylor released a new album in 2007 called "Old School."
Koko Taylor influenced such musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi.
Koko Taylor died on the afternoon of June 3rd 2009 (at the age of 80), while recovering from surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding. Koko Taylor is still referred to by fellow blues musicians and her fans as the "Queen of the Blues".
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Wang Dang Doodle
Koko Taylor Lyrics
Tell Automatic Slim
Tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie
Tell Fast Talking Fanny
We gonna pitch a ball
Down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a Wang dang doodle, all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang dang doodle, all night long
Tell Kudzu-Crawlin' Red
Tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete
Tell everybody he meet
Tonight we need no rest
We gonna really throw a mess
We gonna to knock down all of the windows
We gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a Wang dang doodle, all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang dang doodle, all night long
Tell Fats and Washboard Sam
That everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shakin Boxcar Joe
We got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye
We gonna have a heck of a time
And when the fish scent fill the air
It's gonna be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a Wang dang doodle, all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: WILLIE DIXON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Mary De Young
I saw Koko Taylor in concert along with B.B. King & some other blues artists & when she did 'Wang Dang Doodle'...the place went crazy. It was a great time!
stubborntrudy
oh so jealous..lol..u got 2 see the greats
Hans
@Kerri Beene Wish I could have seen that. I got stories but not that good.
Nakia Beblessed
You two people sure got lucky,wish I WASNT BORN IN THE 80S SOMETIMES🤪
Kerri Beene
I saw BBKing at the Chattanooga River Bend festival. Saved our seats in a lightnin storm but when it was over he came on and performed. A very humble man. Wish I could've seen KoKo Taylor with him.
christopher moore
this type music brings tears to my eyes makes me think of the older generation that's no longer here
just diane
@mike n 😂 IKR?
just diane
@HELLKITE [Official] well, WXRT radio Chicago has Blues Breakers with Tom Marker. Been listening my whole life. Yeah, you are right about feeling it in your bones, in your soul. I wrote that in my Blues sampler playlist here. Every great musician has to go sometime to that great gig in the sky, but what they gave us never will die! Today's musicians get inspired from what they heard growing up, and those musicians were inspired by previous ones... On and on backwards in time in the 20th century when Gospel, Jazz and the Blues came to the great pioneers of music.
just diane
The Blues will never go away! Like jazz, even if it's in the background, on some show or in a store, the music will be heard. It will seep into brains that will look it up and bring another fan into the group. Good music is timeless 💜😎🎶
Goddess RA 👁
I thought I was the only one. I'm 34 but when I reached the appropriate age, my 20+ year older cousins would have me in the Bootlegger with em, and not to mention my eldest Uncle loved blues and would call me by my nickname given by him, "Buokie, go look in the cooler!" and give me a wink, then the sweet sound of JT and other blues would start rumbling from the speakers.
❤REST WELL UNCLE PETE❤