22 — Wednesday, July 1, 1992 - North Shore News

Koko’s

. . . ‘ Photo submitted
’ BLUES SINGER Koko Taylor with Chicago legend Willie Dixon.

blues

- Vancouver July 16 and 17 at the Commodore.

K OKO TAYLOR, reigning Queen of the Blues, plays

‘Taylor shares the bill with The Lonnie Brooks Blues
Band, Elvin Bishop, and Lil’ Ed And The Blues Imperials in a
tour marking the 20th anniversary of Chicago-based blues

label Alligator Records.

Born Cora Walton 56 years ago
in Memphis, Tennessee, Taylor first
recorded for Chicago-based Chess
Records before moving on to
Alligator in 1974.

Music Now recently spoke with
Koko Taylor from her home in
Chicago.

Music Now: Has working with
a blues record label made a
difference for your career?
K.T. : “It made a fot of dif-
ference. They did more for my ca-
reer than anything had been done
in the past. They opened a lot of
doors for me like performing
places ! had never gone before
and working for people | had
never worked for before. Things
have just been going good, you
know?
Music Now: How did Cora
Walton become Koko Taylor?.
K.T. : “My daddy was William
Walton, and | was born and raised
down in Memphis, Tennessee.
When | was growing up a little girl
you could get a bar of candy for a
nickel. You could get these little

. chocolate cupcakes in the stores.
You could get them for a nickel.
Everytime I got my hand ona
nickel | went to the grocery store
and it had to be chocolate cup-
cakes, or chocolate candy or
chocolate ice cream, and they
started ‘calling me little Koko.

“tt started from when | was a
kid. When | did my first recording,
Willie Dixon asked'me what name
are we going to use on the re-
cording, because you know most
people don’t use their real name
on the recording. Willie Dixon just
said just use Koko, and that’s how
l ended up Koko Taylor for my ca-
reer.’ .
Music Now: Was the Buddy
Guy-Junior Wells Blues Band
the first professional blues
band you piayed with?

K.T. : “Well, when | moved to”
Chicago did a lot of sitting in with
a lot of guys, you know, Muddy
Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, different
ones, you know, but! also sat én
with Buddy Guy and Junior and
them too. When [ did my Wang
Dang Doodle, of course Buddy
Guy was cn the album with me,
and he’s the one doing them

” Michael Becker

RECORD REVIEW

charms in there, you know, so

that’s how that come about.”” ~
Music Now: Is the blues scene

_ in Chicago as explosive as it

was back when yau first came
along to the city?

K.T. : “It's even more now. For
somebody to come and say they
want to come to a blues club and
hear blues seven nights a week,
there is a different place to go
every night. It might be a loca!
band, but it’s still the blues.
There’s more opportunity for blues
musicians to work and perform

“than ever before. The blues has

become more popular now than it
ever was in the past.”

Music Now: Why do you think
the blues are so important for
many people? ;
K.T. ; “It's a good music, and |
feel it’s just as great as any type of
music you can listen to, although
the blues has never got the recog-
nition that it deserved. | think right
now people are just beginning to
realize this, and that’s why there
has been a big turnaround for the
blues. It makes me tour a whole
lot, and it makes me very happy.
About 200 dates out of the year is
what I'm doing. I’m enjoying
every bit of it.”

Music Now: ts there anybody
who you have been an admirer
of and have wanted to record
with but haven’t done so yet?
K.T. : “Weil, I'll tefl-you about
one who has passed away that re-
ally hurt me a lot. We had planned
to do something on my next
album and that was Stevie Ray .
Vaughn. Just before he died we
did this concert on the same bill,
and he said we was going to do
this on an album, and then he had
the crash.”

-

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Wednesday, July 15, 1992. .

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