Sunday, June 7, 2009

Rest in Peace Koko


I found out two days ago that Koko Taylor, "Queen of the Blues," passed away on June 3rd. I was lucky enough to see Koko perform live back in the 1980's and there is no doubt she was a top notch performer, in the tradition of Big Mama Thorton and Big MayBelle. Koko performed her signature piece "Wang Dang Doodle" live as recently as a month ago. In this classic version of the song from 1967 she is accompanied by the legendary Little Walter on harmonica.

3 comments:

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  2. 'Mela said...

    Hey there, Bill.

    She was a great lady.
    I met her two times, in the late 80's in NYC,
    and here in Tokyo, at her performance in 2007.
    She was then 78 years old, and still boogyin' down.

    http://meladramas.blogspot.com/2007_07_22_archive.html

    I join you in saying goodbye and Godspeed to the Queen of the Blues!

    http://www.kokotaylor.com/news.html

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  3. Hi Mela,
    Thanks for your comments on Koko and for stopping by. Hope things are going well in Tokyo. Posting on Missouri jazz today,
    stay in touch,
    Bill

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