Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter

Koko Taylor - photo by Keisha Shakespeare

She grew up in the cotton fields in Memphis in the United States of America but today, she is a world-famous queen of the blues.

Koko Taylor, 79, was born Cora Walton but because of her love for chocolate, she was given the name Koko. She lived on a sharecropper farm with her father and her five siblings. Her mother died on September 28, 1939, when she was just four years old and by 11, she was an orphan.

At the recent Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay, she told Flair that growing up, her life was rough and she worked in the fields picking cotton, feeding chickens and hogs. However, out of a hard life, she discovered her diamond among the rubble.

Baptist Church

At eight years old, Koko began singing in a local Baptist church in her hometown. Her father encouraged her to sing only gospel but she'd sneak away with her siblings, grab their home-made instruments and play the blues. With one brother accompanying on a guitar strung with farm wire, and another brother on a fife made from a corn cob, Koko began her career as a blues woman. As a youngster, she listened to as many blues artistes as she could.

IN HEAVEN

In 1953, she married truck driver, Robert 'Pops' Taylor, and moved with him to Chicago. "When I got there, I thought I was in heaven. I did not know anything about the cars and those things, and there were so many people," she recalled. As a farm girl singing the blues, she did not know what she was doing but did so out of love for singing. With age came a better understanding and deeper love of the music.

On Chicago's Southside, Koko worked as a house maid and her husband worked in a slaughterhouse. In the night, they visited blues clubs. With encouragement from her husband, it was not long before she sat in with many legendary artistes on a regular basis.

In 1962, she met songwriter/producer, Willie Dixon, who took her under his wing. Her biggest challenge was that she had to be good, but she didn't know good from bad; all she knew was how to sing. She added that her recording company at that time, Chess Records, took a chance on her. From that chance in 1965 came her big hit single, Wang Dang Doodle, that sold over a million copies. "It was a big success for me and the recording company. I don't know how I did but I just did it. I guess I surprised myself," she said smiling.

Her marriage produced a daughter and she had to juggle career and family. "It was not an easy task but I just put it all in the hands of God."

As the years went by, her career excelled and her music crossed the borders of Chicago into the rest of the world. However, in 1975 Chess Records went under due to financial difficulties. Thus, she signed with the label Alligator which became one of America's most prominent blues labels. She has since recorded over a dozen albums for that label, many nominated for Grammy Awards, and has dominated the female blues singer ranks, winning 25 W.C. Hardy Awards (more than any other artiste).

Car Accident

When she got tired, she resorted to her Air Jamaica wheelchair. Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor, was a hit with the audience at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay, recently. - PHOTO BY Janet Silvera

In 1988, she was involved in a car accident with her husband. She received several broken bones but her husband subsequently died. "His death threw me back a bit but eventually, I got over it."

After recuperating, she made a comeback at the annual Chicago Blues Festival. In the 1990s, she appeared in films such as Blues Brothers 2000. She remarried and continued her touring. She gave a stunning performance at the recent Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay.

She told Flair that success does not come easily and growing up in the fields made her a better woman today. "Those days taught me how to love other people and treat them the way I want to be treated," said Taylor.

She advises anyone who wants a career in the music industry to do their best. "Whatever you do, know that you cannot challenge the world. Some people try this and that but the important thing is to choose that one thing that you are good at and do it well."

For her, the most fulfilling part of her job is to see the reaction of people when she walks onstage. She knows nothing but the blues and there is nothing else she would rather do than sing the blues. Though singing at her age is still a full-time job, she loves it all from outfits to make-up and hair, and there's no stopping yet.

"God will have to retire me; as long as He gives me health and the courage to sing, I will do it, because at 79, I ain't tired yet!"