Earlier this week, Chicago blues queen Koko Taylor passed away.

...she said she gave little thought to pursuing a career in music until she was living in Chicago, working as a cleaning woman by day and frequenting the city's blues clubs with her husband by night. At Robert Taylor's urging, she began asking the performers to let her sit in.

In 1962, Willie Dixon, an influential behind-the-scenes presence in Chicago blues, heard one of her impromptu performances and said, as she later recalled, "I never heard a woman sing the blues like you sing the blues." He took her to Chess Records, where he was a talent scout and producer, and wrote a number of songs for her, most notably "Wang Dang Doodle," which she recorded despite her initial trepidation about its raunchy lyrics. It made her a star.

Her voice was just amazing. Have a listen:

More at Shakesville.

6 Comments

June 5, 2009 1:46 PM

[0+]  rustyspoons said:

I'd heard this yesterday. RIP.

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June 5, 2009 1:55 PM

[0+]  Heina said:

I've always had a casual interest in the blues, but never really thought about the fact that I had never heard any female blues singers. She is pretty amazing, have to say.

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June 5, 2009 2:32 PM

[0+]  B. Atoureta said:

:( I didn't know this. Chicago's my hometown, I've been to my fair share of blues clubs there. So sad!

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June 5, 2009 3:49 PM

[0+]  Laura_M said:

Her voice was amazing. It's hard to believe she'll never use it again. RIP, Koko.

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June 5, 2009 4:07 PM

[0+]  Interior_League said:

Wang Dang Doodle was written for Howlin' Wolf. Koko certainly did make it her own, though.

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June 7, 2009 10:23 PM

[0+]  LalaReina said:

RIP

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