I grew up listening to the blues. My mom in particular was a serious fan, and Koko Taylor was a favorite in our house. As a kid I had a difficult time imagining the context for this music. Unlike rock and pop, which are culturally ubiquitous, the extent of the varied histories and idioms of the blues haven’t been assimilated as readily. Naturally I had seen pictures of BB King and Buddy guy, but until we moved to Chicago when I was 9 there was no image to accompany Koko Taylor.
Ever since I started to put the pieces together, I had a hard time matching up differences between so many fans of the blues and the performers themselves. How could Eric Clapton see how cool Muddy Waters was and decide that bell bottoms would work for him? Maybe he’d never seen a film. My parents and their friends certainly had nothing in common with this. Little Walter and Koko Taylor are immeasurably cool in this clip, whereas my parents were not.
Critical Notes
Being a segment where I provide means by which you [the reader] are encouraged to remark, annotate, provoke, correct, rejoin, laud, or admonish the preceeding sentiment or incident. Communications impertinent to the aforementioned, including general threats of violence or love letters should be forwarded to me personally.
Friday, May 1, 2009 9:11 pm
From the computer of Chris Hall
About two years ago I spent a few nights playing along to this clip. While Little Walter and Koko are undeniably cool here, I prefer Hound Dog Taylor (the original 6-fingered man) in the background.
Chris Hall