Dear Friends,
As I’m sure you all know, my dear friend, Alligator’s senior artist and blues icon Koko Taylor died on June 3 as a result of internal bleeding. Although I am still grieving for Koko, I am immensely happy that she was able to live the last part of her life as she hoped. She wanted to be able to perform up to the very end of her life, and she did. Her standing-ovation rendition of Wang Dang Doodle at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis on May 7 was her last performance. Along with receiving her 29th BMA (more than any other artist), she spent the evening either with her fellow musicians, including her dear friend B.B. King, or surrounded by her fans. It was a triumph, a glorious night for her, a fitting end to her amazing career.
Koko’s whole life was a triumph…a triumph over poverty, a triumph over lack of education, a triumph over racism, a triumph over all the odds. It was triumph of her talent, of her charisma, of her unstoppable work ethic, but above all it was a triumph created by the depth of her soul and her willingness to share a piece of that soul with all of us and with the world. I was honored to earn her trust as her manager for 35 years, to help her create her music in the studio as her co-producer, and to made an honorary member of her family. Although Koko had almost no formal schooling, she taught me so much by her example that has helped carry me through my own life. She believed in the value of work, took huge pride in her own, and never stopped working. She said that if she could make someone’s day better, she had done her job. She was still doing that, for a thousand fans, on May 7. She believed in the crucial importance of family, and died surrounded by generations of family and friends who loved her. And she believed in the value of the blues to heal the pains and problems of our lives. She cannot be replaced; there can be no other Queen Of The Blues. But her legacy lives on in all the artists she influenced, and in all the fans she moved with her music.
I spoke at Koko’s funeral, but didn’t have time to say everything I planned. If you’d like to read everything I wanted to say, go to www.alligator.com and click on “Bruce’s Blog.” It also includes statements from some her band members, from Criss Johnson, our co-producer, and from Matt LaFollette, the member of the Alligator staff who took care of all her tour planning and traveled with Koko to all her overseas gigs over the last ___ years. All these men loved Koko like I did.
As you know, this letter usually functions as a personal statement, as reminiscence and to some extent as an advertisement. I don’t know how to easily change the subject from something so personal and sensitive as Koko’s death to a more normal version of this letter without appearing insensitive, so I’ll just say “I’m changing the subject.”–
I’ll continue reminiscing about Lonnie Mack’s Second Sight album next time. Now I want to tell you that Tommy Castro’s Alligator debut, Hard Believer, will be released by the time you read this. Most of you know Tommy’s music–his soaring guitar, his terrific blue-eyed soul vocals, his blues-infused R&B sound and his striking, soul-baring original songs. Hard Believer, produced by the famed John Porter, is another giant step forward in a career that has gone from strength to strength. Anyone with a taste for contemporary, hard-rocking blues with a Memphis flair is guaranteed to love this album.
Finally, I sincerely believe that any blues fan should sign up for the Alligator Mailing List, which you can subscribe to on our web site. It alerts you when Alligator artists are appearing in your area, keeps you abreast of important news from the label and also alerts you to new products and special deals available from the Alligator Mail Order service. In these days when it is ever harder to find blues recordings, books, videos and more in stores, our online store offers a treasure trove for any blues fan.
More next time,
Bruce Iglauer