Queen of the Blues

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Queen of the Blues

| type = studio

| artist = Koko Taylor

| cover = Queen of the Blues.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1985

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Chicago blues, blues

| length =

| label = Alligator{{Cite news|url=https://oklahoman.com/article/2116686/blues-singer-koko-taylor-the-blues-machine-to-appear-at-odyssey-club/|title=Blues Singer Koko Taylor, The Blues Machine to Appear at Odyssey Club|date=August 2, 1985|newspaper=The Oklahoman|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125204/https://www.oklahoman.com/article/2116686/blues-singer-koko-taylor-the-blues-machine-to-appear-at-odyssey-club|url-status=live}}

| producer = Koko Taylor, Criss Johnson, Bruce Iglauer

| prev_title = From the Heart of a Woman

| prev_year = 1981

| next_title = Live in Chicago: An Audience With the Queen

| next_year = 1987

}}

Queen of the Blues is an album by the American blues singer Koko Taylor, released in 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/koko-taylor-mn0000376739/biography|title=Koko Taylor Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-10-06|archive-date=2021-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125205/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/koko-taylor-mn0000376739/biography|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/16/arts/music-blues-by-koko-taylor.html|title=Music: Blues by Koko Taylor|first=Jon|last=Pareles|work=The New York Times |date=June 16, 1985|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125203/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/16/arts/music-blues-by-koko-taylor.html|url-status=live}}

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Blues Recording".{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/koko-taylor/10327|title=Koko Taylor|date=November 23, 2020|website=Grammy Awards|access-date=October 6, 2021|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125213/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/koko-taylor/10327|url-status=live}}

Production

The album was produced by Taylor, Criss Johnson, and Bruce Iglauer. Taylor used her Blues Machine Band on the album, with guest turns by Son Seals, Albert Collins, Lonnie Brooks, and James Cotton.{{cite news |title=Koko Taylor, On a Blues Roll |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/06/11/koko-taylor-on-a-blues-roll/e7968587-59a2-4912-bbc0-bc7e9b568e7f/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=6 October 2021 |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025044356/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/06/11/koko-taylor-on-a-blues-roll/e7968587-59a2-4912-bbc0-bc7e9b568e7f/ |url-status=live }} "Flamin' Mamie" was written by Willie Dixon.{{cite news |last1=Salter |first1=Rosa |title=Koko Taylor's Mainstream Blues |work=The Morning Call |date=16 Aug 1985 |page=D1}}

Critical reception

{{music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/queen-of-the-blues-mw0000192042|title=Queen of the Blues|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-10-06|archive-date=2021-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125203/https://www.allmusic.com/album/queen-of-the-blues-mw0000192042|url-status=live}}

|rev2 = Robert Christgau

|rev2score = B+{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Koko+Taylor|title=Koko Taylor|website=Robert Christgau|access-date=2021-10-06|archive-date=2021-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006125203/https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Koko+Taylor|url-status=live}}

|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=8 |page=66}}

|rev4 = MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide

|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=554}}

|rev5 = The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings

|rev5score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite book |title=The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=632}}

|rev6 = The Philadelphia Inquirer

|rev6score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Ken |title=Koko Taylor, Queen of the Blues |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=7 July 1985 |page=D8}}

}}

The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed the album "tough, shouted blues by one of the genre's most vehement practitioners." The Kingston Whig-Standard thought that Taylor "comes across as a gruff earth mother," and noted that her guitar player, Criss Johnson, "more than holds his own on his solos" despite the many famous guest musicians.{{cite news |last1=Burliuk |first1=Greg |title=Queen of the Blues Koko Taylor |work=The Kingston Whig-Standard |date=7 Sep 1985 |department=Magazine |page=1}}

The New York Times wrote that Taylor's "penetrating growl is menacing on the Willie Dixon stomp 'Evil', and self-assured on 'The Hunter'."{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Don |title=A Handful of Labels Preserve the Troubled Blues |work=The New York Times |date=15 Sep 1985 |page=A21}} The Columbus Dispatch concluded that "Taylor is in superb form, belting out ballads about passion, slow blues about broken hearts and barroom romance rockers."{{cite news |last1=Petric |first1=John |title=Feeling the Blues? Listen to Koko Taylor |work=The Columbus Dispatch |date=August 18, 1985 |department=Accent & Arts |page=4}}

AllMusic said that "Taylor's gritty 'I Cried like a Baby' and a snazzy remake of Ann Peebles' 'Come to Mama' are among the many highlights."

Track listing

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| title1 = Evil

| length1 =

| title2 = Beer Bottle Boogie

| length2 =

| title3 = I Cried Like a Baby

| length3 =

| title4 = I Can Love You Like a Woman (Or I Can Fight You Like a Man)

| length4 =

| title5 = Flamin' Mamie

| length5 =

| title6 = Something Inside Me

| length6 =

| title7 = The Hunter

| length7 =

| title8 = Queen Bee

| length8 =

| title9 = I Don't Care No More

| length9 =

| title10 = Come to Mama

| length10 =

| total_length =

}}

References