PAGE FOUR
THE BENNETT BANNER
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1985
CK eclc your talent
Contests beckon
Koko Taylor: When the queen sings, the bones and nerves ring. Taylor’s years os the road may remind you of Bessie
Smith and Billie Holiday, but her voice, as described by feature-writer Mardell Griffin, has more in common with a
sledgehammer than it does with a velvet glove. Like so many great black vocalists, the queen hails from Memphis where
her approach to music was forbed by farm-work and (he fierce legacy of such legends as Robert Johnson and Blind
Lemon Jefferson. This Giammy-winner does it all: she even sells her own records on the Alligator label, (photo by
Charles Cherney)
Blues queen dazzles crowd
by Mardell Griffin
She wore no crown, dia
monds or ermine cape, and
no red carpet unrolled at her
feet.
But even without the usual
trappings of royalty, every
one recognized Koko Taylor
as Queen of the Blues w'hen
she held court Sept. 5 at
Chaser’s, 741 Kenilworth St.
The power of her voice put
her in command. Her style
is not the smooth, crooning
type of other blues women. It
is often compared to that of
her rough-sounding male col
leagues, especially the late
Muddy Waters. Her raw
songs roar from the stage and
startle listeners. A five-time
Grammy nominee, she won
the 1984 Grammy for best
blues record of the year with
‘‘Blues Explosion.” Four
times the International Blues
Foundation named her “Best
Female Blues Artist.”
The crowd seemed stunned
by her first few numbers.
They s tare d. They paused
after songs before breaking
into wild applause and loud
hollers. No one anticipated
the size of her voice.
Soon, the crowd stomped,
danced, hooted, swa\ed and
romped to the rhythms of
Taylor and her band. Some
snapped pictures. One elderly
man in Bermuda shorts stood
at the edge of the stage, smil
ing with head bobbing and
feet tapping.
When the 5 0-y ear-old
Taylor sang: “I’m a woman.
I’m a ball of fire. I’m a
woman. Make love to a croco
dile. I’m a woman and I ain’t
ever had enough” from her
cut “I’m a Woman,” the aud
ience knew she was telling
the truth. The ache and long
ing were evident when she
wailed, “I ain’t had nobody
since my baby was gone.” The
words may have originated
in her heart, but they came
from her guts.
During the set break,
Taylor sat at the table with
her husband Robert “Pops”
Taylor. He sold albums, and
she made change from an
oversized silver pocketbook.
Fans lined up for her auto
graph on the record covers.
Others appeared with Koko
Taylor teeshirts purchased
at another table. Not all ad
mirers were sober. But, even
after driving all night from
Chicago, she treated every
one with a warm, soft-spoken
manner that belied her over
whelming stage presence.
“I love her,” said John
Warren. 85. “I’m serious: I
really do,” he added, waving
an autographed teeshirt.
“Her performance made me
decide I want to do a blues
show,” said Julie Crooke, 20.
Crooke has a reggae show on
WQFS Guilford College’s
radio station. “Excellent, ex
cellent, premium,” she said.
“As far as what I’ve heard,
she’s the best around,” said
Bill Mitchell, 32, whose
“Blues Hangover” show airs
on A&T’s radio station,
WNAA.
Taylor lit up the show’s
second half, strutting and
shimmying on stage in her
shiny blue pants and silver
sequin-trimmed flowing top.
She sported a large turquoise
watch and ring.
At the show’s end, the
audience wanted more. Taylor
encored with a second per
formance of “Whang Dang
Doodle,” a million seller she
recorded in 1965.
After the show, Taylor
stepped outside into the warm
night and sipped Classic Coke
as she talked about her life,
family and music. She was
excited about a video re
corded recently with Dan
Ackroyd and her six-year-old
grandson. “My grandson
plays guitar,” she said with
obvious pride.
She started singing as a
child where she grew up near
Memphis, Tenn. “There was
nothing else to do but work
on the farm and sing the
blues on the way to the fields
with my brothers and
sisters,” she said. She moved
to Chicago at 18 and sang
with “whoever was playing
Magazine Awards: Belles
are invited to participate in
Glamour Magazine’s 1986 Top
Ten College Women Competi
tion.
Young women from colleges
throughout the country will
compete in Glamour’s search
for 10 outstanding students.
A panel of Glamour editors
will select the winners on the
basis of their solid records
of achievement in academic
studies and in extracurricular
activities on campus or in the
community.
Five applications are avail
able.
The winners will be fea
tured in Glamour’s August
college issue. During May,
June or July, the 10 winners
will receive an all-expenses-
paid trip to New York City
and will participate in meet
ings with professionals in
their area of interest.
Anyone who is interested
in entering the search should
contact Miss Myra Davis, BC
public information director,
for more details.
The deadline for submit1>
ing an application is Dec. 13.
Phillip Morris Contest: En
tries for the 17th annual
Marketing / Communications
Competition are being soli
cited.
Winners receive financial
awards for the most out
standing projects related to
non-tobacco products.
Representatives of the win
ning teams join their faculty
advisers in New York to pre
sent projects to judges and
company executives. Guide
lines for the competition and
members of the judging panel
are available from Miss Myra
Davis, BC public information
director.
Entries are due Jan. 10,
1986.
Two students from Rice
University won last year’s
contest with their formula
for an American version of a
the blues.” “I would sit in
with local bands for my own
enjoyment,” she said. “No
money involved.”
In 1964 she cut her first
record “What Kind of Man
is This?” and “I Got What
it Takes” on the Chess label.
“Willie Dixon wrote my first
tune,” she said.
Receiving a Grammy was
“something really special” in
her career after 20 years of
performing. “That’s about as
big as you can get,” she said.
She also said most women
want to sing rock and other
more money-making styles of
music. But she is happy with
the blues. “Well, everybody
looks down on the blues as
the last music on the list,”
she said. “But, the blues is
the roots of all music.”
As the band members
finished loading equipment
on their truck and “Pops”
got behind the wheel, Taylor
prepared to leave. In the
same gentle tone that is her
trademark off stage, she com
mented on traveling to sing
the blues: “It’s not easy and
I’m not getting rich. But
you’ve got to want to do what
you want to do. I love making
people happy even if it’s just
two or three hours a day.”
Enjoy Fall Break
traditional British dnnk,
shandy, which is a mixture
of lager and lemonade in the
United Kingdom.
The winners concocted a
shandy with Miller beer and
7-Up, two Phillip Morris pro
ducts, and lime juice. The
students hoped to win a place
in the growing market for
milder alcoholic beverages
which are mingled with fruit
juice.
Their plan for the drink
and its promotion was ex
plained in a 53-page report.
The New York Times in
directly quoted John ^ A.
Murphy, president of Phillip
Morris, who said that the
company might someday mar
ket shandy.
Newspaper Internships:
Applications for the 1986
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund
Editing Intern Program for
College Juniors and the Mi
nority Editing Intern Pro
gram for College Seniors are
available through Oct. 31.
Deadline for completed appli
cations is Thanksgiving Day.
Each of the 60 students to
be selected as Dow Jones
Newspaper Fund interns will
be offered a work/study/aid
package totaling approxi
mately $6,000.
Both programs include
guaranteed paid summer jobs
on newspaper or news service
copy desks throughout the
nation and a two-week free
editing training seminar at
one of six selected university
sites before students begin
their jobs.
The salary the student will
receive from her employers
is expected to range between
$200 and $350 a week, an
average of $250 a week for
10 weeks. The Newspaper
Editing Intern Program for
College Juniors includes a
$1,000 scholarship. The Mi
nority Editing Intern Pro
gram for College Seniors in
cludes a $1,500 scholarship
for students who will attend
graduate school and a $1,000
scholarship to pay for senior
year expenses of students
who do not attend graduate
school.
Application forms now are
available at college journa
lism departments and place
ment offices, as well as from
college editing professors,
college newspapers and cam
pus chapters of Society
of Professional Journalists,
SDX.
Students may obtain an ap
plication directly from The
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund,
P.O. Box 300, Princeton, N.J.
08540.
A defense
against cancer
can be cooked up
in your kitchen.
There is c\ idcncc that did and
canccr arc related. Follow these
modilications in \i)ur dail\ diet to
reduce chances ol getting cancer.
1. Eat more high-liber foods such
as fruits and wgetables and whole-
grain cereals
2. Include dark green and deep
vellow fruits and vegetables rich in
\ itaniins A anti c;
3. Include cabbage, broccoli,
brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and
caulillower
4. Be moderate in consumption
o( salt-cured, smoked aixl nitrite-
curetl foods
5. (All down on total fat intake
Ironi .inimal sources aiul fats and
1 Ills
6. A\i)id obesii\
7. He moderate in consumpti( n
ot akoholit. be\erages