# Koko Taylor vs. Etta James **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527 "2008-11-26T04:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/1 "2008-11-26T04:22:13Z")
Who would win? I can’t call this one unless alcohol is involved, and then my money is on Koko. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/2 "2008-11-26T04:31:38Z")
Before this is mioved, I will note that I have seen both women cry whilst singing “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Koko went off stage once and got her man, this tiny wizened person in a too-big suit, to show him off after she was done with the song. So I guess it’s still a tie. Up, nope, Etta rockin’ the blond bouffant gives her the edge. I think. But Koko has got more blues in her little finger than Etta has all over… Not a knock against Etta, she’s a fabulous performer, but Koko IS the blues. I give. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/3 "2008-11-26T04:48:18Z")
> [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](#): > > But Koko has got more blues in her little finger than Etta has all over… It was Etta James _Blues to the Bone_ that made me compare them. I was not impressed with _At Last,_ a James recommendation by my Blues/Jazz consultant. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/4 "2008-11-26T05:33:43Z")
Heard Koko within the last 8 years in my neighborhood. Two block walk. She’s Blues. Etta is more versatile, but Koko is the Bomb. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/5 "2008-11-26T05:43:29Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Heard Koko within the last 8 years in my neighborhood. Two block walk. I hate you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/6 "2008-11-26T12:34:09Z")
Koko hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/7 "2008-11-26T12:52:30Z")
Koko. No doubt. Sorry, Etta. Although for sheer vocal emotional power I’d jump genres and go for the late Mahalia Jackson. I’m an agnostic, but listening to her sing makes me want to put on a dark suit and run to church lest she rise from her grave and drag me there by the ear. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/8 "2008-11-26T13:58:50Z")
Great sentiment for Etta, but I’m afraid of Koko. The Alligator CDs in my rack tell no lies. ETA: Samclem, where? Tangier? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/9 "2008-11-26T14:15:53Z")
Anyone choosing Koko is out of their minds and has never seen [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfuF0c6Ht4Q) Etta James is a force of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/10 "2008-11-26T14:22:17Z")
I like 'em both, but I like Koko better, strictly blues-wise. (Gotta love the dancing chicks in the background of the linked Etta James video!)🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/11 "2008-11-26T14:28:25Z")
Over to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/12 "2008-11-26T15:02:06Z")
So help me out here. What should be my inaugural Koko Taylor CD? In my quick review of her music it appears that I want to choose either “Royal Blue” or the sampler album called “Deluxe Edition”. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/13 "2008-11-26T17:38:28Z")
[Koko](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3GLy0tKQ4) would kick Etta’s ass, then mop the floor with that silly blonde wig. > [@BubbaDog](#): > > So help me out here. > > What should be my inaugural Koko Taylor CD? > > In my quick review of her music it appears that I want to choose either “Royal Blue” or the sampler album called “Deluxe Edition”. I’d choose the Deluxe Edition. But My personal recomendation is “What It Takes.” ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/14 "2008-11-26T17:47:08Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > [Koko](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG3GLy0tKQ4) would kick Etta’s ass, then mop the floor with that silly blonde wig. Are you nuts? Etta would leave Koko Taylor in the dust. Etta James is second only to Aretha Franklin and Sr. Rosetta Tharpe when it comes to belting it out like your life depends on it. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/15 "2008-11-26T18:28:01Z")
Etta. Period. And she’s still got it. (saw her last year at the Casino at Niagara Falls). And as for that comment made about her blonde wig, I would like to say she is the only black woman I know that I permit to wear a blonde wig and still keep all her cool points. She is that incredible. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/16 "2008-11-27T00:41:28Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Great sentiment for Etta, but I’m afraid of Koko. The Alligator CDs in my rack tell no lies. > > ETA: Samclem, where? Tangier? Nope. The Highland Theater. Wonderful 1930s-40s cavernous old fashioned, for those who don’t live in Akron. I think we paid about $15. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/17 "2008-11-27T00:55:08Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > I’d choose the Deluxe Edition. Yeah, it’s got _Wang Dang Doodle._ And _I’m a Woman._ “Shake hands with the Devil, make him crawl in the sand.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/18 "2008-11-27T01:18:04Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Etta James is second only to … Sr. Rosetta Tharpe when it comes to belting it out like your life depends on it. From my own beloved [state.](http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1781) I didn’t know this thread would be so cool. 🙂 I was listening to Jame’s _Blues to the Bone_ today. It’s great, particularly _Smokestack Lightning,_ but her jazz album _At Last_ isn’t. Can you recommend any of her Jazz? ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/19 "2008-11-27T03:56:16Z")
Well, to preface, it’s a hang danged doodle to do this; there’s plenty of room for all tremendous women singers. My gut reaction is Etta, as she was bold and versatile, personal style as well as vocal, and was a badass when it wasn’t easy for women. Her mentor, Johnny Guitar Watson, was Hot in the same way, slicing through musical barriers with a cool ease. But, Etta certainly had ups and downs in her career; Glad to see that she has come through again,[Lookin’ Good Girl](http://www.soulbounce.com/soul/2008/02/21/etta_james_mature.jpg). Koko Taylor, is equally great, from a different perspective. An incredible voice, and certainly more even in her career, coming back to the fore with the deserved 90’s blues revival. She has been the steady rollin’ voice of the blues, and a main force of Chicago Blues from her great mentor Willie Dixon. They’re both great women vocalists, who’ve prevailed. Since you bring up Sister Rosetta, my absolute favorite; I think if we had the benefit of modern recording, and factoring in the guitar factor, she’d blow all of it away. There’s, of course, Memphis Minnie on that rather gleeful note. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527/20 "2008-11-27T04:30:58Z")
Ooh, tough one! I gotta go with Etta. After much soul searching, a great deal of crappy wine and extensive review of the household wax collection, Ms James is the winner. Koko & Aretha have tied for second. Aretha speaks to my white-bread girl heart a bit more frequently, but Ms. Taylor has the better voice. Bessie Smith could o’ been a contendah, but for the shitty sound quality (excerbated by a cat attack on my needle half way through the collection) of my ancient recordings, so I’ll give her an iffy third place, while welcoming a high-fidelity rematch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/koko-taylor-vs-etta-james/474527.md?page=2)