What It Takes: The Chess Years

Koko Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 10, 1991)
• Original Release Date: September 10, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chess
• ASIN: B000002OBG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,002 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Edge, August 3, 2003

By 

Beth Johnston - See all my reviews

This review is from: What It Takes: The Chess Years (Audio CD)

If you like Etta James, you should love Koko Taylor. Taylor's fierce growl and profound feel for the blues make even Etta look timid. This is a fabulous record, and one that consistently provides the "Fire" that track 10 promises. As with the blues in general, these songs are about love and loss--people who done other people wrong. But between Koko Taylor's not-so-subtly threatening delivery and the dramatic lyrics to many of the songs, the album gives a coherent impression of a woman on the edge. When Koko points out that she's "A Little Mixed Up," when she tells a lover that "Whatever I Am, You Made Me," and when she warns him not to "Mess With the Messer," we believe her. She sounds serious. At the same time, the songs have plenty of humor, mixed with a good dose of the blues' frank sexuality, in songs like "[I Got] All You Need" and "Twenty Nine Ways [To My Baby's Door]" That last song always makes me laugh--the number's so much more precise than Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover," and as Koko points out, even though, "I got twenty nine ways to get to my baby's door . . . if he needs me bad I can find 'bout two or three more."

As if this weren't good enough, I should add that the music is the kind that makes you want to get up and move. While it probably does great music like this a disservice to advertise it as a fitness product, the truth is I used to listen to this album on long walks and it really got me going. I gave it to my mother one Christmas and with it in her CD player (and with the help of a rowing machine) she transformed her physique from that of a 50-year-old to that of a 15-year-old. Terrific stuff.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What comes first the egg or the hen, November 11, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: What It Takes: The Chess Years (Audio CD)

Oh my goodness. I am only 12 years old and when i heard this album I got up and starting singing which come first the egg or the hen. Koko and Willie Dixon together makes a great duet. The song Love me and uh huh my baby are classics as well as wand dang doodle. I reccomend to buy this album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent compilation!, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: What It Takes: The Chess Years (Audio CD)

This is an excellent compilation of Koko Taylor's early recordings, including several tracks from her self-titled debut. Her voice is in full force here. Willie Dixon, who often served as both songwriter and duet partner, is well represented. The two are especially effective on "Wang Dang Doodle."