Monday Morning Music Break ~ A Little Wang Dang Doodle with My Koko Koffee Break!

There's just something about the blues!
It's raw.
It's real.

But the blues is not always blue.
Sometimes it's downright fun and funny.

Some mornings I just have to get up and play
Koko Taylor's recording of Wang Dang Doodle.
It gets me hopping and happy.

Source:  You Tube ~ ThomShelford 

And what is a Wang Dang Doodle?

About.com/Blues defines it as
"An African-American slang term for a party."

But I think Urban Dictionary 
captures the essence of the term best:

"To a pitch a wang dang doodle 
is to have a good old fashioned Saturday night 
filled with drunken revelry, 
which may include but is not limited 
to fighting, dancing, singing and the like."

Sounds like some Saturday nights I enjoyed
in Westport, White Bay, Newfoundland!  

Source:  Amazon ~ Koko Taylor

Koko Taylor was known as the Queen of the Blues.

Daughter of a Tennessee sharecropper,
Koko arrived in Chicago 
with her truck-driving husband in 1952.
A few years later Koko began singing in Chicago blues clubs.

Willie Dixon discovered her in 1962. 
This led to her signing with Chess Records in 1965,
where she recorded Dixon's song Wang Dang Doodle.
It became a hit on the R&B and pop charts.
Her career was off and running!
Source:  Wikipedia

I discovered Koko Taylor

while watching Blues Brothers 2000.

Koko performed 
with B. B. King,
Eric Clapton, 
Clarence Clemons,
and other blues greats
in the supergroup
Louisiana Gator Boys
(created for the movie).
Source:  wikipedia

Blues Brothers 2000 
has a ridiculous plot,
but I found it 
irresistibly funny,
and the music was awesome!

And it introduced me
to Koko Taylor!
Source:  Wikipedia  








The lyrics in Wang Dang Doodle 
are colorful and authentic.
I would have shared them 
in a writing lesson with my third graders
had they been age-appropriate.
Here's a brief sample:

"Tell automatic Slim
Tell razor totin' Jim
Tell butcher knife toting Nanny 
Tell fast talking Fanny 
We're gonna pitch a ball 
Down to the union hall 
We're gonna romp and trump till midnight 
We're gonna fuss and fight till daylight 
We're gonna get your wang dang doodle all night long"
~ Willie Dixon


If you have time
(I'm making time!)
for a second cup of Koko Koffee,
here's a short clip 
from the Blues Brother 2000 movie.

It features the Louisiana Gator Boys 
and the Blues Brothers
performing New Orleans
in an infectious Battle of the Bands.

Koko is on the left in a red and white dress.
The music begins at 2:21 minutes.  

Source:  You Tube ~ sotirisgorgogetas

I double dare you 
to sit through the blues jam
without moving a muscle!

I'm going for a third cup this Monday morning!