01	Mother Nature						04:41
	02	If I Can't Be First						03:40
	03	Hound Dog						05:33
	04	Born Under A Bad Sign						06:22
	05	Let The Juke Joint Jump						06:09
	06	63 Year Old Mama						04:30
	07	Don't Put Your Hands On Me						02:55
	08	Bad Case Of Loving You						04:24
	09	Fish In Dirty Water						05:44
	10	Tit For Tat						04:32
	11	Put The Pot On						03:48
	12	Nothing Takes The Place Of You						04:41
	13	Spellbound						04:06
	14	Greedy Man						03:30

GRAMMY WINNER. Koko really packs a punch with this funky, high energy set. "****"-Rolling Stone

MORE INFORMATION

TRACKS
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1.) Mother Nature (Campbell, Trice Music, BMI) (4:41)
2.) If I Can't Be First (Turner, publisher unknown) (3:40)
3.) Hound Dog (Leiber & Stoller, Gladys Music, ASCAP) (5:33)
4.) Born Under A Bad Sign (Jones & Bell, Irving Music, BMI) (6:22)
5.) Let The Juke Joint Jump (Jackson, Zsadan Music, BMI) (6:08)
6.) 63 Year Old Mama (Taylor, Eyeball Music, BMI) (4:29)
7.) Don't Put Your Hands On Me (Estrin, Locked In Music, BMl) (2:53)
8.) Bad Case Of Loving You (Martin, Rockslam Music c/o Bug Music, BMI) (4:23)
9.) Fish In Dirty Water (Spencer & Moore, Eyeball Music, BMI) (5:45)
10.) Tit For Tat (Lindsey & Shell, Hoy Lindsey Music c/o Copyright Mgmt. Inc./Millhouse Songs c/o Songs Of Polygram, BMI) (4:31)
11.) Put The Pot On (Taylor, Eyeball Music, BMl) (3:48)
12.) Nothing Takes The Place Of You (McCall & Robinson, Toupat Music, BMI) (4:49)
13.) Spellbound (Taylor, Eyeball Music, BMI) (4:07)
14.) Greedy Man (Dollison & Lewis, Cashmac Music c/o Bug Music, BMI) (3:27)

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Koko Taylor, Vocals
Criss Johnson, Lead Guitar
Calvin "Vino" Louden, Guitar (solos on Tit For Tat and Greedy Man )
Jeremiah Africa, Keyboards
Jerry Murphy, Bass
Ray "Killer" Allison or Brady Williams, Drums
WITH
Buddy Guy, Guitar and Vocals on Born Under A Bad Sign
Carey Bell, Harmonica on Mother Nature

Horns arranged by Gene Barge:
Byron Bowie, Trumpet
Burgess Gardner, Trumpet
Gene Barge, Alto Sax
Henri Ford, Tenor Sax
Willie Henderson, Baritone Sax
Edwin Williams, Trombone

Produced by Criss Johnson, Koko Taylor and Bruce Iglauer
Recorded and mixed at Streeterville Studios, Chicago, IL
Engineered and mixed by David Axelbaum
Additional recording by David Brickson and Julian Herzfeld
Assistance by Rick Cruz and Mike Siebold
Mastered by Jay O'Rourke at Monster Disc, Chicago, IL
Photos by Peter Amft
Cover concept by Marc Lipkin
Cover design by Dave Forte and Matt Minde
Painting by Robert Amft

Buddy Guy appears courtesy of Silvertone Records

Born Under A Bad Sign is in memory of Albert King
Hound Dog is in memory of Big Mama Thornton and Elvis Presley

Koko Taylor is booked by Monterey Peninsula Artists, phone (312) 640-7500; fax (312) 640-7515
Koko Taylor is managed by Alligator Management, phone (773) 973-7736; fax (312) 973-2088

SPECIAL THANKS TO The Threatt Family, Scott Dirks, Nora Kinnally, Kerry Peace, Chris Young, Derek Ault, Jay Septoski, Robbin Sebastiani, Bob DePugh, Bill Wokersin, David Forte, Anthony Rogger, Lee Gutowski, Marc Lipkin, Eric Veldt, Rick Septoski, Tim Kolleth, Luisa Rosales, Rich Hay, Ingrid Grimes, Valerie Downs, Pat Burke, Ron Kaplan, Garry Buck, Ric Bracamontes, Sam Perlman, John Gabrysiak, Peter Munahan and the entire staff of American Famous Talent.



Force of Nature
Date of Release 1993

A solid contemporary blues album that ranges from Taylor's own "Spellbound" and "Put the Pot On," a rendition of Toussaint McCall's tender soul lament "Nothing Takes the Place of You," and a saucy revival of the old Ike & Tina Turner R&B gem "If I Can't Be First." Gene Barge once again penned the horn charts, Carey Bell contributes his usual harp mastery to Taylor's remake of Little Milton's "Mother Nature," and only Buddy Guy's over-the-top guitar histrionics on "Born Under a Bad Sign" grate. Long may the queen reign! - Bill Dahl

1993 CD Alligator 4817
1993 CS Alligator 4817


Koko Taylor - Force Of Nature

THE ROLLING STONE REVIEW

From the opening sting of Criss Johnson's guitar through the openhearted, deep-soul balladry of "Nothing Takes the Place of You," Force of Nature forces the listener to hear Koko Taylor with fresh ears. Though Taylor has long claimed the title of Queen of the Blues, such coronation seemed more a matter of lack of competition than depth of artistry, a reflection of raw vocal power rather than stylistic range - her blustery swagger limited to variations on the theme of "Wang Dang Doodle."

Force of Nature, however, finds Taylor attaining a royal level of accomplishment, one worthy of Muddy Waters, Bobby "Blue" Bland or any of the various Kings. While it might seem that the last thing the world needs is another version of "Born Under a Bad Sign," the tribute to Albert King finds Taylor and guitarist Buddy Guy tearing into the tune as if it were a sizzling T-bone, with Taylor spurring Guy into a more spontaneously charged performance than often marks his own recordings. Even more familiar and more inspired is "Hound Dog," sparked by a rhythmic arrangement that lets Taylor make the song her own.

The range of the album's material shows Taylor's mastery over several shades of blue, with her phrasing on "Fish in Dirty Water" matching the full-bodied horn arrangement of Gene "Daddy G" Barge in both sophistication and command of dynamics. She swings with sprightly assurance on "If I Can't Be First" and so thoroughly transforms "Bad Case of Loving You" (the Moon Martin-Robert Palmer hit) that it takes a verse or so to recognize the song in its grittier groove.

For all of the album's career-capping, audience-broadening ambition, the music never suffers from overcalculation or crossover contrivance. There's a charge of immediacy throughout that's more common to the midnight bandstand than the recording studio, particularly in the interplay of co-producer Johnson (one of Chicago's finest young blues guitarists, though he more often plays in a gospel context) and keyboardist Jeremiah Africa. As for Taylor, there's nothing pretty in her gravel-gargling tone, but she sings with a conviction that shakes life into even the hoariest blues cliches and makes them ring contemporary and true. (RS 676)

DON MCLEESE