Lizzie Douglas, b. June 3, 1897 in Algiers, LA, d. August 6, 1973 in Memphis, TN. Raised in Walls, Mississippi, Memphis Minnie learned banjo and guitar as a child, and ran away from home at the age of 13 to play music in Memphis; she worked for a time with Ringling Brothers Circus. When in Mississippi, she played guitar with Willie Brown, and in the 20s made a common-law marriage with Casey Bill Weldon. However, she was with Joe McCoy (under the pseudonym Kansas Joe) by the time of their joint recording debut in 1929. Her guitar playing had a strong rhythm, coupled with the ragtime influence common among the Memphis musicians, and her singing was tough and swaggering. 'Bumble Bee' was a hit, and Joe and Minnie recorded extensively, both together and separately; their guitar duets were among the finest in blues. Apart from songs about sex and relationships, Minnie sang about her meningitis (calling it, with gallows humour, 'Memphis Minnie-jitis'), about her father's mule, 'Frankie Jean', and about the guitarist 'Mister Tango'. The McCoys moved to Chicago in the early 30s, but split up in 1935, apparently as a result of Joe's jealousy of his wife's success. By this time, Minnie's music was reflecting changing tastes, usually featuring a piano and string bass, and sometimes trumpet or clarinet and a drummer. She was a star of the Chicago club scene, as she continued to present herself on discs as the tough, independent woman she was in reality. In 1939, she began recording with her third husband, Little Son Joe (Ernest Lawlars) on second guitar. They were early users of amplification, and made swinging music, although it lacked the rich complexity of her early recordings. Her lyrics were of considerable originality, as on a graceful tribute to Ma Rainey, recorded in 1940, six months after Rainey's death. 'Me And My Chauffeur Blues', with its boogying guitar, also became widely known. In the late 40s, Memphis Minnie ran a touring vaudeville company, and she continued to record after the war, playing tough electric guitar. Her efforts to keep up with trends were proving less successful, however, and in the mid-50s, she and Joe retired to Memphis. Joe was already unwell, and died in 1961, while Minnie was incapacitated from the late 50s, and lived out her life in nursing homes.
Memphis Minnie Biography by Barry Lee Pearson
Tracking down the ultimate woman blues guitar hero is problematic because woman blues singers seldom recorded as guitar players and woman guitar players (such as Rosetta Tharpe and Sister O.M. Terrell) were seldom recorded playing blues. Excluding contemporary artists, the most notable exception to this pattern was Memphis Minnie. The most popular and prolific blueswoman outside the vaudeville tradition, she earned the respect of critics, the support of record-buying fans, and the unqualified praise of the blues artists she worked with throughout her long career. Despite her Southern roots and popularity, she was as much a Chicago blues artist as anyone in her day. Big Bill Broonzy recalls her beating both him and Tampa Red in a guitar contest and claims she was the best woman guitarist he had ever heard. Tough enough to endure in a hard business, she earned the respect of her peers with her solid musicianship and recorded good blues over four decades for Columbia, Vocalion, Bluebird, OKeh, Regal, Checker, and JOB. She also proved to have as good taste in musical husbands as music and sustained working marriages with guitarists Casey Bill Weldon, Joe McCoy, and Ernest Lawlars. Their guitar duets span the spectrum of African-American folk and popular music, including spirituals, comic dialogs, and old-time dance pieces, but Memphis Minnie's best work consisted of deep blues like "Moaning the Blues." More than a good woman blues guitarist and singer, Memphis Minnie holds her own against the best blues artists of her time, and her work has special resonance for today's aspiring guitarists.