Release Date: 1991.
Recording Time: 62 minutes.
Recording Date: January 10, 1935 - October 31, 1935.
Release Info: Compilation (BDCD-6008) Studio Recording, Reissue, Remastered.
Styles: Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Chicago Blues, Acoustic Memphis Blues, Regional Blues, Classic Female Blues.
The first volume in Document's series of Memphis Minnie solo recordings collects the material she cut in Chicago over a period of six sessions between the first weeks of 1935 and Halloween of that same year. Her first sides following her personal and professional breakup with Kansas Joe McCoy, the material suggests a rebirth of sorts, marked by a new sense of experimentation -- two tracks, "Let Me Ride" and "When the Saints Go Marching Home," are pure gospel, while "Ball and Chain Blues" is her first step into the band style prevalent at the end of the 1930s. Among the other highlights are the tracks from her final Decca session, a solo date which spotlights her amazing guitar work. ~ Jason Ankeny
Informative booklet note by Howard Rye. Detailed discography.
With her musical and personal relationship with Kansas Joe McCoy ended, new directions inevitably had to be sought for Memphis Minnie's recording career. An air of experimentation can be detected in her first visits to the recording studio in 1935. The January 10th session is distinguished by a fine pianist whom she addresses as "Jimmie", which is generally taken to indicate Jimmie Gordon. Two of the numbers recorded are stomping bawdy songs, Sylvester And His Mule is textually more interesting. Telling of a cotton-pickers' (successful) appeal to President Roosevelt, it reflects optimism in the black community about the New Deal. On 15 January she recorded two gospel titles under the monicker "Gospel Minnie", even indulging in a spot of preaching. At her final Decca session in May, Minnie was alone with her guitar and her talents are displayed at their peak. Her mind was on travelling and she takes us south to Helena, Arkansas to meet Reachin' Pete, an "all right" cop, who's "the tallest man walks on Cherry Street", and Down In New Orleans, "where I can get my rice an' beans". When she returned to the studio in July Bluebird felt obliged to conceal her as "Texas Tessie". The two-guitar accompaniment harks back to the duet sound. August saw Minnie back with Vocalion. Ball And Chain Blues is her first recorded move into the band style of the late thirties. The mood is boisterous; the suicidal theme undermined by her derisive final aside, Ain't It A Cryin' Shame. Thereafter, Black Bob's wonderful piano playing takes over completely to dominate two tributes to boxer Joe Louis, a contemporary hero of the black community. With songs about Louis on both sides, Vocalion 03046 became a paean of praise to the conquering hero. Minnie's growling on He's In The Ring links it musically to the Gospel Minnie sides. It looks as though Vocalion didn't put Minnie under contract, since she was able to return to Victor under her own name in October 1935, with a similarly lively set up. The first two sides are dominated by the steel guitar of Casey Bill Weldon, her partner in pre-recording days in Memphis. Hustlin' Woman Blues presents her as a prostitute with pimp trouble and the memorable image, "I sit on the corner all night long, counting the stars one by one".
Credits: Dennis - Piano; Lizzie Douglas - Composer; Black Bob Hudson - Piano; Kansas Joe McCoy - Composer; Minnie McCoy - Composer; Memphis Minnie - Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Primary Artist, Vocals; Johnny Parth - Compilation Producer; Howard Rye - Liner Notes; Bill Settles - Bass; Rudi Steager - Executive Producer; Traditional - Composer; Casey Bill Weldon - Guitar, Guitar (Steel).
Personnel: Memphis Minnie - Vocals, Guitar, Speech; Black Bob - Piano; Casey Bill Weldon - Slide Steel Guitar; "Dennis" (Poss. Charlie Segar) - Piano; Bill Settles - Bass (String Bass).
Tracklist:
01. Dirty Mother For You - Memphis Minnie
02. Sylvester And His Mule Blues - Memphis Minnie
03. When You're Asleep - Memphis Minnie
04. You Can't Give It Away - Memphis Minnie
05. Let Me Ride - Gospel Minnie
06. When The Saints Go Marching Home - Gospel Minnie
07. Jockey Man Blues - Memphis Minnie
08. Weary Woman's Blues - Memphis Minnie
09. Reachin' Pete - Memphis Minnie
10. Down In New Orleans - Memphis Minnie
11. You Wrecked My Happy Home - Texas Tessie
12. I'm Waiting On You - Texas Tessie
13. Keep On Goin' - Texas Tessie
14. Ball And Chain Blues - Memphis Minnie
15. He's In The Ring (Take A) - Memphis Minnie
16. He's In The Ring (Take B) - Memphis Minnie
17. Joe Louis Strut - Memphis Minnie
18. When The Sun Goes Down, Part 2 - Memphis Minnie
19. Hustlin' Woman Blues - Memphis Minnie
20. Selling My Pork Chops - Memphis Minnie
21. Doctor, Doctor Blues - Memphis Minnie
All titles recorded in Chicago. Date (matrix, original release):
01. January 10, 1935 (C-9641-A, Decca 7048)
02. January 10, 1935 (C-9642-A, Decca 7084)
03. January 10, 1935 (C-9643-A, Decca 7084)
04. January 10, 1935 (C-9644-A, Decca 7048)
05. January 15, 1935 (C-9657-A, Decca 7063)
06. January 15, 1935 (C-9658-A, Decca 7063)
07. May 27, 1935 (90016-A, Decca 7125)
08. May 27, 1935 (90017-A, Decca 7125)
09. May 27, 1935 (90018-A, Decca 7102)
10. May 27, 1935 (90019-A, Decca 7102)
11. July 27, 1935 (91420-1, Bluebird B-6429)
12. July 27, 1935 (91421-1, Bluebird B-6141)
13. July 27, 1935 (91422-1, Bluebird B-6141)
14. August 22, 1935 (C-1098-B, Vocalion 03541)
15. August 22, 1935 (C-1099-A, Vocalion unissued)
16. August 22, 1935 (C-1099-B, Vocalion 03046)
17. August 22, 1935 (C-1100-A, Vocalion 03046)
18. October 31, 1935 (96226-1, Bluebird B-6187)
19. October 31, 1935 (96227-1, Bluebird B-6202)
20. October 31, 1935 (96228-1, Bluebird B-6199)
21. October 31, 1935 (96229-1, Bluebird B-6199)
Tracks 15, 16: "no pno/sb on 15, 16" - but aurally there is both piano and bass on this, and Blues and gospel records 1890-1943 (Oxford University Press, 1997) list them.
Tracks 18 to 21: "Casey Bill Weldon, stgtr on 19". Blues and gospel records 1890-1943 list Weldon for all four tracks, but aurally he's on 18 and 19.