Of
all the female blues singers, Memphis Minnie, was perhaps one of the most
colourful. In a blues scene dominated by men, she could hold her own with
the best of them. She could swear, drink, use a gun, and enjoy a succession
of lovers as well as any man. She was also a very beautiful woman who always
dressed elegantly. She was christened Elizabeth when she was born to the
Douglas family in 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. In 1907 her family moved to a
small town in Mississippi, and by the time Lizzie was in her early teens she
could play guitar and banjo, busking on street corners for small change, and
using the name Kid Douglas. During her twenties she became an established
part of the
Beale Street blues circuit, and also toured
the southern American States in vaudeville and with
the famous Ringling Brothers Circus. When she was 32 years old, and already
divorced from first husband Casey Bill Weldon, she was recorded by the Columbia label,
accompanied by her second husband Kansas Joe McCoy.
The modest success of her release, "Bumble Bee", encouraged her to move to
Chicago where she stayed for the next 25 years. There her playing, drinking
and general bawdy behaviour made her a legend. She was recorded again in the
late 1930's with her then third husband, Ernest 'Little Son Joe' Lawlers, on labels such as
Bluebird and Vocalion, and she continued to record until her hard living
inevitably led to her health beginning to deteriorate when she was in her
mid 50's. She eventually returned to Memphis where she spent her last years
in a nursing home confined to a wheelchair. She died in 1973 aged 76.
Memphis Minnie with Kansas Joe McCoy -
Going Back
Home
Of
all the female blues singers, Memphis Minnie, was perhaps one of the most
colourful. In a blues scene dominated by men, she could hold her own with
the best of them. She could swear, drink, use a gun, and enjoy a succession
of lovers as well as any man. She was also a very beautiful woman who always
dressed elegantly. She was christened Elizabeth when she was born to the
Douglas family in 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. In 1907 her family moved to a
small town in Mississippi, and by the time Lizzie was in her early teens she
could play guitar and banjo, busking on street corners for small change, and
using the name Kid Douglas. During her twenties she became an established
part of the
Beale Street blues circuit, and also toured
the southern American States in vaudeville and with
the famous Ringling Brothers Circus. When she was 32 years old, and already
divorced from first husband Casey Bill Weldon, she was recorded by the Columbia label,
accompanied by her second husband 
The modest success of her release, "Bumble Bee", encouraged her to move to
Chicago where she stayed for the next 25 years. There her playing, drinking
and general bawdy behaviour made her a legend. She was recorded again in the
late 1930's with her then third husband, Ernest 'Little Son Joe' Lawlers, on labels such as
Bluebird and Vocalion, and she continued to record until her hard living
inevitably led to her health beginning to deteriorate when she was in her
mid 50's. She eventually returned to Memphis where she spent her last years
in a nursing home confined to a wheelchair. She died in 1973 aged 76.