memphis minnie (1897-1973)

Biography

Guitar Innovator & Music Pioneer

Memphis Minnie was easily one of the most influential, talented, and innovative blues musicians ever to record; period. She and Sister Rosetta Tharpe were “pioneers of the electric guitar,” being among “the first to use a National resonator guitar and one of the first to plug it in” (Johnson, 2007, p. 49). Throughout her prolific career, she recorded nearly 100 records (Garon & Garon, 2014). In the foreword to Woman with Guitar, Jim O’Neal (2014) noted that while Minnie’s recognition has grown significantly since the book’s original publication in 1992, there remains a dearth of comprehensive documentation on her career and analyses of her songs relative to her significance in the blues (Garon & Garon, 2014, p. 14). She was an exceptional guitarist, singer, and songwriter who influenced generations of musicians, including Precious Bryant, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, and Mance Lipscomb.

"Kid Douglas"

Memphis Minnie was born Lizzie Douglas, but her family affectionately called her “Kid” (Obrecht, 2019). While conflicting birth dates exist, 1897 is most often cited. Though she claimed Algiers, Louisiana, as her birthplace, census records suggest she was born in Mississippi (Obrecht, 2019). Regardless of the exact location, sources agree she grew up in rural Mississippi near Memphis, a region saturated with blues music (Blount, Jr., 2003; Strachwitz, 1964).

Her musical journey began at age seven when she learned to play on a one-string cigar box guitar (Obrecht, 2019). At thirteen, she ran away from home and began busking at W.C. Handy Park under the name "Kid Douglas" (Hite, 1983; Obrecht, 2019). She played at house parties, fish fries, and juke joints, eventually joining the Ringling Brothers’ Circus around 1916 and touring with them for nearly five years (Hite, 1983; Retman, 2020).

Image Source: John Tefteller's bluesimages.com

"Queen of the Blues"

By the time of her first recordings in the late 1920s, Memphis Minnie was a seasoned musician, songwriter, and singer (Kernodle, 2004). Her professional recording career began in 1929 when a Columbia Records talent scout saw her and Wilbur “Kansas Joe” McCoy playing for tips in a Beale Street barbershop. A Columbia Records executive named the duo “Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie” (Obrecht, 2019). Their first recording session on June 18, 1929 included the songs “When the Levee Breaks” and “Bumble Bee Blues,” the latter of which became an immediate success (LaNey, 1989; Obrecht, 2019).

Shortly after their first session, Minnie and McCoy married and moved to Chicago in 1930, where she lived for the next 27 years (Strachwitz, 1964). The duo continued recording throughout the 1930s including for “three of the major race series labels” Decca, Victor, and Vocalion Records (Obrecht, 2019; Retman, 2020). Minnie also performed on the Red Hot and Low Down radio program in the early 1930s (Garon & Garon, 2014).

Minnie’s partnership with McCoy ended around 1935 (Retman, 2020). She then worked as a solo artist and collaborated with Ernest “Little Son Joe” Lawler, whom she later married, in the late 1930s (Obrecht, 2019). Her adaptability helped her thrive during a time when blues styles were shifting after the Great Depression brought the recording industry to a standstill. As recording technology advanced, Minnie experimented with amplification and electric guitars, contributing significantly to the advent of urban blues (Garon & Garon, 2014; Retman, 2020). Additionally, her use of technology to shape her sound allowed her to sit at the intersection of vaudeville blues women and country blues men, occupying both worlds, while also serving as a bridge to the new post-war / Chicago blues (Retman, 2020).

Langston Hughes attended one of Memphis Minnie’s performances at the 230 Club in Chicago on New Year’s Eve in 1942. In a Chicago Defender article, he described her electric guitar playing as “scientific sound” (Hughes, 1995, p. 195). Retman (2020) later aptly dubbed her a “mechanical-age songster” (p. 84). Minnie’s prowess was undeniable; she famously defeated both Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy in a guitar contest. Broonzy remarked, “Memphis Minnie can pick a guitar and sing as good as any man I ever heard” (Obrecht, 2019).

“H-826, Memphis Minnie," in Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. (https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.1323/ref1956?t=W&q=memphis+minnie) [Used with permission]

"Remember Me Blues"

Memphis Minnie received numerous accolades during her lifetime and posthumously. She was among the first twenty performers inducted into the W.C. Handy Awards Hall of Fame in 1980 and won the top female vocalist award in the first Blues Unlimited Reader’s Poll in 1973 (Garon & Garon, 2014). She was also inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Her career flourished in styles typically dominated by male performers, ranging from country blues to Chicago blues (Blount, Jr., 2003).

Memphis Minnie’s career ended in 1962 when a stroke left her partially paralyzed (Strachwitz, 1964). She spent her final years in Memphis and passed away on August 6, 1973.

Her legacy lives on through numerous memorials, including markers on both the Mississippi and Memphis Blues Trails. Her influence on blues music is profound; she recorded over 200 sides and left a mark on the genre that few artists, regardless of gender, have matched (LaNey, 1989). Memphis Minnie’s innovation, versatility, and skill ensured that she would be remembered as one of the defining figures of blues music.

References

Blount, Jr., R. (2003, April). Memphis Minnie: Her own blues. Oxford American: Southern Music Issue, VI(45). https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-45-april-2003
Garon, P., & Garon, B. (2014). Woman with guitar: Memphis Minnie’s blues (Revised and Expanded). City Lights Books. https://archive.org/details/womanwithguitarm0000garo_h6h9
Hite, R. J. (1983). Moaning the blues [Liner notes]. MCA Records (MCA 1370). http://archive.org/details/lp_moaning-the-blues_memphis-minnie
Hughes, L. (1995). Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender: Essays on race, politics, and culture, 1942-62. University of Illinois Press. http://archive.org/details/langstonhughesch0000hugh
Johnson, M. V. (2007). Black women electric guitarists and authenticity in the blues. In E. M. Hayes` & L. F. Williams (Eds.), Black women and music: More than the blues (pp. 51–71). University of Illinois Press. https://www.worldcat.org/title/black-women-and-music-more-than-the-blues/oclc/1050048208&referer=brief_results
Kernodle, L. (2004). Having her say: The blues as the Black woman’s lament. In J. A. Bernstein (Ed.), Women’s voices across musical worlds (pp. 213–231). Northeastern University Press. https://archive.org/details/womensvoicesacro00bern
LaNey, M. L. (1989, January 5). Minnie is a “bad girl” on reissue. The Charlotte Post, 8A.
Obrecht, J. (2019, August). Let it roll: Memphis Minnie. Living Blues, 50, #4(262), 46–49.
Retman, S. (2020). Memphis Minnie’s “scientific sound”: Afro-sonic modernity and the jukebox era of the blues. American Quarterly, 72(1), 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2020.0004
Strachwitz, C. (1964). Blues classics by Memphis Minnie [Liner notes]. Blues Classics (BC-1). http://archive.org/details/lp_blues-classics-by-memphis-minnie_memphis-minnie

Interactive Timeline

Bibliography

Icon of five vertical books with Roman numerals I to V on the spines.

Reference works

Brennan, L. (1999). Memphis Minnie: “Hoodoo Lady.” In Contemporary musicians. [Electronic resource]: Profiles of the people in music (pp. 147–149). Gale Group. http://archive.org/details/contemporarymusi00luan

Feather, L. (1960). Encyclopedia of jazz (New Edition). Bonanza Books. http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofja0000leor

Ford, R. (2020). Memphis Minnie (Lizzie Douglas). In A blues bibliography: Update to the second edition (2nd ed, pp. 227–228). Routledge. https://worldcat.org/en/title/71842605

Garrett, C. H. (2013). The Grove dictionary of American music (second). Oxford University Press. http://archive.org/details/grovedictionaryo0002unse

Greig, C. (1999). Icons of Black music. Thunder Bay Press. http://archive.org/details/iconsofblackmusi0000grei

Harris, S. (1979). Blues who’s who: A biographical dictionary of Blues singers. Arlington House. http://archive.org/details/blueswhoswhobiog0000harr_n7r5

Henderson, A. N. (Ed.). (2002). Contemporary Black biography. Gale Research Inc. http://archive.org/details/contemporaryblac0033unse

Herzhaft, G. (1997). Encyclopedia of the blues (2nd ed.). Fayetteville, AR : University of Arkansas Press. http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herz

Kansas Joe McCoy. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kansas_Joe_McCoy&oldid=1234091968

Komara, E. M. (Ed.). (2006). Encyclopedia of the blues. Routledge.

Larkin, C. (1998a). The encyclopedia of popular music. Macmillan. http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpop500lark

Larkin, C. (1998b). The Virgin encyclopedia of the blues. Virgin. http://archive.org/details/virginencycloped0000lark

Memphis blues. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Memphis_blues&oldid=1238748112

Memphis Minnie. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Memphis_Minnie&oldid=1235635332

Oliver, P. (2001). Memphis Minnie. In Grove Music Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.18374

Price III, E. G., Kernodle, T. L., & Maxile, Jr., H. J. (Eds.). (2011). Encyclopedia of African American music: Vol. 2: H-O. Greenwood Press. http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofaf0002unse_b8j4

Salem, D. C. (1993). African American women: A biographical dictionary. Garland. http://archive.org/details/africanamericanw0000unse_v1x9

Santelli, R. (1993). The big book of blues: A biographical encyclopedia. Penguin. http://archive.org/details/bigbookofbluesbi00robe

Smith, J. C. (1996). Notable Black American women: Book II. Gale Research. http://archive.org/details/notableblackamer00jess

Smith, J. C., & Palmisano, J. M. (Eds.). (2000). Reference library of Black America (Vol. 5). Gale Group. http://archive.org/details/bwb_O8-DAI-411

Stambler, I., & Stambler, L. (2001). Folk and blues: The encyclopedia. St. Martin’s. http://archive.org/details/folkbluesencyclo0000stam

Books

Barlow, W. (1989). Looking up at down: The emergence of blues culture. Temple University Press. http://archive.org/details/lookingupatdowne0000barl_t3v3

Barlow, W., & Finley, C. (1994). From swing to soul: An illustrated history of African American popular music from 1930 to 1960. Elliott & Clark Pub. http://archive.org/details/fromswingtosouli0000barl

Bekker Jr., P. O. E. (1997). The story of the blues. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers. http://archive.org/details/storyofblues00bekk

Bernstein, J. A. (2003). Women’s voices across musical worlds. Northeastern University Press. http://archive.org/details/womensvoicesacro00bern

Blues: The complete story. (2007). Flame Tree. http://archive.org/details/isbn_9781844518128

Bourgeois, A. S. (2004). Blueswomen: Profiles of 37 early performers, with an anthology of lyrics, 1920-1945. McFarland. http://archive.org/details/blueswomenprofil0000bour

Brewer Phillips on Memphis Minnie. (2019). In Blues before sunrise. 2, Interviews from the Chicago scene (pp. 8–16). University of Illinois Press. https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1100427810

Broonzy, B. B. (1992). Big Bill blues: William Broonzy’s story as told by Yannick Bruynoghe. Da Capo Press. http://archive.org/details/bigbillblues00broo

Charters, S. (n.d.). Sweet as the showers of rain (Vol. 2). Oak Publications. Retrieved November 3, 2024, from https://archive.org/details/sweetasshowersof0000char/page/15/mode/1up?q=%22memphis+minnie%22

Cheseborough, S. (2004). Blues traveling: The holy sites of delta blues (2nd ed.). University Press of Mississippi. http://archive.org/details/bluestravelingho0000ches_h1o6

Collis, J. (1998). The story of Chess Records. Bloomsbury. http://archive.org/details/storyofchessreco0000coll

Cummings-Yeates, R. (2014). Exploring Chicago blues: Inside the scene, past and present. The History Press. http://archive.org/details/exploringchicago0000cumm

Cushing, S. (2010). Blues before sunrise: The radio interviews. University of Illinois Press. http://archive.org/details/bluesbeforesunri0000unse

Cushing, S. (2014). Pioneers of the blues revival. University of Illinois Press. http://archive.org/details/pioneersofbluesr0000unse

Davis, F. (1995). The history of the blues (first). Hyperion. https://archive.org/details/historyofblues0000davi_g9n5/page/95/mode/1up?q=%22memphis+minnie%22

Dickerson, J. (2000). Goin’ back to Memphis: A century of blues, rock “n” roll, and glorious soul. Cooper Square Press. http://archive.org/details/goinbacktomemphi0000dick_n1b6

Dixon, R., & Godrich, J. (1970). Recording the blues. Stein and Day. http://archive.org/details/RecordingTheBlues

Dixon, R. M. W., & Godrich, J. (1982). Blues & gospel records, 1902-1943 (3rd ed.). Storyville Publications. http://archive.org/details/bluesgospelrecor0000dixo

Erlewine, M., Bogdanov, V., Woodstra, C., & Koda, C. (1999). All music guide to the blues. In All music guide to the blues. (2nd ed.). Miller Freeman Books. https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/39756458

Evans, D. (2005). The NPR curious listener’s guide to blues. Berkley Pub. Group. http://archive.org/details/nprcuriouslisten0000evan

Evans, M. (2014). The blues: A visual history: 100 years of music that changed the world. Sterling. http://archive.org/details/bluesvisualhisto0000evan

Fischlin, D., & Heble, A. (2003). Rebel musics: Human rights, resistant sounds, and the politics of music making. Black Rose Books. http://archive.org/details/rebelmusicshuman0000unse

Frankel, R. (2019). She can really lay it down: 50 rebels, rockers & musical revolutionaries (who happen to be women). Chronicle Books. https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/1089256876

Garon, P., & Garon, B. (2014). Woman with guitar: Memphis Minnie’s blues (Revised and Expanded). City Lights Books. https://archive.org/details/womanwithguitarm0000garo_h6h9

Guralnick, P., Santelli, R., George-Warren, H., & Farley, C. J. (Eds.). (2003). Martin Scorsese presents the blues: A musical journey: The companion book to PBS series. Amistad. http://archive.org/details/martinscorsesepr00newy

Handy, D. A. (1981). Black women in American bands and orchestras. Scarecrow. http://archive.org/details/blackwomeninamer00hand

Harley, S., & Terborg-Penn, R. (1978). The Afro-American woman: Struggles and images. Kennikat Press. http://archive.org/details/afroamericanwoma0000unse

Harrison, D. (1993). The world of blues. Studio Editions. http://archive.org/details/worldofblues0000harr

Hay, F. J. (Ed.). (2001). Goin’ back to sweet Memphis: Conversations with the blues. University of Georgia Press. http://archive.org/details/goinbacktosweetm0000hayf

Hughes, L. (1995). Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender: Essays on race, politics, and culture, 1942-62. University of Illinois Press. http://archive.org/details/langstonhughesch0000hugh

Jens, T. L. (2002). The blues ain’t nothin’: Tales of the lonesome blues pub. Design Image. http://archive.org/details/bluesaintnothint0000jens

Johnson, M. V. (2007). Black women electric guitarists and authenticity in the blues. In E. M. Hayes & L. F. Williams (Eds.), Black women and music: More than the blues (pp. 51–71). University of Illinois Press. http://archive.org/details/blackwomenmusicm0000unse

Kernodle, L. (2004). Having her say: The blues as the Black woman’s lament. In J. A. Bernstein (Ed.), Women’s voices across musical worlds (pp. 213–231). Northeastern University Press. https://archive.org/details/womensvoicesacro00bern

Leder, J. (1985). Women in jazz: A discography of instrumentalists, 1913-1968. Greenwood Press. http://archive.org/details/womeninjazzdisco00lede

Lomax, A. (1993). The land where the blues began. Pantheon Books. http://archive.org/details/landwherebluesbe0000loma

Nager, L. (1998). Memphis beat: The lives and times of America’s musical crossroads. St. Martin’s Press. http://archive.org/details/memphisbeatlives00nage

Ntiri, D. W. (2015). Literacy as gendered discourse: Engaging the voices of women in global societies. Information Age Publishing. http://archive.org/details/literacyasgender0000unse

Oakley, G. (1978). The devil’s music: A history of the blues. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. http://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl

Obrecht, J. (2000). Rollin’ and tumblin’: The postwar blues guitarists. Miller Freeman Books. http://archive.org/details/rollintumblinpos00obre

O’Brien, L. (1996). She bop: The definitive history of women in rock, pop, and soul. Penguin Books. http://archive.org/details/shebopdefinitive00obri

O’Brien, L. (2002). She bop II: The definitive history of women in rock, pop, and soul. Continuum. http://archive.org/details/shebopiidefiniti0000obri

Oliver, P. (1968). Screening the blues: Aspects of the blues tradition (unabridged paperback). Da Capo Press. https://archive.org/details/screeningbluesas0000oliv/page/n4/mode/1up?q=%22memphis+minnie%22

Oliver, P. (1998). The story of the blues. Northeastern University Press. http://archive.org/details/isbn_9781555533540

Oliver, P., Harrison, M., & Bolcom, W. (1986). Gospel, blues and jazz with spirituals and ragtime. W. W. Norton & Company. http://archive.org/details/gospelbluesjazzw00oliv

Ownby, T. (1999). American dreams in Mississippi: Consumers, poverty & culture, 1830-1998. University of North Carolina Press. http://archive.org/details/americandreamsin0000ownb

Robert M.W. Dixon, John Godrich, & Howard Rye (Eds.). (1997). Blues and gospel records 1890-1943 (4th ed.). Clarendon Press. http://archive.org/details/bluesgospelrecor00robe

Rowe, M. (1973). Chicago breakdown. Eddison Press. http://archive.org/details/chicagobreakdown0000rowe

Rowe, M. (1981). Chicago blues: The city & the music. Da Capo Press. http://archive.org/details/chicagobluescity0000rowe

Sackheim, E. (Ed.). (1993). The blues line: A collection of blues lyrics. Ecco Press. http://archive.org/details/blueslinecollect0000unse

Sonnier, A. M. (1994). A guide to the blues: History, who’s who, research sources. Greenwood Press. http://archive.org/details/guidetoblueshist0000sonn

Swartley, A. (1997). Little mamas, wild women, and balls of fire: The blues. In B. O’Dair (Ed.), Trouble girls: The Rolling Stone book of women in rock (pp. 5–20). Random House. http://archive.org/details/troublegirlsroll00odai

Titon, J. T. (1994). Early downhome blues: A musical and cultural analysis (second). University of North Carolina Press. http://archive.org/details/earlydownhomeblu0000tito

Uschan, M. V. (2012). The blues. Lucent Books. http://archive.org/details/blues0000usch

Uschan, M. V. (2013). The history of the blues. Lucent Books. http://archive.org/details/historyofblues0000usch

Woods, C. A. (1998). Development arrested: The blues and plantation power in the Mississippi Delta. Verso. http://archive.org/details/developmentarres0000wood_b6t1

Black vinyl record icon on a light gray background.

Record Catalogs

Brown, W. (1996). The Columbia Records (U.S.) 3500/40000 series popular singles discography 1939-1974. William Brown Productions. http://archive.org/details/columbia-1939-1974

Columbia numerical catalog 1947 (first). (1947). Columbia Recording Corporation. http://archive.org/details/columbia-numerical-catalog-1947

Columbia Records supplementary catalogue 1931. (1931). Columbia Phonograph Company. http://archive.org/details/columbiarecordss00colu_0

Garrod, C. (1990). Columbia 78 rpm master listing: Chicago 501-4999 January 12, 1933, to February 2, 1949. Joyce Record Club. http://archive.org/details/columbia78chicago00garr

Ruppli, M. (1996). The Decca labels: A discography. Greenwood Press. http://archive.org/details/deccalabelsdisco02rupp

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Dissertations & Theses

Lewis, K. G. (2020). Mothers and Sisters: Instrument and Idiom in the Music of Maybelle Carter, Memphis Minnie and Sister Rosetta Tharpe [Dissertation, University of Surrey]. https://openresearch.surrey.ac.uk/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Mothers-and-sisters--instrument-and/99511311402346

Matabane, M. I. (2014). Axe to grind: A cultural history of Black women musicians on the acoustic and electric guitar in the United States [Dissertation, James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University]. https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/ws859f962?locale=en

Pugh-Patton, D. M. (2007). Images and lyrics: Representations of African American women in blues lyrics written by Black women [California State University San Bernadino]. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3235

Venchuk, A. M. (2015). Mitigating the marginalization of women blues guitarists: An analysis of Memphis Minnie’s proto-feminism [Honors thesis, University of Michigan]. https://lsa.umich.edu/english/undergraduate/Capstone/thesis-archive.html

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Scholarly Articles

Dee Cervantes, L. (2003). Memphis Minnie, genocide, and identity politics: A conversation with Alex Stein. Michigan Quarterly Review, 42(4), 631–647.
Lorre, S. (2020). ‘Mama, he treats your daughter mean’: Reassessing the narrative of British R&B with Ottilie Patterson. Popular Music, 39(3–4), 482–503. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143020000574
Retman, S. (2020). Memphis Minnie’s “scientific sound”: Afro-sonic modernity and the jukebox era of the blues. American Quarterly, 72(1), 75–102. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2020.0004
Tribbett, Marcus Charles. 1998. “`Everybody Wants to Buy My Kitty’: Resistance and the Articulation of the Sexual Subject in the Blues of Memphis Minnie.” Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies 29(1):42–54.

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News & Magazine articles

Blues Guitar Women De Memphis Minnie à Larkin Poe. (2023, September). Soul Bag, 251: Sister Rosetta Tharpe. https://www.soulbag.fr/magazines/n251-sister-rosetta-tharpe/

Blount, Jr., R. (2003, April). Memphis Minnie: Her own blues. Oxford American: Southern Music Issue, VI (45). https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-45-april-2003

Greenblatt, M. (2013, October 15). You just don’t mess with blueswoman Memphis Minnie. Goldmine Magazine. https://www.goldminemag.com/articles/you-just-dont-mess-with-blueswoman-memphis-minnie

Hooley, D. (1998, April 17). Looking back at the queen of rock and the queen of blues guitar; Prince lets us inside his royal vault. The Campus Echo (North Carolina Central University Student Newspaper, 6.

LaNey, M. L. (1989, January 5). Minnie is a “bad girl” on reissue. The Charlotte Post, 8A.

Memphis Minnie. (n.d.). Sing Out!, v.22(4). Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://singout.org/product/sing-out-v-224/

Obrecht, J. (2019, August). Let it roll: Memphis Minnie. Living Blues, 50, #4(262), 46–49.

Prolific, confessional and a no-bullsh*t character: How Memphis Minnie became one of the most incendiary guitarists of her day. (2023, March 31). Guitar Player. https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/memphis-minnie

Shaffer, V. (2018, June). Ten of blues most early influential female guitarists. Guitar Girl Magazine, 1(3). http://www.peachmusic.com/live/images/stories/reviews/180505-Peach-Guitar-Girl-Magazine-vol1-issue3.pdf

The 250 greatest guitarists of all time. (2023, October 15). Rolling Stone. https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/-51028/memphis-minnie-2-51132/

Thill, S. (2000, August 30). A short history of 'When the levee breaks". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2008/08/a-short-history/

Black silhouette of a video camera with a musical note on the screen.

Music Reviews

Garon, P. (n.d.). Me and my chauffeur blues—Memphis Minnie (1941). National Recording Registry Essay. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/MemphisMinnie.pdf

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Selected websites

Briton, JoBeth. 1997. “The Forgotten Queen: Was Memphis Minnie the Mother of Electric Blues Guitarists?” The Worcester Phoenix. Retrieved December 11, 2024 (https://worcesterphoenix.com/archive/music/97/06/20/MEMPHIS_MINNIE.html).

Dave. (2014, November 23). Memphis Minnie on the ice box. Deep Roots. http://deeperrootsradio.com/blog/memphis-minnie-on-the-ice-box/

Hahn, R. (2021, January 17). Memphis Minnie. 64 Parishes. https://64parishes.org/entry/memphis-minnie

Havers, R. (2019, August 5). Memphis Minnie – The best thing goin’ in the woman line. Discover Music. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/memphis-minnie-the-best-thing-goin-in-the-woman-line/

Lizzie “Kid” Douglas, “Memphis Minnie”—Memphis School [Archived from the original]. (2006, October 31). Trail of the Hellhound (National Park Service). https://web.archive.org/web/20061031060327/http://www.cr.nps.gov/delta/blues/people/memphis_minnie.htm

Moore, R. (2021, August 2). Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, “When the levee breaks.” American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/kansas-joe-mccoy-memphis-minnie-levee-breaks/

Neff, J. (2016, October 20). Graded on a curve: Memphis Minnie, blues classics. The Vinyl District. https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/graded-on-a-curve-memphis-minnie-blues-classics-2/

Nine o’clock blues: Memphis Minnie. (2013, February 9). KUNC. https://www.kunc.org/music/2013-02-09/nine-oclock-blues-memphis-minnie

Pengra, M., & Taylor, L. (2024, June 7). Classic Americana: Memphis Minnie. The Current. https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2024/06/07/classic-americana-memphis-minnie

Powell, M. (2019, September 25). Memphis Minnie (1887-1973). Black Past. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/memphis-minnie-1887-1973/

Rey, D. (1997). Memphis Minnie: Her story. Memphis Minnie. https://memphisminnie.com/

Simon, J. (2022, June 9). Women’s blues: Memphis Minnie, part 1. Women’s Song Forum. https://www.womensongforum.org/2022/06/09/womens-blues-memphis-minnie-part-1/

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Podcasts & Radio

Duijsens, F. (2022, June 16). Podcast #54: Memphis Minnie [Audio recording]. https://deadladiesshow.com/2022/06/16/podcast-54-memphis-minnie/

Old time record review Program no. 1.11, Memphis Minnie; Program no. 1.12, Negro religious music #1. (n.d.). [Broadcast].

When the levee breaks. (2011, December 12). [Streaming]. BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0183t4v

Stylized silhouette of a guitar with musical notes on a white background.

Interviews & performances

Broonzy, B. B. (1947, March 2). Commentary by Big Bill Broonzy on Memphis Minnie, Lonnie Johnson, and Blind Blake [Audio recording]. Cultural Equity. https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/blues-mississippi-night-interviews-1947/new-york-city-347/commentary-big-bill-broonzy-7

Ledebur, A. von (Director). (n.d.). Memphis Minnie (1929-53) songs in order of years recorded [Streaming]. YouTube. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB8gnhhghIqkYINS81_RJ06ij_bRcXn_L

Ortiz Gaitan, C. (Director). (n.d.). Memphis Minnie “Complete recorded works 1935-1941-Vol 1” [Streaming]. YouTube. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvxWibFr0wiLRdqiFndBjKVp1ydRBpru2

Spencer, O. (1939, August 1). Notes on Minnie Ward (Page 1). https://cdm16818.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/IllWriters/id/9513

Icon of a web browser window with a trophy and two circles containing the number "1".

Awards & Historical Markers

Awards winners and nominees: Memphis Minnie. (n.d.). Blues Foundation. Retrieved June 29, 2024, from https://blues.org/awards/

Memphis Minnie. (n.d.). The Mississippi Blues Trail. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/memphis-minnie

Memphis Minnie. (2015, October 18). Memphis Music Hall of Fame. https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/memphisminnie/

Memphis Minnie Mississippi Blues Trail. (2024, May 31). Historical Marker Database. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=233857

Moore, T. D. (n.d.). Memphis Minnie. Mount Zion Memorial Fund. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from http://www.mtzionmemorialfund.org/p/memphis-minnie.html

Reed, E. (2006, June 18). Memphis Minnie McCoy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14639079/memphis_minnie-mccoy

Staff Report. (2007, September 25). Memphis Minnie honored with Miss. Blues Trail marker. Picayune Item. https://www.picayuneitem.com/2007/09/memphis-minnie-honored-with-miss-blues-trail-marker/

Archives & Special Collections

Use the keyword map below to search the archival collections listed here for materials about and related to Memphis Minnie. (Click Image to Enlarge)

Lomax Digital Archive

"The Lomax Digital Archive provides free access to audio/visual collections compiled across seven decades by folklorist Alan Lomax (1915–2002) and his father John A. Lomax (1867–1948)."

Archival Materials related to Memphis Minnie: Commentary by Big Bill Broonzy on Memphis Minnie, Lonnie Johnson, and Blind Blake

The Blues Archive

"The Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi acquires and preserves blues and blues-related materials in a variety of formats for scholars and blues fans alike. With thousands of sound recordings, photographs, videos, books, periodicals, newsletters, research collections, memorabilia, and more the Blues Archive houses one of the largest blues collections in the world."

Archival materials for Memphis Minnie can be found in the following collections within The Blues Archive:

Keith Ferguson Papers

"The Keith Ferguson collection includes artifacts, manuscripts, and audio-visual materials from the childhood and professional career of the internationally respected musician."

Archival materials for Memphis Minnie are located in the Audio-Visual Materials series (Items 13 & 28).

Finding aid: https://txarchives.org/ttusw/finding_aids/40005.xml

Pete Welding Collection

"Collection of over eight hundred sound tape reels, including blues and jazz music and interviews with musicians; several hundred photographs of prominent blues and jazz musicians, primarily from the 1960s and 1970s; manuscript materials about blues and jazz musicians, arranged by the name of performer; and articles, drafts, and notes written by Pete Welding, journalist, record producer, and historian of blues music."

Search within the finding aid to uncover the long list of content items related to Memphis Minnie.

Finding aid: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/eadafc.af021010

By Rosetta Reitz, Duke University - Rosetta Reitz, Duke University Jazz Archive, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Rosetta Reitz Papers

Rosetta Reitz (1924-2008) was a business owner, stock broker, university lecturer, [. . .] writer, [and] founder and owner of Rosetta Records, a company most prominent in the 1980s that was dedicated to re-releasing historic recordings by female jazz and blues musicians."

Archival materials for Memphis Minnie are located in the Writings (Box 12), Photographs (Box 17), and Reference Materials Series (Box 37).

Find aid: https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/reitzrosetta_aspace_ref723_an7

Southern Folklife Collection: Bruce Bastin Collection

"Bruce Bastin is a folklorist, author, and managing director of Interstate Music, a record label specializing in blues, jazz, R&B, country, western swing, Latin American, and world music. The collection consists of Interstate Music production masters, reference sound recordings compiled by Bastin, and sound recordings related to Bastin's book on American music publisher Joe Davis. The collection also contains documentation found with select sound recordings. Documentation consists mostly of tape logs, memos, letters, and photocopies of Interstate Music album artwork."

The collection includes Open Reel Audio of Memphis Minnie's World of Trouble, Hot Stuff, and My Girlish Days.

Finding aid: https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20428/

UW Ethnomusicology Archives Audio Recordings: Bob Koester Recordings (Old Blues)

"Robert Gregg Koester (1932-) is the founder and owner of Delmark records, which is the oldest jazz and blues independent record label in the US. Koester grew up in Wichita, Kansas during the big band era of jazz music."

The collection consists of copies of 78 rpm records. Search the finding aid to locate Memphis Minnie.

Finding aid: https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv875914?q=memphis%20minnie

Photo collections

Copyrighted Images Require Permission for Use

"The Down Home Queen" (Flickr)

last.fm

Archives of African American Music and Culture Collections

Memphis Minnie with Joe Dobbins, 1968

Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection

Little Blues Book (R. Crumb Illustrations)

Music

Selected Discography & Liner Notes:
Sources: Discogs, Wikipedia, & Internet Archive (See Woman with Guitar for a more complete list)

Blues Classics by Memphis Minnie

Blues Classics (BC-1). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation. Released 1964. View Liner Notes

The Country Girls! 1927-1935 (16 Rare Blues And Ballads With Guitar)

Original Jazz Library (OJL-6). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation. Released 1964. View Images and Archives

Early Recordings with Kansas Joe McCoy, vol. 2

Blues Classics (BC 13). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono. Released 1967. View Liner Notes

1941-1949

Sunflower (ET - 1400). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono. Released 1968 (UK). View Images

1934-1941

Flyright Records (LP108/FLY LP 108). Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono, Compilation. Released 1973. View Images

1936-1949 Hot Stuff

Magpie Records (PY 1806). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono. Released 1977 (UK). View Images

World of Trouble

Flyright Records (FLY-585). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Remastered, Mono. Released 1982 (UK). View Liner Notes

Moaning the Blues

MCA Records (MCA-1370). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation. Released 1983. View Liner Notes

In My Girlish Days 1930-1935

Travelin' Man (TM 803). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono. Released 1984 (UK). View Images

1930-1941

Old Tramp (OT - 1207). Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Mono. Released 1987 (Netherlands). View Images

I Ain't No Bad Gal

Portrait (RK 44072). Format: CD. Released 1988 (UK). View Liner Notes

Hoodoo Lady: 1933-1937

Columbia (CK 46775) / Legacy (CK 46775). Format: CD, Mono Compilation. Released 1991. View Liner Notes

Complete Recorded Works 1935-1941 in Chronological Order Volume 1 (10 January to 31 October 1935)

RST Records (BDCD-6008). Format: CD. Released 1991 (Austria). View Liner Notes

Queen of the Blues

Columbia (CK 65212). Format: CD, Compilation. Released Oct. 7, 1997. View Liner Notes

Pickin' the Blues

Catfish Records (KAT CD158). Format: CD. Released 2000 (UK). View Liner Notes

Me & My Chauffeur Blues

Aim Records (AIM 0018 CD). Format: CD. Released 2000. View Liner Notes

Blues Guitar Women

Ruf records (RUF 1110)(RCD 10322). Format: CD, Compilation. Released Oct. 25, 2005. View Liner Notes

Lessons

The Blues Guitar Styles of Memphis Minnie

Featured songs include Drunken Barrelhouse Blues; You Can't Rule Me; Caught Me Wrong Again; I Don't Want That Junk Out Of You; Soo Cow Soo; Ain't No Use to Tell On Me, Chickasaw Train and more.

BUY