Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe

Memphis Minnie - Born Lizzie Douglas In Algiers Louisiana She Was One Of The Most Influential And Pioneering Female Blues Musicians And Guitarists Of All Time. Minnie Recorded For Forty Years Virtually Unheard Of For Any Woman In Show Business At The Time And Possibly Unique Among Female Blues Artists. A Flamboyant Character Who Wore Bracelets Made Of Silver Dollars She Was The Biggest Female Blues Singer From The Early Depression Years Through World War II. One Of The First Blues Artists To Take Up The Electric Guitar In 1942 She Combined Her Louisiana-Country Roots With Memphis-Blues To Produce Her Unique Country-Blues Sound Along With Big Bill Broonzy And Tampa Red She Took Country Blues Into Electric Urban Blues Paving The Highway For Giants Like Muddy Waters Little Walter And Jimmy Rogers To Travel From The Small Towns Of The South To The Big Cities Of The North. She Was Married Three Times And Each Husband Was An Accomplished Blues Guitarist Joe McCoy A.K.A. "Kansas Joe" Later Of The Harlem Hamfats Casey Bill Weldon Of The Memphis Jug Band And Ernest Lawlers. After Learning To Play Guitar And Banjo As A Child At The Age Of Thirteen She Ran Away From Home To Memphis Tennessee Playing Guitar In Nightclubs And On The Street As Lizzie "Kid" Douglas. The Next Year She Joined The Ringling Brothers Circus. Her Second Marriage And Recording Debut Came In 1929 Both With Kansas Joe McCoy When A Columbia Records Talent Scout Heard Them Playing In A Beale Street Barbershop In Their Distinctive "Memphis Style" And Their Song "Bumble Bee" Became A Hit. In The 1930s She Moved To Chicago Illinois With Joe. She And McCoy Broke Up In 1935 And By 1939 She Was With Little Son Joe With Whom She Recorded Nearly 200 Records. In The 1940s She Formed A Touring Vaudeville Company. From The 1950s On However Public Interest In Her Music Declined And In 1957 She And Little Son Joe Returned To Memphis. In 1961 Joe Died And Minnie Suffered A Stroke Which Forced Her To Spend The Rest Of Her Life In Nursing Homes Until She Died In 1973. Kansas Joe McCoy May 11 1905–January 28 1950 -
Joe McCoy Played Music Under A Variety Of Stage Names But Is Best Known As "Kansas Joe McCoy." Born In Raymond Mississippi He Was The Older Brother Of Blues Accompanist Papa Charlie McCoy. As A Young Man He Was Drawn To The Music Scene In Memphis Tennessee Where He Played Guitar And Sang Vocals During The 1920s. He Teamed Up With Future Wife Lizzie Douglas A Brilliant Guitarist Known As Memphis Minnie And Their 1929 Recording Of A Song Called "Bumble Bee" On The Columbia Records Label Was A Hit. In 1930 The Couple Moved To Chicago Where They Were An Important Part Of The Burgeoning Blues Scene. Following Their Divorce McCoy Teamed Up With His Brother To Form A Band Known As The Harlem Hamfats That Performed And Recorded During The Second Half Of The 1930s. In 1936 The Harlem Hamfats Released A Record With The Song "The Weed Smoker's Dream" On It. McCoy Later Refined The Tune Changed The Lyrics And Retitled The New Song "Why Don't You Do Right?" For Lil Green Who Recorded It In 1941. It Was Covered A Year Later By Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee Becoming Ms. Lee's First Hit Single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" Remains A Jazz Standard And Is McCoy's Most Lasting Composition. At The Outbreak Of World War II Charlie McCoy Entered The Military But A Heart Condition Kept Joe McCoy From Service. Out On His Own He Created A Band Known As "Big Joe And His Rhythm" That Performed Together Throughout Most Of The 1940s. In 1950 At The Age Of 44 Joe McCoy Died Of Heart Disease Only A Few Months Before His Brother Charlie. They Are Buried In Restvale Cemetery In Alsip Illinois. Led Zeppelin Vocalist Robert Plant Took His And Memphis Minnie's Recording Of "When The Levee Breaks " Which Was In His Personal Collection And Presented It To Guitarist Jimmy Page Who Revamped It And Slightly Altered It Lyrically And Produced It On Their 1971 Album Led Zeppelin IV. It Is A Favorite Of Many Zeppelin Fans And A Highlight Of The Album. read less