Meet Memphis Minnie, "The Most Popular Female Country-Blues Singer of All Time"

Charlie Braxton
Jun 10
3 min read

Get to Know the First Woman to Play Blues on an Electric Guitar in Four Songs

In celebration of Black Music Month this year, we’d like to take a moment to spotlight a selection of artists with Mississippi roots who have significantly enriched the national music landscape.

"Bumble Bee" became so popular, she eventually recorded five versions of it.

The History

Memphis Minnie was born Lizzie Douglas June 3, 1937. Her connection to Mississippi began at age 7, when her parents moved to Walls, Miss., just three miles from Memphis, Tenn. She received her first guitar in Walls, and by the time she reached her teenage years, Minnie had developed a free spirit — one that longed for bigger and better things than the poverty she experienced as a child. At 13, she ran away from home and never looked back.

The Rise

Minnie landed in Memphis, where she quickly made a name for herself, performing with jug and string bands on Beale Street under the moniker Kid Douglas. Due to rampant sexism and misogyny, especially in the music business, life was hard on Minnie, which strengthened her resolve to succeed as a woman and musician. She earned a reputation for her no-nonsense attitude and amazing guitar skills. She is also the first woman to play blues on an electric guitar.

After touring the South with the Ringling Bros. Circus, Minnie made her way back to Memphis, where she became a member of the legendary Memphis Jug Band. The band was a training ground for the city’s aspiring blues musicians. At one point, she was the common law wife of guitarist Casey Bill Weldon, but subsequently married another budding bluesman, Joe McCoy.

The couple began performing together in 1929. They were discovered by a talent scout for Columbia Records and went to New York to record, where they were given the names Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie. By February 1930, they’d recorded "Bumble Bee" for Vocalion Records (which they’d preciously recorded for Columbia, though it was never released). "Bumble Bee" became one of Minnie's most popular songs. It was so popular, in fact, she eventually recorded five versions of it. By September 1934, Minnie and Joe divorced, and she moved to Chicago to ply her musical trade.

In Chicago, Minnie experimented with different styles and sounds. She recorded multiple tracks for Vocalin, and by the end of the decade, nearly 20 sides for Decca and eight for Bluebird Records. She also toured the South extensively in the 1930s. Not one to spend much time alone personally or professionally, she also married guitarist and singer Ernest Lawlars, known as Little Son Joe by 1938. And by the next year, the two were recording together. Son added a more rhythmic backing to Minnie's music. By 1941, Minnie had started playing electric guitar, and in May of that year recorded her biggest hit, "Me and My Chauffeur Blues." By the late 1940s, clubs had begun hiring younger and cheaper artists and Columbia was purging blues artists in favor of emerging R&B artists. Sadly, this purge included Memphis Minnie, and by the early 1950s, the blueswoman returned to Chicago. Unable to adapt to changing tastes, Minnie moved to smaller, blues-oriented labels, such as Regal, Checker, and J.O.B. died August 6, 1973; her remains were interred at the New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Walls, Miss.