Memphis Minnie, born Lizzie Douglas, was one of the premier blues artists of the 1930s and 1940s, rising through her singing, songwriting, spirited demeanor, and exceptional guitar playing in a field dominated by male guitarists and pianists. She spent most of her childhood in Mississippi and in the early 1900s lived in Tunica and DeSoto counties, where she was known as "Kid" Douglas and began performing with Willie Brown, Willie Moore, and other bluesmen around Lake Cormorant and Walls. Although census records placed her in Tunica County, she gave her birthplace as Algiers, Louisiana, on June 3, 1897. After her family moved to Walls during her teenage years, she soon went out on her own to make a living with her voice and guitar, reportedly joined the Ringling Brothers circus as a traveling musician, and then was drawn to Memphis and Beale Street, where she performed on the streets and in cafes, clubs, and parties. She began performing with Joe McCoy, whom she married in 1929, and after a talent scout heard them performing for tips in a barbershop, they made their first recordings that year as Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie. Their first release, recorded on June 18, 1929, included "When the Levee Breaks," and "Bumble Bee" became their big hit; in later years "When the Levee Breaks" became their most recognized song. The pair moved to Chicago and continued performing and recording together before Minnie later performed with and married Ernest Lawlars, also known as "Little Son Joe." She recorded prolifically throughout the 1930s and 1940s, with hits including "Me and My Chauffeur Blues," "Please Set a Date," "In My Girlish Days," and "Nothing in Rambling," and her showmanship and instrumental skill enabled her to defeat leading Chicago bluesmen, including Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy, in blues contests. She gained a reputation as a down-home diva who could handle herself, and her men, on and off the stage. Returning to Memphis in 1958, she died there in a nursing home on August 6, 1973, and is buried in the New Hope M.B. Church Cemetery. One of the rare women of her era to gain prominence as a guitarist, she overcame racism and sexism, was later hailed as a champion of feminist independence and empowerment, and was elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.
