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 titled the new song "Why Don't You Do Right?" for Lil Green, who recorded it in 1941. It was covered a year later by both Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, becoming Lee's first hit single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" remains a jazz standard and is McCoy's most enduring 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. The band again included his brother Charlie on mandolin and Robert Nighthawk on harmonica.[3] In 1950, at the age of 44, McCoy died of heart disease in Chicago, only a few months before his brother Charlie. They are both 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 help record it on Led Zeppelin's 1971 album, Led Zeppelin IV.
In addition to those mentioned earlier, McCoy's songs have also been covered by Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, The Ink Spots, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Ann Kelly, Cleo Laine and A Perfect Circle.
Memphis Minnie McCoy-Lawler (born Lizzie Douglas, June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana; died August 6, 1973 in Memphis, Tennessee) was an American Blues guitarist, vocalist, and composer.
Born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, Minnie was one of the most influential and pioneering female blues musicians and guitarists of all time. She recorded for forty years, almost 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 own unique country-blues sound; along with Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, she took country blues into electric urban blues, paving the way for giants like Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, 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: Kansas Joe McCoy (a.k.a. "Kansas Joe") later of the Harlem Hamfats, Casey Bill Weldon of the Memphis Jug Band, and Ernest "Little Son Joe" Lawlers.[1] Paul and Beth Garon's 1992 biography on Memphis Minnie, Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues, makes no mention of a marriage to Weldon, but only says that she recorded two sides with him, in November 1935, for Bluebird Records. It does describe the relationships and marriages to McCoy and Lawlers.[2]
After learning to play guitar and banjo as a child, she ran away from home at the age of thirteen. She travelled 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 marriage and recording debut came in 1929, to and 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.[3] 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 Lawlers, 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 Lawlers returned to Memphis. Lawlers died in 1961.
When Thvee Breaks
Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the water gonna come in, have no place to stay
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan (2x)
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break (2x)
And all these people have no place to stay
Now look here mama what am I to do (2x)
I ain't got nobody to tell my troubles to
I works on the levee mama both night and day (2x)
I ain't got nobody, keep the water away
Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good (2x)
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to lose
I works on the levee, mama both night and day (2x)
I works so hard, to keep the water away
I had a woman, she wouldn't do for me (2x)
I'm goin' back to my used to be
I's a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan (2x)
Gonna leave my baby, and my happy home
The song "When The Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe is a tale of a man who is caught in a disaster, as the levee is about to break open due to incessant rainfall. The levee is a man-made structure that holds back water, and if it were to break, there would be disastrous floods. The singer worries about the safety of his family, his home, and his community. He sits on the levee all night, moaning about his fate and thinking about his baby and happy home.
The song talks about how helpless the man is against the power of nature. Regardless of how hard he works, he cannot keep the water away. The levee, which was supposed to protect the town, has become his enemy, causing him to "weep and moan." The singer has nobody to turn to and nobody to share his troubles with. He keeps repeating "if it keeps on raining, levee's going to break," as he fears that the levee will not hold up any longer.
Line by Line Meaning
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break (2x)
Continuous rain is going to eventually lead to the breaking of the levee.
And the water gonna come in, have no place to stay
When the levee breaks, water will flood in and people will have nowhere to go and nothing to protect them.
Well all last night I sat on the levee and moan (2x)
The singer spent a sleepless night sitting on the levee, feeling despair over the situation and worrying about their loved ones.
Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home
The artist is deeply concerned for the safety of their family and home, which is causing them great emotional distress.
Now look here mama what am I to do (2x)
The artist is asking for help, feeling helpless and unable to solve the problem on their own.
I ain't got nobody to tell my troubles to
The singer is feeling isolated and alone in their struggle, lacking any support or guidance.
I works on the levee mama both night and day (2x)
The singer is dedicated to working hard to protect the levee and prevent the flood, but it is becoming an arduous task.
I ain't got nobody, keep the water away
Despite working tirelessly, the artist is feeling the futility of their efforts and is in need of assistance.
Oh cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do no good (2x)
The situation is beyond the point where tears or prayers can save them - action is needed.
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to lose
The levee breaking will result in significant loss and destruction.
I's a mean old levee, cause me to weep and moan (2x)
The singer's emotions are tied up with the levee and the gravity of the situation is causing them great pain and distress.
Gonna leave my baby, and my happy home
The devastation of the flood may result in the artist losing their family and home, which is a source of great sadness.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOE MCCOY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
kenneth nesmith
This is one song of many rising out of the flood of 1927. Considered as the worst in modern US history. There are reports about in Arkansas Mississippi river areas where entire African American families were forced to reside on levees 24 hrs a day , 7 days a week to maintain the levee and keep it from failing. If they failed these people would not only lose their life , but the lives of their entire family. Man's inhumanity to man has no bounds.
More songs arising from the flood of 1927
Backwater Blues : Bessie Smith
Heavy Water blues : Barbecue Bob
High Water Everywhere : Charlie Patton
dork optimus rex
IN ASSEMBLY
(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
_________
Introduced by M. of A. PERRY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the removal of
cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases who are poten-
tially dangerous to the public health
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 2120-a to read as follows:
3 § 2120-a. Removal and detention of cases, contacts and carriers who
4 are or may be a danger to public health; other orders. 1. The provisions
5 of this section shall be utilized in the event that the governor
6 declares a state of health emergency due to an epidemic of any communi-
7 cable disease.
8 2. Upon determining by clear and convincing evidence that the health
9 of others is or may be endangered by a case, contact or carrier, or
10 suspected case, contact or carrier of a contagious disease that, in the
11 opinion of the governor, after consultation with the commissioner, may
12 pose an imminent and significant threat to the public health resulting
13 in severe morbidity or high mortality, the governor or his or her dele-
14 gee, including, but not limited to the commissioner or the heads of
15 local health departments, may order the removal and/or detention of such
16 a person or of a group of such persons by issuing a single order, iden-
17 tifying such persons either by name or by a reasonably specific
18 description of the individuals or group being detained. Such person or
19 group of persons shall be detained in a medical facility or other appro-
20 priate facility or premises designated by the governor or his or l
David Mc
@Crash 77 I can't find reference to that.
But you're right. Speaking of right. I'm trying to recall the left clawed gal. Mhh.
Played, "I wish that old woman would die?"
She did! So did Mississippi John Hurt😊
My other reply disappeared. Came back because I misspelled Elizabeth Cotten's name. It aunty no lie, Rey reminds me of mom!! Cotten-Picken😆 left taught lefty. Played her brother's guitar upside down. And always did. Wow. I'll try to link in another.
Don't have time to expiriment!
Minnie's so freaking good. We're not worthy!
Yeah. Separate link worked!
Wring title. Not politically correct.
Even then. Well, for a Black woman 😢
jamesdeansghost55
By the early '70s she could no longer survive on her social security and so she was put in a small rundown nursing home in Memphis. Magazines wrote about her financial hardship and some readers sent her money for assistance. She died broke, sick and forgotten in that Memphis nursing home in 1973. Laid in an unmarked grave for twenty-three years until Bonnie Raitt bought a headstone for her grave in 1996...God love Bonnie Raitt!!, a true respecter of the blues.
Kathryn Ellicott
No it was Janis joplin who bought her headstone...
jamesdeansghost55
@Kathryn Ellicott That would be Bessie Smith
Smitty
She got royalties from the Led Zeppelin version.
Ray Gamino
I was this old today (54 years old Oct. 16, 2022) when I found out this isn’t Led Zeppelin’s song. I didn’t know for all these years. This one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs. Thank You Memphis Minnie for writing it and recording it. Thanks to the members of Led Zeppelin for realizing what a great song it is and putting your sound to it. Also to Bonnie Raitt for recognizing Minnie. Minnie if you read this just know 100 years later your song is still kicking ass over the air waves and in our hearts and soul. Thank You Miss Minnie. 🎼
Philip Dallmeier
40 years old for me
Yessboy 2
Me and you both friend
Michael Pouy
Most of LZ's early stuff was ripped off from the old timers, often without credit.
Joleen
I am 44😉
Kermit Mawyer
Alot of English rock bands some American too but mostly English grew up playing and listening to blues and delta blues so alot of them did covers of them like Ram Jam did Black Betty there's more but ehh..