Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Black Rat Swing
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes you is one black rat someday i'll find your trail
Then i'll hide my shoe, somewhere near your shirt tail
Yes i've taken you down town,paid your doctor bills
now i'm in a little trouble and you're trying to get me killed
Says, he sneaked in my kitchen,eat up all my bread
soon as i left home,start to cutting up in my bed
Yes you is one black rat someday i'll find your trail
Yes you is one black rat someday i'll find your trail
Then i'll hide my shoe, somewhere near your shirt tail
Break, yea beat it out
he must dance in the basement,was seen in my bedroom
trapping for the youngsters
i'm gonna catch him someday soon
The lyrics of Memphis Minnie's "Black Rat Swing" delve into the themes of friendship, betrayal, and revenge. In the song, Memphis Minnie accuses her friend, someone she once helped and took care of, of being a "black rat". She vows to find his "trail" and hide her shoe near his shirt tail as an act of revenge. This is a metaphor for Minnie wanting to physically harm the black rat.
The lyrics further illustrate the extent of the betrayal that Minnie feels in the context of the relationship between the two. She has taken him to the hospital and paid his medical bills but now feels that he is trying to kill her due to her ongoing problems. The black rat's actions, such as sneaking into her kitchen and cutting up her bed are presented as a form of revenge, possibly due to her present problems that she is unable to assist him with. The imagery used in this song is often violent as Minnie seeks to take revenge on the black rat.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes you is one black rat someday i'll find your trail
The singer is acknowledging the deceitful behavior of someone they know and promises to expose their lies.
Then i'll hide my shoe, somewhere near your shirt tail
The singer plans to execute revenge by placing a trap or obstacle in the path of the deceitful person to bring them down.
Yes i've taken you down town,paid your doctor bills
now i'm in a little trouble and you're trying to get me killed
The singer has been kind to the deceitful person in the past but now finds themselves in a difficult situation, and the same person is now trying to harm them.
Says, he sneaked in my kitchen,eat up all my bread
soon as i left home,start to cutting up in my bed
The artist is providing evidence of the deceitful person's behavior, such as sneaking into their personal space and causing damage.
Break, yea beat it out
Musical interlude, no meaning inferred.
he must dance in the basement,was seen in my bedroom
trapping for the youngsters
i'm gonna catch him someday soon
The singer suspects the deceitful person is up to no good and could be involved in inappropriate activities. They vow to bring this person to justice in the near future.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ERNEST LAWLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rievans57
What an incredible metaphor. This could be interpreted literally or figuratively. Long live Memphis Minnie and long live her music.
@sherrybirchall8677
Beautiful playlist. Missing one thing. What's the Matter with the Mill
@lastrada52
"... you is one black rat...someday I'll find your trail...yeah, you is one black rat...someday I'll find your trail...then I'll hide my shoes...somewhere near your shirt tail." Tell me if that doesn't sound like The Rolling Stones? This woman's songs are incredible. You won't hear this on commercial radio back in her day. Memphis Minnie...worth remembering...worth listening to...she looks, judging from the picture in the post, too attractive to be such a singer. But she's one of the best for sure.
@FatimaCantante
I would say Rolling Stones sound *like her ;-)
@lastrada52
And I would agree with you Ms. Maldonado.
@francheska404
this is not Minnie singin its her former husband Little Son Joe
@leitros
Rubbish.
@MrFranklinBlues
No, not rubbish. It is indeed Little Son Joe. I have the original 78, it has him credited on the disc.
@bobobekker
She sings what she feels and smell and saw and that real Blues Thanks
@Sinatrasalwaysinging
Indeed, Mr. Memphis Minnie--doing it big always, like the boss she was. ;)