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.
Drunken Barrel House Blues
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you listen to me good people, I′ll tell you what it's all about
Well that good stuff is here and it's just pouring out
Catch me drunk in the morning, don′t say one mumbling word
Catch me drunk in the morning, don′t say one mumbling word
I can't tell you all about it and I
Ain′t gonna tell you nothin' that hurts
Yeah I believe I′ll get drunk, tear this old barrelhouse down
Yeah I believe I'll get drunk, tear this old barrelhouse down
′Cause I ain't got no money, but I can hobo on out of town
Give me one more drink, drink of that bottle in bond
Give me one more drink, drink of that bottle in bond
And I will tell everything just as soon as I get back home
Give me a stein of beer if not a drink of gin
Give me a stein of beer if not a drink of gin
I feel myself gettin' sober, I wanna get back drunk again
The lyrics to Memphis Minnie’s “Drunken Barrel House Blues” is a song about a person who enjoys drinking and being in the moment. The song’s opening lines are a call for people to listen to what she’s about to say. She claims that she’ll tell them all about “what it’s all about” - meaning the joys of living in the moment and drinking. She then goes on to say that she doesn't want anyone to judge her for her drunken behavior, asking them not to say "one mumbling word" if they find her drunk in the morning. Minnie explains that she enjoys drinking because it helps her loosen up and have a good time. She even suggests that she believes getting drunk can give her the courage to "tear this old barrelhouse down".
As the song continues, she describes her love for potent drinks such as “bottle in bond” and how she would do anything just to have one more drink. She finishes the song by asking for another drink to get herself drunk again. Overall, the song is about enjoying oneself and living in the moment with no judgment from others. The lyrics may have been representative of the feelings and attitudes of African American women in Memphis during that era.
Line by Line Meaning
If you listen to me good people, I’ll tell you what it's all about
Pay attention, and I'll explain what's happening here.
Well that good stuff is here and it's just pouring out
There's plenty of alcohol, and it's flowing freely.
Catch me drunk in the morning, don't say one mumbling word
Don't judge me if you see me drunk early in the day.
I can't tell you all about it and I Ain't gonna tell you nothin' that hurts
I won't reveal too much information or anything negative.
Yeah I believe I'll get drunk, tear this old barrelhouse down
I plan to get drunk and have a wild time, perhaps causing some destruction.
'Cause I ain't got no money, but I can hobo on out of town
I don't have any money, but I can leave town and continue living as a hobo.
Give me one more drink, drink of that bottle in bond
Pour me one more drink, from that high-quality bonded whiskey.
And I will tell everything just as soon as I get back home
I'll share all the details of what happened as soon as I'm sober again.
Give me a stein of beer if not a drink of gin
Pour me a beer, or if none is available, give me a gin-based drink.
I feel myself gettin' sober, I wanna get back drunk again
I'm starting to feel less drunk, and I want to go back to being drunk.
Writer(s): Memphis Minnie
Contributed by Elliot J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.