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.
Frankie Jean
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Man, that's the running'est horse the world I ever seen
And it just do me good to ride old Frankie Jean
And it do you good to sit and listen at him sometimes
When he's coming down that plank road, almost making his feet talk
Man, that's the singlest-footing horse the world I ever seen
Something kind of like this
Go on, Frankie Jean, go on
I had him out with me once and he got loose
I couldn't catch him to save my life
I called Frankie Jean and I called him
He didn't seem to pay me no mind
I went and told my papa, ""How would you do if you want to catch a horse?""
He said, ""How did you do?""
I said, ""I called mine called Frankie Jean and called him
He didn't seem to pay me no attention""
Said, ""That's a horse, you can't, you didn't call him right
You must whistle when you want your horse to come to you
Something like this
Then he come single-footing to me
So I took him out again he got loose from me
I called him and called him
He didn't seem to pay me no attention
I thought about what papa said
You's a horse, I must whistle for you, something like this
Then he comes single-footing to me
I had him out on a race once
I had five thousand dollars betting on Frankie Jean
Folks, I wasn't scared at all, 'cause I know he wasn't going to let me lose
'Fore he let me lose, he'd run off all of his shoes
Something like this
Go on, Frankie Jean
In Memphis Minnie's song "Frankie Jean", she tells the story of her father's remarkable horse, Frankie Jean. She describes how fast he is during races and how he is the singlest-footing horse she has ever seen. She even compares riding him to a rejuvenating experience, claiming that it does her good to ride him, and listening to him is just as good.
The interesting thing about the song is that Frankie Jean is not just any ordinary horse. Memphis Minnie uses Frankie Jean's story to portray the importance of horse-whispering and building a rapport with animals. She tells of how she couldn't catch Frankie Jean when he got loose, but her father, who understood the horse better, could make him come to him with a whistle. She then imitates the whistle, and Frankie Jean comes single-footing to her.
Another interesting aspect of the song is the gambling element. Memphis Minnie admits to putting five thousand dollars on Frankie Jean in a race and not being scared because she knows he won't let her lose. This shows the trust and bond that she has with her father's horse.
Overall, "Frankie Jean" is a captivating song that tells the story of a remarkable horse while also showing the importance of communication and understanding with animals.
Line by Line Meaning
One time my papa had a horse, his name was Frankie Jean
My father once owned a horse named Frankie Jean
Man, that's the running'est horse the world I ever seen
Frankie Jean is the fastest horse I've ever seen
And it just do me good to ride old Frankie Jean
Riding Frankie Jean brings me joy and happiness
And it do you good to sit and listen at him sometimes
Just listening to him can bring you happiness
When he's coming down that plank road, almost making his feet talk
When he runs down the road, his hooves make a rhythmic sound like he's talking
Man, that's the singlest-footing horse the world I ever seen
Frankie Jean is the smoothest-moving horse I've ever seen
Go on, Frankie Jean, go on
Encouraging Frankie Jean to keep running
I had him out with me once and he got loose
Once Frankie Jean got away from me
I couldn't catch him to save my life
I couldn't catch him no matter how hard I tried
I called Frankie Jean and I called him
I tried calling Frankie Jean to come back to me
He didn't seem to pay me no mind
Frankie Jean ignored me and kept running
I went and told my papa, "How would you do if you want to catch a horse?"
I asked my father how to catch a horse
He said, "How did you do?"
My father asked how I tried to catch the horse
I said, "I called mine called Frankie Jean and called him
I told him I tried to call Frankie Jean, but he didn't come to me
He didn't seem to pay me no attention"
Frankie Jean ignored my calls
Said, "That's a horse, you can't, you didn't call him right
My father explained that I didn't call the horse correctly
You must whistle when you want your horse to come to you
Whistling is the appropriate method to call a horse
Then he come single-footing to me
Frankie Jean came to me when I whistled
So I took him out again he got loose from me
I took him out again, but he got away from me
I thought about what papa said
I remembered my father's advice
You's a horse, I must whistle for you, something like this
I realized that I need to whistle to get Frankie Jean's attention
I had him out on a race once
I once raced Frankie Jean
I had five thousand dollars betting on Frankie Jean
I bet $5,000 on Frankie Jean winning the race
Folks, I wasn't scared at all, 'cause I know he wasn't going to let me lose
I wasn't afraid of losing because I trusted Frankie Jean's speed
'Fore he let me lose, he'd run off all of his shoes
Frankie Jean would run so hard that he would wear out all of his horseshoes before he let me lose
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAWLERS, MINNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@27Atomic
One of my ALL-TIME MM favorites. I LOVE the whistling! This was also one of the very first Minnie sides I ever heard. Thanks for posting!
@dombat61
This woman was exceptional ! she speaks and whistles... For the time, it was super original ! (I think...)
@michavandam
No, vaudeville artists used to do that too.
@dombat61
But she speaks, she doesn't sing ! Rappers or Slamers did not invent anything !