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.
I'm A Bad Luck Woman
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Doggone woman take from him he's a doggone fly
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
Well the next man I got, you know he worked very hard
Just as soon as I got him he lost his doggone job
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
Well the next man I got he was a railroad man
Just as soon as I got him everything went out his doggone hands
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
Well the next man I got he was long and tall
Everytime I look around he was kickin' at someone other mans jaw
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
(Ok, my boy... play for me!
That's what I am talking about...)
Well the next man I got he was short and fat
I couldn't keep him because he wasn't taught like that
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
Well the next man I got he was a sandhawk in the sea
I had him two days and he got drowned away from me
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman
I'm a bad luck woman I can't see the reason why
In Memphis Minnie's song "I'm a Bad Luck Woman," the singer laments her apparent curse of bringing misfortune to every man that she becomes involved with. The lyrics are composed of a series of verses, each detailing a different doomed relationship. The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song by declaring, "Every man I get, he won't get sick - he will die; Doggone woman take from him he's a doggone fly." This opening line immediately establishes the idea that the singer is a source of bad luck for the men in her life, and that her presence is somehow toxic to their well-being.
In subsequent verses, we learn more about her ill-fated relationships, including one with a man who lost his job as soon as she started seeing him and another who was a railroad worker, but experienced a spate of bad luck as soon as they became involved. Other relationships are characterized by physical violence or incompatibility. The last verse tells the story of a man who was a sailor, but who tragically drowned just two days after beginning a relationship with the singer.
Taken together, the song can be interpreted as a commentary on the role of women in relationships, particularly in the early 20th century when the song was written. The singer seems to be blaming herself for the bad luck that befalls her partners, as if her mere presence is enough to bring about their downfall. However, it is also possible to read the song as a critique of patriarchal structures that place an undue burden of responsibility on women to "keep" their men happy and successful.
Line by Line Meaning
Every man I get, he won't get sick - he will die
Whenever I'm with a man, his life will end in death.
Doggone woman take from him he's a doggone fly
Once I am done with him, he'll be worthless and powerless.
I'm a bad luck woman
I bring nothing but misfortune and bad luck wherever I go.
I can't see the reason why
I don't understand why things always go wrong whenever I'm around.
Well the next man I got, you know he worked very hard
The next man I was with was a dedicated and industrious worker.
Just as soon as I got him he lost his doggone job
But the moment he got involved with me, he lost his job out of nowhere.
Well the next man I got he was a railroad man
The next man I was with was employed in the railway industry.
Just as soon as I got him everything went out his doggone hands
After getting romantically involved with me, he lost control of his life and everything fell apart.
Well the next man I got he was long and tall
The next man I was with was tall and imposing.
Everytime I look around he was kickin' at someone other mans jaw
But he was always getting into fights and brawls with other men.
Well the next man I got he was short and fat
The next man I was with was short and overweight.
I couldn't keep him because he wasn't taught like that
I had to end it with him because he didn't meet my standards.
Well the next man I got he was a sandhawk in the sea
The man I was with next was a sailor.
I had him two days and he got drowned away from me
Unfortunately, he drowned at sea just two days after I was with him.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAWLERS, MINNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@4825ph
Minnie was a phenomenal musician and an even better lyricist. Her stuff still holds up. This song is so damn good.
@docsuez6570
I love the old black female blues artists
@RitaGfunk
not enough people know good blues like this
@maclaudi246
This is the history of my life.
@rockitMiC
"She was the only female blues artist considered a match to male contemporaries as both a singer and an instrumentalist." I highly doubt that! I have no name just right now but I'm sure they're are many other!
@OmarHesham145
I think it refers to the point of time she was active, now we have many great female blues artists like Sue Foley
@rockitMiC
Omar Amer but that’s exactly the period of time I refer to too!
Authenticity was much more authentic before 66… ;)