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 Gonna Bake My Biscuits
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ain't got no stove but I bake my bread
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
I'm gonna lock my door, nail my windows all down
You know by that, I don't want no bums around
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
I ain't got no flour and ain't got no meal
If you got no man you got to rob and steal
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
I'm-a tell you something I don't know if I'm wrong or right
But if you want my bread, you got to stay all night
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
Ain't no need of you getting mad now, and poking out your mouth
You ain't gonna give me no bread when my bread runs out
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
Come here, come here, I want you to come here now
I ain't got tight for my bread ain't brown
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
In Memphis Minnie's song "I'm Gonna Bake My Biscuits," the singer talks about her determination to make her own way and take care of herself without relying on anyone else. She boasts about her brand new skillet and lid, which suggest that she has recently come into some resources or abilities that she did not have before. Although she doesn't have a stove, she plans to use her skillet to bake her own bread, demonstrating her resourcefulness and independence.
The chorus, "I'm gonna bake my biscuits, ain't gonna give nobody none," illustrates the singer's determination to take care of herself and not rely on anyone else for support. She also mentions that she plans to lock her door and nail her windows down, indicating a desire for privacy and protection. The lines "if you got no man you got to rob and steal" suggest that the singer has had to struggle and make ends meet on her own, but by baking her own biscuits, she can provide for herself without resorting to unethical means.
The song also contains a hint of humor and sass, with the singer challenging anyone who wants her bread to "stay all night." Overall, "I'm Gonna Bake My Biscuits" is an empowering song about self-sufficiency and independence.
Line by Line Meaning
I got a brand new skillet and a brand new lid
I have new cookware.
I ain't got no stove but I bake my bread
I don't have a stove but I still bake.
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
I'm gonna bake my biscuits
Ain't gonna give nobody none
I am going to bake my own food and not share with anyone.
I'm gonna lock my door, nail my windows all down
You know by that, I don't want no bums around
I am going to secure my house to keep out unwanted visitors.
I ain't got no flour and ain't got no meal
If you got no man you got to rob and steal
I don't have any ingredients, so I may have to resort to desperate measures to get food.
I'm-a tell you something I don't know if I'm wrong or right
But if you want my bread, you got to stay all night
If you want my food, you'll have to earn it by spending time with me.
Ain't no need of you getting mad now, and poking out your mouth
You ain't gonna give me no bread when my bread runs out
Don't get upset when I won't share my food, because you wouldn't do the same for me.
Come here, come here, I want you to come here now
I ain't got tight for my bread ain't brown
Come see me, but know that my situation is dire because my food is not ready yet.
Contributed by Kennedy J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Bobjb999
Great tune & artist (I thank Mazzy Star for turning me on to Memphis Minnie) but that intro. inserted at the beginning has nothing to do with the song, is worse than irrelevant, & gets increasingly irritating with each hearing, imo. It's like hearing the same bad joke over & over!
@cynnx7500
agreed :)
@cribobrobian5808
Try this link...if you did not found it already, greetings from Québec city, Christian https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9O7Kq49c8