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.
Me and My Chauffeur
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Won't you be my chauffeur
I wants him to drive me
I wants him to drive me downtown
Yes he drives so easy I can't turn him down
But I don't want him
But I don't want him
To be ridin' his girls
To be ridin' his girls around
So I'm gonna steal me a pistol, shoot my chauffeur down
Well I must buy him
Well I must buy him
A brand new V8
A brand new V8 Ford
Then he won't need no passengers, I will be his load
Yes... take it away...
want to let my chauffeur
want to let my chauffeur
Drive me around the
Drive me around the world
Then he can be my little boy, yes I'll be his girl
Memphis Minnie's blues classic, "Me and My Chauffeur," has been covered by a number of artists over the years, including Jefferson Airplane and Nina Simone, and is considered an iconic song about female sexuality and empowerment. The song features a woman, most likely a female sex worker, seducing her chauffeur and using him as a symbol of her freedom and independence.
The song starts with the singer asking the chauffeur to be her driver, and describes him as someone who drives easily without causing any discomfort. However, she then expresses her displeasure about his behavior of riding other women around town. This frustration leads her to contemplate stealing a gun and shooting her chauffeur down, indicating her strong and assertive personality. In the next verse, she changes her mind and decides to buy her chauffeur a V8 Ford car and become his only passenger, effectively making him her sexual partner.
One interpretation of the song is that it is about challenging traditional gender roles and breaking free from male domination. The singer rejects the conventional notion of a woman being dependent on a man and asserts her independence by taking control of her own sexual desires. The song has been widely celebrated for its powerful lyrics and feminist undertones.
Line by Line Meaning
Won't you be my chauffeur
Asking for a chauffeur
Won't you be my chauffeur
Repeating the request for a chauffeur
I wants him to drive me
Desiring a driver for transportation
I wants him to drive me downtown
Specifically needing a driver to go downtown
Yes he drives so easy I can't turn him down
The driver is skilled and efficient, making it hard to refuse their services
But I don't want him
However, there's a catch
But I don't want him
Continuation of the previous line
To be ridin' his girls
Not wanting him to take other women around
To be ridin' his girls around
Clarifying what is meant by 'ridin' his girls'
So I'm gonna steal me a pistol, shoot my chauffeur down
Threatening to use violence against the chauffeur if they disobey
Well I must buy him
Considering an alternative course of action
Well I must buy him
Continuation of the previous line
A brand new V8
Specifically desiring a powerful car
A brand new V8 Ford
Naming the brand of car she wants to buy for him
Then he won't need no passengers, I will be his load
Eager to be the only one in the car with her chauffeur
Yes... take it away...
Introducing a new direction for the song
want to let my chauffeur
Desiring to give her chauffeur a new experience
want to let my chauffeur
Repeating the previous line
Drive me around the world
Wanting to travel around the world with her chauffeur
Then he can be my little boy, yes I'll be his girl
Flipping the dynamic of the song, wanting to be in control of the relationship
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: MEMPHIS MINNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@micoveliki8729
"Wants to see my chaufer
Wants to see my chaufer
I wants him to drive me..drive uptown
Says, he drives so easy, i can't turn him down
But i don't want him
But i don't want him..to be drivin these girls around
I'm going to steal me a pistol, shoot my chaufer down
Well i must buy him
Well i must buy him
A brand new V8.. a brand new V8 Ford,
Then he won't need no passengers Ill be his load
(Solo)
Wants to let my chaufer
Wants to let my chaufer
Drive me around...drive me around this world,
Then he could be my boy, and Ill be his girl ...
@jillfoley6389
Am playing this in such troubled times and it makes me feel human again. Such a wonderfull voice and style and beautifull too!
@gategi10
Amazing voice
So underated.if you ask Peoplee in the street if they ever heard of her they d say no. Shame
@jillianfoley5930
There is no one to touch Memphis Millie. She was such an elegant glamorous lady and beautiful. My young grandson has been diagnosed with Covid and is very ill so I am going through a troubled time but play Memphis Millie and I am feeling a bit better! JILLIAN.
@sherrard5492
Hopefully your grandson pulled through🤞🤞🤞
@jillianfoley5930
Thank you so much for your good wishes, Johnjoe pulled through and is now back to normal. Best Wishes.
@gategi10
If only youngsters could listen to this absolutely brillant genius . Listen to bbc sounds on her . These really were the routes of blues and ultimately rock n roll. .her story as so many others is i so sad
@Banzo_
I'm a youngster. Why can't I?
@jillfoley6389
Oh Memphis Minnie. Such a beautiful elegant lady. Play this and I feel 16 again - and now Im approaching 78 - you are such a beautiful lady with a fabulous voice. You are out of this world Memphis Millie.
@theHellzaPoppinjazz4u
Thanks for the lady, Gill Foley. Splendid.
@gategi10
Fabulous and so Manu never heard of her