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.
New Dirty Dozen
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What you're thinking about ain't on my mind, that stuff you got is the sorriest kind
Now you're a sorry mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Come all of you women's outta be in the can, out on the corner stopping every man,
Hollering "Soap is a nickel and the towel is free, I'm pigmeat, pappy, now who wants me?"
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Now the funniest thing I ever seen, tom cat jumping on a sewing machine
Sewing machine run so fast, took 99 stitches in his yas, yas, yas
Now he's a cruel mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Now I'm gonna tell you all about old man Bell, he can't see but he sure can smell
Fish-man passed here the other day, hollering "Hey, pretty mama, I'm going your way"
I know all about your pappy and your mammy,
your big fat sister and your little brother Sammy,
your auntie and your uncle and your ma's and pa's,
they all got drunk and showed their Santa Claus
Now they're all drunken mistreaters, robbers and a cheaters
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
The lyrics to Memphis Minnie's "New Dirty Dozen" are a playful and witty take on the tradition of "the Dozens," a game of insults and put-downs that originated in the African American community. The song opens with Minnie inviting her audience to listen to her "dozen talk," a reference to the game, and then proceeds to deliver a series of insults and provocations, challenging her listeners to come up with their own witty comebacks.
One of the key themes of the song is sexual innuendo, as Minnie takes aim at both men and women for their behavior in and out of bed. She accuses the men of being "mistreaters, robbers and cheaters," and threatens to "slip them in the dozens" with their family members, including their "papa and cousin." The women, meanwhile, are portrayed as prostitutes, standing on the corner and offering their services for a nickel and a free towel. Minnie also pokes fun at the absurdity of life, recalling the image of a tomcat jumping on a sewing machine and getting 99 stitches.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all you folks and start to walk, I'm fixing to start my dozen talk
Everyone gather around, I'm about to talk trash
What you're thinking about ain't on my mind, that stuff you got is the sorriest kind
I don't care about your thoughts, what you have is garbage
Now you're a sorry mistreater, robber and a cheater
You're a terrible person who mistreats, steals from, and deceives others
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
You and your entire family are included in my insults
Your mama do the lordy lord
Your mother should be ashamed
Come all of you women's outta be in the can, out on the corner stopping every man,
All you women soliciting on the street corner
Hollering "Soap is a nickel and the towel is free, I'm pigmeat, pappy, now who wants me?"
Calling out to potential customers with a vulgar nickname and cheap prices
You's a old mistreater, robber and a cheater
You've been mistreating, robbing, and cheating for a long time
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Once again, your entire family is included in my insults
Your mama do the lordy lord
And again, your mother should be ashamed
Now the funniest thing I ever seen, tom cat jumping on a sewing machine
The most amusing thing I've witnessed is a cat hopping on a sewing machine
Sewing machine run so fast, took 99 stitches in his yas, yas, yas
The machine was so rapid that it sewed up the cat's backside with 99 stitches
Now he's a cruel mistreater, robber and a cheater
The cat is now a cruel mistreater, robber, and cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Once again, including your whole family in my insults
Your mama do the lordy lord
And, again, your mother should be ashamed
Now I'm gonna tell you all about old man Bell, he can't see but he sure can smell
Let me tell you about this blind man named Bell, who has a strong sense of smell
Fish-man passed here the other day, hollering "Hey, pretty mama, I'm going your way"
A fisherman passed by and catcalled the ladies
I know all about your pappy and your mammy, your big fat sister and your little brother Sammy, your auntie and your uncle and your ma's and pa's,
I'm familiar with your entire family
they all got drunk and showed their Santa Claus
They all got drunk and made fools of themselves
Now they're all drunken mistreaters, robbers and a cheaters
Now everyone in your family is a drunken mistreater, robber, and cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Again, including your whole family in my insults
Your mama do the lordy lord
And, again, your mother should be ashamed
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: J. MAYO WILLIAMS, RUFUS PERRYMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ned Black
Come, all you folks, and start to walk.
I'm fixin' to start my dozens talk.
What you thinkin' 'bout ain't on my mind
That stuff you got is the chargin' kind,
Now you's a sorry mistreater,
Robber and a cheater,
Sister and yer dozens,
Papa and yer cousins,
Mama, do the Lordy Lord.
Come, all you wimmens and your candy can,
Out on the corner stoppin ev'ry man
Holler'n soap is a nickel and the towel is free;
I'm pigmeat, Papa, now, who wants me?
You's all mistreaters, etc
Ned Black
Now, the funniest thing I ever seen
Tomcat jumpin' on a sewin' machine
Sewin' machine, run so fast
Took ninety-nine stitches in his yass yass yass
Now he's dirty mistreater, etc.
I'ma tell you all about Ol' Man Bill
He cain't see, but he sho' can smell
He smelt you passin' th' other day,
Holler'n, Hey, Pretty Mama, I'ma goin' yer way!
I know all about yer Pappy and yer Mammy,
Yer big fat sister and yer little brother Sammy,
Yer aunties and yer uncles and yer Maws and Paws;
They all got drunk and showed they Santy Claus,
Now, they's drunken mistreaters, etc
Mama, do the Lawdy Lawd!
aaron4wilkins
*
Gonna tell yo all about ole' man Bell ,
He can't see but he sure can smell
Fish man passed here the other day,
hollered Pretty mama I'm goin' your way
I know all about your pappy and your Mammy
big fat sister and your little brother Sammy
Your auntie and uncle
and your ma's and Pa's
They all got drunk and showed you Santa Claus (...showed you their Pubic hair)
Arjun Upadhya
_________________________________________
Come all you folks and start to walk, I'm fixing to start my dozen talk
What you're thinking about ain't on my mind, that stuff you got is the sorriest kind
Now you're a sorry mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Come all of you women's outta be in the can, out on the corner stopping every man,
Hollering "Soap is a nickel and the towel is free, I'm pigmeat, pappy, now who wants me?"
You's a old mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Now the funniest thing I ever seen, tom cat jumping on a sewing machine
Sewing machine run so fast, took 99 stitches in his yas, yas, yas
Now he's a cruel mistreater, robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
Now I'm gonna tell you all about old man Bell, he can't see but he sure can smell
Fish-man passed here the other day, hollering "Hey, pretty mama, I'm going your way"
I know all about your pappy and your mammy,
your big fat sister and your little brother Sammy,
your auntie and your uncle and your ma's and pa's,
they all got drunk and showed their Santa Claus
Now they're all drunken mistreaters, robbers and a cheaters
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
Your mama do the lordy lord
________
Note: dirty dozens, a very elaborate game traditionally played by black boys, in which the participants insult each other's relatives, especially their mothers. The object of the game is to test emotional strength. The first person to give in to anger is the loser.
http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artists…/memphis_minnie_3.htm…
=============================
John Wells
The lady was ahead of her time it's like singing mixed with rap!
DarkLink
LOVE IT !!!!!!!
Jersey Julie
Love this song!!!!
darrenandbutterfly
love it!!!
Jus' Kevin Ryan
My Gosh...that's the opening riff to Suite Judy Blue Eyes !
Blanche Byard
That Guitar!
Ned Black
'The Dozens' is a name-calling game, a precursor of Hip-Hop, wherein contestants make jocular, often suggestive, references to the opponent's kinfolks, living and passed.
Ned Black
My nephew asked me, "So, who's your greatest influence as a guitar player?" I said, "Minnie Douglas, Maybelle Carter, and John Fahey." He knew who Fahey was.
Miranda Gagua
I'm tingling all over. <3
Ned Black
Come, all you folks, and start to walk.
I'm fixin' to start my dozens talk.
What you thinkin' 'bout ain't on my mind
That stuff you got is the chargin' kind,
Now you's a sorry mistreater,
Robber and a cheater,
Sister and yer dozens,
Papa and yer cousins,
Mama, do the Lordy Lord.
Come, all you wimmens and your candy can,
Out on the corner stoppin ev'ry man
Holler'n soap is a nickel and the towel is free;
I'm pigmeat, Papa, now, who wants me?
You's all mistreaters, etc