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.
Pigmeat on the Line
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh ho, ho, pig meat on the line
Say he worry me so I just can't keep from cryin'
Gettin' late in the evening and the sun is sinking down
Oh ho, ho, the sun is sinking down
Lonesome without my pig meat, wonder where he could be found
He left me peepin' all through my window blinds
Oh ho, ho, through my window blinds
Don't nothin' suit me like that pig meat daddy of mine
Now peoples if you see him, please tell him this one thing
Oh ho, ho, please tell him this one thing
If he don't come tomorrow, please give poor me a ring
The lyrics of Memphis Minnie's "Pigmeat on the Line" depict a female protagonist who is completely distraught because she has lost her pig meat. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase, "Is anybody seen my pig meat on the line?" which is followed by the lamentation that the pig meat causes her so much concern and worry that she can't keep herself from crying. The second verse emphasizes the importance of this pig meat in the singer's life by saying that the day is getting late and the sun is about to go down, and she is lonesome without her pig meat, wondering where it could be found. The third verse reveals that she has been searching for her pig meat, even peeping through her window blinds to see if she can spot it.
The lyrics present two potential interpretations; the first is a literal interpretation where the singer has lost her pig meat on a laundry line, which could be considered an important event back in the old days. The second interpretation is where the phrase "Pigmeat on the Line" is potentially a metaphor for something deeper, such as a lover or significant other. It was not uncommon for blues songs to send a deeper message beneath the surface lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Is anybody seen my pig meat on the line?
Has anyone seen my pig meat drying on the line?
Oh ho, ho, pig meat on the line
Expressing the joy of the sight of pig meat drying on the line.
Say he worry me so I just can't keep from cryin'
The absence of her pig meat on the line is causing her great worry and sadness.
Gettin' late in the evening and the sun is sinking down
It's getting late in the day as the sun is setting.
Oh ho, ho, the sun is sinking down
Expressing the onset of dusk as the sun goes down.
Lonesome without my pig meat, wonder where he could be found
Feeling lonely without her pig meat and wondering where it could be.
He left me peepin' all through my window blinds
Her pig meat was so important to her that she kept an eye on it through her window blinds while it was drying.
Oh ho, ho, through my window blinds
Emphasizing that she was watching her pig meat through her window blinds.
Don't nothin' suit me like that pig meat daddy of mine
She loves and values her pig meat more than anything else.
Now peoples if you see him, please tell him this one thing
Asking anyone who might see her pig meat to deliver a message to it.
Oh ho, ho, please tell him this one thing
Emphasizing the importance of the message she wants delivered to her pig meat.
If he don't come tomorrow, please give poor me a ring
If her pig meat doesn't return soon, she would like to be informed via telephone call.
Writer(s): ernest lawlars
Contributed by Claire T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@sherrard5492
I love the easy self assurance in Minnie’s vocal. It lightens my heart and makes me smile.
@dombat61
I'm 56 years old and I wonder how nobody had told me about Memphis Minnie yet ! This woman is amazing, ahead of her time in her style of play and singing ... Thanks Youtube!
@hechrhymes4018
Memphis Minnie was one of the greatest, not just her singing, but her guitar playing--a top talent female OR male for that time. Big love to Minnie, rest in power <3
@silvioluizantoniettoantoni7569
Proto Rock And Roll
@Thogrim
Thanks for upload :)