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.
Selling My Pork Chops
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
""What you write?"" he say
""Is you the lady givin' that gravy away?
""If it is I will be back today""
You can come and get some, but you can't stay long
I got two men I got to be waitin' on
I'm selling my pork chops
Don't mean maybe
I'm giving my gravy away
I'm selling my pork chops...
Boys, I've been selling good now for two-three days
Some of this stuff I sure got to give away
I'm selling my pork chops...
Up this morning, I see a man at my back door
He'd been there all night trying to get some more
I'm selling my pork chops...
I know a man he name of Caneal
If you don't give some I bet you'll catch him steal (not at all sure about this line)
Memphis Minnie's song "Selling My Pork Chops" tells the story of a woman who is selling her pork chops while giving her gravy away. The song starts with her meeting a man who asks her about her music and if she is the lady who gives away the gravy. The woman explains that she indeed gives away the gravy but has two men waiting for her. Later on in the song, she mentions that she has been selling well for two to three days but has to give away some of her pork chops. The woman also encounters a man at her back door who was trying to get some more, and she says that she knows a man named Caneal, who might steal from her if she doesn't give him some.
The lyrics to "Selling My Pork Chops" have been interpreted in several ways. Some say that the woman in the song is referring to her sexual services, while others say she is selling her meat literally. The lyrics, "but you can't stay long, I got two men I got to be waitin' on," could be seen as a reference to prostitution. Others say that the lyrics "selling my pork chops, but I'm giving my gravy away," could simply be referring to the woman giving away her secret recipe.
Line by Line Meaning
I met a man the other day
I encountered a man recently
"What you write?" he say
"What do you do?" he asked
"Is you the lady givin' that gravy away?
"Are you the woman who's giving away that gravy?"
"If it is I will be back today"
"If that's the case, I'll come back today"
You can come and get some, but you can't stay long
You can come pick it up, but you have to leave soon
I got two men I got to be waitin' on
I'm expecting two men and have to attend to them
I'm selling my pork chops
I am selling my pork chops
But I'm giving my gravy away
But I am giving away my gravy
Don't mean maybe
I'm not being indecisive
I'm giving my gravy away
I am giving my gravy away
Boys, I've been selling good now for two-three days
I have been successfully selling for two to three days
Some of this stuff I sure got to give away
But I still have some items that I need to give away
Up this morning, I see a man at my back door
This morning, I saw a man by my back door
He'd been there all night trying to get some more
He had been there all night trying to get more
I know a man he name of Caneal
I am acquainted with a man named Caneal
If you don't give some I bet you'll catch him steal (not at all sure about this line)
If you do not give him some of what he wants, he might resort to theft
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAWLERS, MINNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@arjhendrix
I met a man the other day
What you reckon he say?
'Is you the lady, givin' that gravy away?
'If you is, I will be back today'
You come an get some
But you sho' can't stay long
I got too many, now here
To be waitin' on
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
Don't mean, maybe
I'm givin' my gravy away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
Givin' my gravy away
Boys, I been sellin' good 'nuff
For two, three days
Some a-this stuff
I'm sure got to give away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
Don't mean, maybe
I'm givin' my gravy away
(piano)
'Play it now!'
'Well, all right, now!'
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
Givin' my gravy away
Up this mo'nin
I see'd the man at my back do'
He's been there all night
Tryin' to get some mo'
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
Don't mean, maybe
Giivin' my gravy away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
I know'd a man
He named Uncle Neal
If you don't give some
I'll bet you'll catch him steal
I'm sellin' my po' chops
But I'm givin' my gravy away
I don't mean, maybe
I'm givin' my gravy away.
==================================
@jillfoley6389
Darling MEMHPIS MINNIE. The most wonderful woman. Beautiful and elegant. i have decided to have this played at my funeral - can you imagine the looks on the faces of the few people who attend my funeral . What a fantastic beautiful lady - never to be forgotten thanks to you tube.
@Raybee100
Brilliant!! Lol
@jillfoley6389
Now coming up to my 78th and still adore Millie!
@jimreid6370
What you do with your gravy Jill😅😅😅😅
@cmatthewsmoore
Memphis Minnie is buried in my church cemetery. People come from all over the world to visit her grave. You can walk right out of the church doors and get to her grave in the cemetery.
@chezztone
She sure is! And now her husband's grave next to her is also marked. What a lovely spot.
@djrancho2232
Steve Cheseborough what church
@levinitabarlow1837
Wow cool!
@cmatthewsmoore
Steve Cheseborough I don’t know if her husbands grave is next to hers!! I know that her mother is buried in church cemetery.
@cmatthewsmoore
señor rancho New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Walls, MS!