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.
Tricks Ain't Walking No More
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Interesting Facts ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stealing and robbing is taking place
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough
I'm going to do just like a blind man, stand and beg for change
Tell these tricking policemen change my second name
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I've got to make no money, I don't care where I go
I'm going to learn these walking tricks what it's all about
I'm going to get them in my house and ain't going to let them out
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make no money, I don't care where I go
I got up this morning with the rising sun
Been walking all day and I haven't caught a one
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make a dime, I don't care where I go
I got up this morning, feeling tough
I got to calling my tricks and it's rough, rough, rough
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I have to change my luck if I have to move next door
In Memphis Minnie's song Tricks Ain't Walking No More, she laments the difficult economic times that have led to crime and desperation. Work has become scarce, and stealing and robbing have become more common as a result. However, there is a twist - the "tricks" that the singer relies on for income are no longer walking (i.e. willing to pay for sexual services), leaving her no means of making money. Frustrated, she has to resort to begging or even potentially turning to violence to make ends meet.
The first verse sets the tone for the song, as Memphis Minnie describes the dire economic situation that she and others are facing. She recognizes that stealing and robbing are taking place, which implies that times are so tough that people are resorting to criminal activity to survive. The repeated refrain of "tricks ain't walking no more" emphasizes the singer's desperation, highlighting that the means she previously relied on for income have dried up. She even implies that she's not above resorting to violence: "And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough."
In subsequent verses, the song becomes more personal, as Minnie describes her own struggles with making money. She considers begging or trying to convince the police to help her secure more "tricks," before ultimately settling on the idea of keeping her clients captive in her house until they pay her. Each verse emphasizes the ways in which the economic hardship is affecting her, whether through the physical difficulty of walking all day and not finding any "tricks," or the emotional stress of feeling like she's hit rock bottom.
Overall, Tricks Ain't Walking No More is a poignant commentary on the ways in which economic hardship can drive people to take desperate measures. It also highlights the ways in which women who rely on sex work are particularly vulnerable to these economic pressures.
Interesting facts about the song:
Interesting Facts
Note: This section uses generative AI, which can be inaccurate.
Line by Line Meaning
Times has done got hard, work done got scarce
The economy is in a downturn, and there aren't as many jobs available.
Stealing and robbing is taking place
People are resorting to theft and violence to survive.
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Prostitutes aren't able to find clients anymore.
And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough
If I don't start making money soon, I might have to resort to violence to survive.
I'm going to do just like a blind man, stand and beg for change
I might have to beg for money like a blind person to survive.
Tell these tricking policemen change my second name
I want to avoid getting arrested for prostitution.
I'm going to learn these walking tricks what it's all about
I need to figure out how to make money through prostitution without relying on clients on the street.
I'm going to get them in my house and ain't going to let them out
I'm going to start housing clients in my home so I'm not reliant on the streets.
I got up this morning with the rising sun
I woke up early to try and find clients on the street.
Been walking all day and I haven't caught a one
I've been walking around all day trying to find clients, but haven't had any luck.
I got up this morning, feeling tough
I woke up today feeling strong and determined to make money.
I got to calling my tricks and it's rough, rough, rough
I'm having trouble finding clients and making money through prostitution.
And I have to change my luck if I have to move next door
If I can't start making money through prostitution soon, I might have to move to a different location to survive.
Contributed by Jasmine R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sherrard
Louise Bogan song recorded in 1930; recorded by Memphis Minnie a year later. Hard times for sure.
Jerry
is she not saying “the chain walking no more” ??
Martin Tanksley
interesting TV 14 stuff 3 1/2 stars....
Jerry
“what’s tv 14 stuff” mean? i could barely understand the lyrics they’re pretty muffled but not bad for 1930’s