Born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, she was one… Read Full Bio ↴Memphis Minnie -
Born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, she was one of the most influential and pioneering female blues musicians and guitarists of all time. Minnie recorded for forty years, virtually unheard of for any woman in show business at the time, and possibly unique among female blues artists. A flamboyant character who wore bracelets made of silver dollars, she was the biggest female blues singer from the early Depression years through World War II. One of the first blues artists to take up the electric guitar, in 1942, she combined her Louisiana-country roots with Memphis-blues to produce her unique country-blues sound; along with Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, she took country blues into electric urban blues, paving the highway for giants like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers to travel from the small towns of the south to the big cities of the north. She was married three times, and each husband was an accomplished blues guitarist: Joe McCoy (a.k.a. "Kansas Joe") later of the Harlem Hamfats, Casey Bill Weldon of the Memphis Jug Band, and Ernest Lawlers.
After learning to play guitar and banjo as a child, at the age of thirteen she ran away from home to Memphis, Tennessee, playing guitar in nightclubs and on the street as Lizzie "Kid" Douglas. The next year, she joined the Ringling Brothers circus. Her second marriage and recording debut came in 1929, both with Kansas Joe McCoy, when a Columbia Records talent scout heard them playing in a Beale Street barbershop in their distinctive "Memphis style", and their song "Bumble Bee" became a hit. In the 1930s she moved to Chicago, Illinois with Joe. She and McCoy broke up in 1935 and by 1939 she was with Little Son Joe, with whom she recorded nearly 200 records. In the 1940s she formed a touring Vaudeville company. From the 1950s on, however, public interest in her music declined and in 1957 she and Little Son Joe returned to Memphis. In 1961, Joe died and Minnie suffered a stroke which forced her to spend the rest of her life in nursing homes until she died in 1973.
Kansas Joe McCoy (May 11, 1905–January 28, 1950)-
Joe McCoy played music under a variety of stage names but is best known as "Kansas Joe McCoy." Born in Raymond, Mississippi, he was the older brother of blues accompanist Papa Charlie McCoy. As a young man, he was drawn to the music scene in Memphis, Tennessee where he played guitar and sang vocals during the 1920s. He teamed up with future wife Lizzie Douglas, a brilliant guitarist known as Memphis Minnie, and their 1929 recording of a song called "Bumble Bee" on the Columbia Records label was a hit. In 1930, the couple moved to Chicago where they were an important part of the burgeoning blues scene. Following their divorce, McCoy teamed up with his brother to form a band known as the Harlem Hamfats that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s.
In 1936, the Harlem Hamfats released a record with the song "The Weed Smoker's Dream" on it. McCoy later refined the tune, changed the lyrics and retitled the new song "Why Don't You Do Right?" for Lil Green, who recorded it in 1941. It was covered a year later by Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, becoming Ms. Lee's first hit single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" remains a jazz standard and is McCoy's most lasting composition.
At the outbreak of World War II Charlie McCoy entered the military but a heart condition kept Joe McCoy from service. Out on his own, he created a band known as "Big Joe and His Rhythm" that performed together throughout most of the 1940s. In 1950, at the age of 44, Joe McCoy died of heart disease only a few months before his brother Charlie. They are buried in Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.
Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant took his and Memphis Minnie's recording of "When The Levee Breaks," which was in his personal collection, and presented it to guitarist Jimmy Page, who revamped it and slightly altered it lyrically, and produced it on their 1971 album Led Zeppelin IV. It is a favorite of many Zeppelin fans, and a highlight of the album.
New Dirty Dozen
Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe Lyrics
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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 of Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe's "New Dirty Dozen" are an example of the African American tradition of "playing the dozens." This tradition involves joking insults and verbal sparring between two people, often in a lighthearted manner. However, the lyrics also highlight the harsh and sometimes violent nature of this tradition. The song opens with a call to start the dozen talk, indicating that the singer is ready to engage in this form of verbal combat. The following lines are aimed at someone who is seen as a sorry mistreater, robber and cheater. The singer threatens to "slip" them into the dozens, along with their family members, including their papa, cousin, and mama who will do the "lordy lord."
The singer then directs their attention to women who are standing on the corner, implying that they are prostitutes. The women are described as calling out their services to men, with the phrase "Soap is a nickel and the towel is free, I'm pigmeat, pappy, now who wants me?" The singer insults these women as old mistreaters, robbers, and cheaters, suggesting that their actions are immoral. The song then takes a humorous turn, describing a tomcat jumping on a sewing machine with amusing results. However, the singer quickly returns to insults, describing old man Bell who is blind but has a keen sense of smell. Finally, the song ends with a scathing attack on the listener's family, accusing them of being drunken mistreaters, robbers, and cheaters who will also be "slipped" into the dozens.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all you folks and start to walk, I'm fixing to start my dozen talk
Gather round and listen up, I'm about to start a game of insulting each other
What you're thinking about ain't on my mind, that stuff you got is the sorriest kind
I don't care about your problems, your insults are weak
Now you're a sorry mistreater, robber and a cheater
You're a terrible person who mistreats others and steals from them
Slip you in the dozens, your papa and your cousin
You're so bad, I'll insult not only you but also your family members
Your mama do the lordy lord
Your mother is a good Christian woman who sings hymns
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?"
Attention all loose women, come and get insulted, you're not worth much and you're desperate for a man
You's a old mistreater, robber and a cheater
You're an old and experienced cheat and thief
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
I once saw a funny sight, a cat jumping on a sewing machine which was working so fast it sewed 99 stitches on the cat's rear end
Now he's a cruel mistreater, robber and a cheater
Now even the cat is a cruel and dishonest person in this game of insults
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"
Let me tell you about an old blind man with a keen sense of smell, a fisherman recently passed by calling out to women
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
I know all about your family members, they all have a tendency to get drunk and expose themselves
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
Now your whole family is part of this game of insults, they're all terrible people and even your mother can't escape the mockery
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: J. MAYO WILLIAMS, RUFUS PERRYMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind