Douglas, Lizzie (1897–1973)

American blues singer, guitarist, recording artist, and club owner, who was one of the great blues artists of all time. Name variations: Gospel Minnie; Kid; Memphis Minnie; Minnie Douglas; Minnie McCoy; Texas Tessie. Born in Algiers, Louisiana, on June 3, 1897 (some sources cite 1896); died in Memphis, Tennessee, on August 6, 1973; daughter of Abe Douglas and Gertrude Wells; married to Casey Bill Weldon, during the 1920s; married to Kansas Joe McCoy, from 1929–35; married to Little Son Je Ernest Lawlars, from 1939–61.

Lizzie Douglas, later known as Memphis Minnie, was one of 13 children born and raised on a Louisiana farm. The family moved to Walls, Mississippi, and Lizzie learned to play the banjo and guitar at ten. From 1908, she worked local parties to earn extra income, before running away from home in 1910 to work as "Kid Douglas." She ended up in Memphis, Tennessee, singing in the streets. From 1916 to 1920, she toured with the Ringling Brothers Circus, working tent shows throughout the South until returning to Tennessee to work in the saloons and bars along Beale Street in Memphis. In 1929, Douglas made her first recording on the Columbia label with Joe McCoy who became her second husband. In 1930, the couple moved to Chicago and formed their own blues group, working clubs in the Windy City. She became famous for her Blue Monday parties, and jazz patrons flocked to hear her sing and perform. Douglas continued to record and play Chicago clubs. In the 1940s, she led her own vaudeville troupe working throughout the South. She performed accompanied by guitar, prompting Steve LaVere and others to refer to her as a "country blues singer." In the mid-1950s, having recorded throughout her career, Douglas retired and later in the decade suffered increasingly from ill health. She died of a stroke in 1973. On a reissue of one of her albums, Charles Strachwitz wrote: "In my opinion, Memphis Minnie was without doubt the greatest of all female blues singers ever to record."

John Haag , Athens, Georgia