Near Walls in DeSoto County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Memphis Minnie
Mississippi Blues Trail
Reverse Side
Memphis Minnie spent most of her childhood in Mississippi, where she was known as "Kid" Douglas. U.S. Census listings of 1900 and 1910 place her in Tunica County, but she gave her birthplace as Algiers, Louisiana (June 3, 1897). When she was a teenager, her family moved to Walls, but Minnie soon struck out on her own, inspired to make a living with her voice and guitar. She reportedly joined the Ringling Brothers circus as a traveling musician and performed locally at house parties and dances with Willie Brown, Willie Moore, and other bluesmen around Lake Cormorant and Walls.
The lure of Beale Street drew her to Memphis, where she worked the streets, cafes, clubs, and parties. She began performing with Joe McCoy, whom she married in 1929. After a talent scout heard the duo performing for tips in a barbershop, they made their first recordings that year, billed as "Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie." "Bumble Bee" was their big hit, and has been recorded by many other blues singers, although in later years their most recognized song would become "When the Levee Breaks." The couple soon relocated to Chicago and continued to perform and record together before Minnie took on a new guitar-playing husband, Ernest Lawlars (or Lawlers), a.k.a. "Little Son Joe." Minnie recorded prolifically throughout the 1930s and '40s, scoring hits such as "Me and My Chauffeur Blues," "Please Set a Date," "In My Girlish Days," and "Nothing in Rambling." Her showmanship and instrumental prowess enabled her to defeat the top bluesmen of Chicago, including Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy, in blues contests. Minnie gained a reputation as a down-home diva who could handle herself, and her men, both on and off the stage. In 1958 Minnie returned to Memphis, where she died in a nursing home on August 6, 1973.
One of the rare women of her era to gain prominence as a guitarist, Minnie overcame considerable odds to achieve success, battling both racism and sexism. She has been heralded as a champion of feminist independence and empowerment. She was elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in its first year of balloting (1980). The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund erected a headstone for her here in 1996. Her songs have been recorded by women such as Big Mama Thornton, Lucinda Williams, and Maria Muldaur, as well as by men, including Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and Western swing pioneer Milton Brown.
Columbia record on top
"When the Levee Breaks"- Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie
Song lyrics:
If it keeps on rainin'
Levee's goin' to break.
And the water gonna come, and
You'll have no place to stay.
Oh, cryin' won't help you,
Prayin' won't do no good.
When the levee breaks,
mama, You got to move.
It's a mean old levee,
Cause me to weep and moan.
Gonna leave my baby, and
My happy home.
"When the Levee Breaks" -
Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie
Top Caption
"When the Levee Breaks" recorded June 18, 1929, was the first release by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie. McCoy was the vocalist on this song and many others during the years of his partnership with Minnie. Led Zeppelin brought the song to rock audiences when they covered it in 1971, and its lyrics earned it renewed prominence as a theme song for documentaries about Hurricane Katrina after the levees broke in New Orleans in 2005.
Photo and ad courtesy Paul Garon
Bottom Caption
In Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues, a 1992 Da Capo Press book, Paul and Beth Garon documented Minnie's life and music, analyzing her work from sociological, political, and surrealist perspectives.
Photo: Hooks Bros. Studio, courtesy of Delta Haze Corporation
Welcome to one of the many sites on the Mississippi Blues Trail Visit us online at www.MSBluesTrail.org
This project was funded in part by grants from U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, MDOT Mississippi Department of Transportation and National Endowment for the Humanities
Erected by Mississippi Blues Commission.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Entertainment. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Blues Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 3, 1897.
Location. 34° 58.247′ N, 90° 11.129′ W. Marker is near Walls, Mississippi, in DeSoto County. Marker is on Norfolk Road, 0.6 miles north of Old Hwy 61, on the right when traveling north. Memphis Minnie's grave is located in the adjacent cemetery close to the Mississippi Blues Trail marker. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7564 Norfolk Rd, Lake Cormorant MS 38641, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Edgefield Mounds (approx. 2.3 miles away); Delta Center School (approx. 2˝ miles away); Elvis Presley's Circle G Ranch (approx. 5.1 miles away); Ernest C. Withers House (approx. 8.8 miles away in Tennessee); Big Walter Horton (approx. 9 miles away); Highway 61 Blues (approx. 10.3 miles away); "The Tree" (approx. 10.3 miles away); Elvis Aaron Presley (approx. 10˝ miles away in Tennessee).
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 2, 2023, by Nicolas Rausch of Horn Lake, Mississippi. This page has been viewed 125 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on October 2, 2023, by Nicolas Rausch of Horn Lake, Mississippi. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 25, 2023, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.