Hailing from Algiers, Louisiana Memphis Minnie was a blues musician known for recording roughly 200 songs across almost 30 years.
After her time with the circus was over, she continued her career on Beale Street just as the blues scene exploded.
The two headed to New York to record but the names “Kid Douglas” and “Joe McCoy” didn’t really pack the most star power or “pop” as blues musicians.
Columbia’s A&R renamed them “Memphis Minnie” and “Kansas Joe.”
In part two we’ll go into the second half of Memphis Minnie’s career as she takes on new music partners and adapts to a big change in blues: the electric guitar.
