MEMPHIS MINNIE Queen of the Country Blues. Rough Guide To Memphis Minn

Popis:

Memphis Minnie was one of the greatest guitarists and blues singers of her time and a pioneering influence in the urban transformation of country blues. This classic selection of songs is taken from her first prodigious burst of creativity when she recorded with her then-husband Kansas Joe McCoy.

If ever a title was justified, then 'Queen of the Country Blues' is the bare minimum that should be afforded to Memphis Minnie, a lone female voice in the male-dominated country blues scene whose musical legacy is nothing short of remarkable. Minnie transcended both gender and genre and her recording career spanned from the late 1920s heyday of country blues to the cutting-edge Chicago scene of the 1940s & 1950s, where she helped pioneer the roots of electric blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll.

This collection highlights the formative years of Minnie's career as part of the duo and includes accomplished blues numbers such as 'Memphis Minnie-Jitis Blues', probably based on personal experience, as well as 'Bumble Bee' their first recorded song and one of Minnie's most successful of her hundred or so songs that she recorded before retiring in the mid-1950s. Their wonderful versatility shines through on other novelty songs such as the horse-calling 'Frankie Jean (That Trottin' Fool)' and the bawdy 'New Dirty Dozen', usually the province of male pianists, sung by Minnie from a female perspective. Further blues inuendo abounds on the comic vocal duets 'What's The Matter With The Mill?' and 'Can I Do It For You?' and proves how Minnie had a singular ability to adapt her voice to the drama in hand, be it up-tempo and light-hearted hokum to deep and tortured blues.

The couple recorded songs together and solo for Decca Records until they divorced in 1934. According to several reports, McCoy's increasing jealousy of Minnie's fame and success caused the breakup. Whilst McCoy achieved further moderate success, it was Minnie who went on to become a central figure in the early Chicago scene as the blues went electric.