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Post by AlanB on Aug 6, 2013 11:13:18 GMT -5
I've news from Paul Garon that he and Beth have completely revised and updated their 1992 Memphis Minnie Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie Blues and is due for publication in Spring next year. It's hoped that there will also be a double CD to accompany it.
Other blues books due for publication at that time will be Pioneers of the Blues Revival by Steve Cushing and Lonnie Johnson: The Original Guitar Hero & The Power of Music by Dean Alger and 10 years in the making!
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Post by AlanB on Nov 28, 2013 11:11:26 GMT -5
The MM is due April according to this tinyurl.com/ncmfdxv...and it's three dollars cheaper than the first edition of 1992 which has been known to fetch silly sums on Amazon UK.
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Post by JamesP on Jun 1, 2015 15:34:14 GMT -5
Now this is a great guitar player:
How many modern day guitar players can you hear in her?
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Post by rooster on Jun 3, 2015 0:06:47 GMT -5
That's a great version of "Bumble Bee". Memphis Minnie, It seems recorded that song in a half dozen versions and five of those versions were released. That one was "New Bumble Bee", recorded in Chicago, Ill. in July of 1930. AlanB. could probably go into more detail (if there are any more details) than I could. She recorded so many songs for so many labels over the years that it makes it hard to keep up with. When that youtube clip ended, one of the song suggestions was the second version from February, 1930. I listened to that one too...LOL.
rooster
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Post by AlanB on Jun 3, 2015 1:48:13 GMT -5
Rooster here's something I knocked out thirty years ago prior to the publication of the Garon MM book in 1994. The third paragraph supplies the Bumble Bee chronology.
MEMPHIS MINNIE In My Girlish Days Travelin’ Man TM 803
1. SHE WOULDN'T GIVE ME NONE 2. MR TANGO BLUES 3. I'M GONNA BAKE MY BISCUITS 4. WHAT FAULT YOU FIND OF ME? PART 1 5. WHAT FAULT YOU FIND OF ME? PART 2 6. I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU 7. BUMBLE BEE 8. FISHIN' BLUES
1. KIND TREATMENT BLUES 2. I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU NO. 2 3. JAILHOUSE TROUBLE BLUES 4. KEEP IT TO YOURSELF 5. DIRTY MOTHER FOR YOU 6. SYLVESTER AND HIS MULE BLUES 7. YOU CAN'T GIVE IT AWAY 8. YOU WRECKED MY HAPPY HOME
It was Big Bill Broonzy who in 1955 first gave blues researchers a glimpse into the character and personality of the then enigmatic Memphis Minnie. Although never the most reliable of informants Broonzy's recollections of Minnie as being able to "pick a guitar and sing as good as any man ... make a guitar cry, moan, talk and whistle the blues", were quite justified and, indeed, some twelve years earlier her guitar prowess had been attested to by black critic Langston Hughes when he saw her perform at the 230 Club in Chicago:
"She hits a few deep chords at random, leans forward ever so slightly over her guitar, bows her head and begins to beat out a good old steady downhome rhythm on the strings .... her left hand moves up and down the strings of the guitar's neck. Her right hand picks out the tune, throbs out the rhythm, beats out the blues".
The incidence of women guitar players in blues recording was, and still is, rare. Women guitarists were quite usual in gospel music, Sister Rosetta Tharpe being the most notable, but, with the exception of Bea Booze (Muriel Nicholls) in the forties and fifties, Memphis Minnie was a true protagonist in the field of female blues guitarists. The life of Lizzie "Kid" Douglas (to use her real name) has been well documented elsewhere, requiring little repetition here, but she began her recording career as Memphis Minnie at the age of thirty-five on 18th June 1929 in partnership with her then husband "Kansas" Joe McCoy. Their first titles were cut in Columbia's New York studios but at the time were not considered suitable for release. Ironically, one of the numbers, "Bumble Bee", was then cut by the Vocalion label in February 1930 when their field unit was in the McCoy's home town of Memphis. So popular did the song become, when it was released with the coupling "I'm Talking About You" in May, that Columbia decided to ride on the back of its success by releasing their 1929 version of the number in August 1930 - some fifteen months later in May 1930 the Victor label also recorded Minnie singing "Bumble Bee" fronting the Memphis Jug Band which in turn prompted from Vocalion a follow-up "Bumble Bee No. 2". The McCoys and their song were such hot property on the race market that, in the last six months of 1930, there were no fewer than four versions, on three different labels, of "Bumble Bee".
This compilation covers the years 1930-1935 and commences with Minnie's first Vocalion session in Memphis on 20 February 1930. The album opener, the hokumish, Joe McCoy-led duet, "She Wouldn't Give Me None", is very reminiscent of the recordings of fellow Memphians Frank Stokes and Dan Sane in their Beale Street Sheiks' guise. The total empathy between Minnie and Joe as guitarists is well illustrated on "Mr Tango" where the two instruments, in imitation of a train, are in complete unison complementing the locomotive lyric. The session continued the following day when they put down their second version of "Bumble Bee', a song that was to start things happening for the husband and wife team. In retrospect, perhaps the 1929 Columbia recording has the artistic edge over the Vocalion presented here, yet the sheer drive of the two guitars, and strength of imagery, undoubtedly made an indelible impression on black record buyers of the day.
Following the success of the song, Vocalion recorded them a few more times in Memphis but eventually decided that such major "stars' would be better served in their main studio in Chicago. Relocated in Chicago the pair managed to cut in the region of seventy titles between June 1930 and September 1934 mainly for Vocalion (but also the odd foray into Columbia and Decca territory), producing a masterful recreation of "I'm Talking About You" which made the original pale into insignificance. However, Minnie's popularity, with both record company and record buying public, began far to outweigh that of Joe's and soon Minnie was recording more times without Joe than with him. The resultant effect was to bring a strain to the marriage, but personal problems apart, Minnie's solo recording efforts were nothing short of majestic, producing such titles as "Keep It To Yourself" on which her steel-bodied National guitar, to quote Big Bill again, "just speaks words".
The McCoy's marriage finally ended in late 1934 and with a change of circumstance came a change of style. No longer was there a second guitar but a piano was brought into the proceedings, along with the occasional string bass. The overall sound became much more "urgent" as the three numbers "Dirty Mother For You", "Sylvester And His Mule", and "You Can't Give It Away" will aver, all consciously recreating the sound of such Chicago contemporaries as Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red. The intriguingly titled "Sylvester And His Mule" is in fact a "good President Roosevelt" blues, extolling, yet again, how Roosevelt was the poor man's friend. Just who the pianist on these sides is, is open to speculation. Minnie does refer to him as Jimmie so it may well be sometime pianist Jimmie Gordon who, when recording in his own right, preferred the accompaniment of other keyboard men.
It was to be another five years before Memphis Minnie was to put on record the two guitar duets that made her so famous, and when she did it was, not surprisingly, in partnership with yet another husband "Little Son" Joe Lawlers. However, for two sessions in May and July 1935, Minnie did re-try the ol] formula. The first session saw her recording solo but the one for Bluebird in July, witnessed an unknown second guitarist accompanying her. "You Wrecked My Happy Home", one of the four titles cut, has all the trademarks of Big Bill Broonzy's playing. Since he was recording the same day immediately after Minnie, perhaps it's reasonable to assume that he is the unidentified guitarist who is trying so faithfully to recreate the old Kansas Joe sound.
Perhaps there is no better way to sum up Memphis Minnie's life, career and influence than by quoting from the obituary Steve LaVere wrote in 1973: "I had been there before. I was there at around 6 o’clock to take the photograph shown here (Minnie in her funeral casket), so I knew where I was. As I sat down next to Furry Lewis, I was soberly unaware that the two of us were the entire representation of the Memphis music community. And of course, no record company people were there, that could have been expected - but it won't be forgotten. Neither will Memphis Minnie. Her music was, is and shall continue to be enjoyed the world over. Let us not forget that she has made a most worthy contribution to our culture. And what a funky, downhome, beautiful contribution it was". Alan Balfour April 1984
References: Yannick Bruynoghe: Big Bill's Blues' (Jazz Book Club, 1957). RM.W. Dixon & J. Godrich: 'Recording The slues, (Studio Vista 1970) RM.W. Dixon & J Godrich: Blues & Gospel Records '1902-1943 (Storyville 1982) Langston Hughes: 'Happy New Year with Memphis Minnie' from Chicago Defender Jan. 9th 1943 (reprinted in Living blues 19, p. 7) Steve LaVere: 'Memphis Minnie Dies In Memphis" (Blues Link 2, 1973)
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Post by rooster on Jun 3, 2015 3:41:25 GMT -5
See, I knew I could count on you, Alan, old pal to fill in the details (and good write up, by the by).
Now let's see if I have this right.
Something for posterity here, Folks...You know...for the children.
1929 (Released 1930) Columbia 14542 Bumble Bee Memphis Minnie & Joe McCoy
1930 Vocalion 1476 Bumble Bee Memphis Minnie & Joe McCoy
1930 Victor 38599 Bumble Bee Blues Memphis Minnie & The Memphis Jug Band
1930 Vocalion 1556 Bumble Bee No. 2 Memphis Minnie
And Here's a Fifth one, Though it was recorded a little later (and I've never seen a copy):
1932 Vocalion 1682 Minnie Minnie Bumble Bee Memphis Minnie/Joe McCoy/Tampa Red/Georgia Tom
Does that look right to you, Alan? As I say I'm not entirely sure about that last one.
Hey, this was my kind of fun. Really. Next time let's do Cripple Clarence Lofton!!!
Rooster
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Post by AlanB on Jun 3, 2015 6:22:40 GMT -5
Minnie Minnie Bumble Bee has never seen the light of day nor its reverse which was Georgia Tom. Looking at the updated discography in the revised Garon book it still seems to be the case.
Cripple Clarence Lofton. I can supply an ancient one from around 1990/95
2 Apr 1935 C-947-B Strut that thing Oldie Blues OL 2817, Magpie PY 4409, Confidential CLP 001, Folkways FP 59 eqv., Columbia (US) C3L 32 eqv. C-948-A Monkey man blues Oldie Blues OL 2817, Magpie PY 4409, Confidential CLP 001, Yazoo L-1015 12 Apr 1935 85787-1 Policy blues (You can't 3-6-9 me) Document DLP 514, Yazoo L-1042, Down With The Game D 205
18 Jul 1935 C-1074-A Brown skin girls Oldie Blues OL 2817, Magpie PY 4409, Yazoo L-1025, CBS (UK) 66232 eqv., CBS (UK) 66426 eqv., Blues Classics BC 5, Folkways FP 73 eqv. C-1075-A You done tore your playhouse down Oldie Blues OL 2817, Magpie PY 4409, Confidential CLP 001, Riverside (US) RLP 12-114
c. 1938 or 1939 Traveling blues [South Side mess around] Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 Streamline train Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 I don't know Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 Mistaken blues [Change my mind blues] (Cripple's blues) Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 Pitchin' boogie [Juke joint stomp] (Boogie woogie) Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 Mercy blues [State Street blues] Swaggie S1235, Yazoo L-1025, Mauros II LBCCL 3840, Euphonic ESP 1208 Titles in brackets used on Yazoo L-1025, titles in parenthesis on Mauros II LBCCL 3840.
c. 1939 R-2771-1 Had a dream Oldie Blues OL 2817, Gannet 5137, Boogie Woogie 1000 R-2772-1 Streamline train Oldie Blues OL 2817 R-3361- I don't know Oldie Blues OL 2817, Gannet 5137 R-3362- Pine Top's boogie woogie Oldie Blues OL 2817, Origin OJL-15 More motion Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-134 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 eqv. Sweet tooth Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Sixes and sevens Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Clarence's blues Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Lofty blues Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 House rent struggle Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Juice joint Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Salty woman blues Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-152 eqv., Riverside (US) RLP 1037 Blue boogie Oldie Blues OL 2817, Riverside (US) RLP 12-114, Riverside (US) SDP-11
1943 Deep end boogie Document BDCD-6045
19 Oct 1943 I don't know Document BDCD-6045 Fine and mellow Document BDCD-6045 Vocal blues Document BDCD-6045 Talking & piano experiment Document BDCD-6045 Untitled Document BDCD-6045 Dec 1943 125 Streamline train Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP], Vogue (UK) EPV-1209 [EP] 126 I don't know - II [sic] Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP], Vogue (UK) EPV-1209 [EP] 127 Policy blues Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Saydisc Matchbox SDR 146, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP] 128 I don't know Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Saydisc Matchbox SDR 146, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP] 129 The fives Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP], Vogue (UK) EPV-1209 [EP], Pop SPO 17 003 [EP] 130 Deep end boogie (South End blues) Storyville (Dk) SLP 238, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP], Vogue (UK) EPV-1209 [EP] 140 In the mornin' Storyville (Dk) SLP 239, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Joker SM 4081, Joker SM 9416, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP] 141 Early blues Storyville (Dk) SLP 239, Gannet 5136, Jazz Selection LP 50021, Jazztone J 1224, Musidisc JA 5212, Vogue (UK) LDE 112 eqv. [10" LP] 142 I don't know no. 2 Storyville (Dk) SLP 239 143 Streamline train Storyville (Dk) SLP 239
Chicago, 19 August 1943 PF 39/41A Deep end boogie Wayhi 93 [cassette] Brownskin gal unissued V -1/p with Evie Westphal (v -2).
Chicago, 19 October 1943 PF 8-B I don’t know -1 Wayhi 93 [cassette] PF 42 Fine and mellow -2 Wayhi 93 [cassette] (Recordings from a private party. Also on Document(Au) DOCD 6045.
V -1/p. Chicago, December 1943 125 Streamline train Pax LP 6005 126 I don’t know -1 Pax LP 6005 127 Policy blues -1 Session 10-014 128 I don’t know -1 Session 10-014 129 The fives Session 10-002 130 South end boogie (Deep end boogie) Session 10-002 140 In de mornin’ Session 10-006 141 Early blues Session 10-006 142 I don’t know Session 12-005 143 Streamlined train Session 12-005
See also ALBERT CLEMENS.
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Post by AlanB on Jun 3, 2015 9:05:49 GMT -5
Blues Link 2 Oct/Nov 1973 Attachments:
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Post by rooster on Jun 3, 2015 14:18:45 GMT -5
I've seen that MM photo somewhere before, but I don't know where. Unless you posted it on that other forum we were involved with. I Know I don't have a copy of it. Which is odd since I'm a well known image thief.
AAaaahhh, yes, the Cripple Clarence Lofton Info. Very Nifty, that is. That's going to take a bit of time for me to puzzle out. I have some fragmentary Info and some notes that I need to dig out so I can tackle the job. Again, My kind of fun. I remember that The American Recording Company/Plaza Music/Melotone/etc. was involved early on, if I'm not mistaken. We'll see.
rooster
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Post by AlanB on Jun 3, 2015 23:48:31 GMT -5
Steve LaVere sent that obituary to the blues magazines of the day (Living Blues, Blues Unlimited, Blues World and others). Most opted to omit the photo.
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Post by rooster on Jun 4, 2015 18:59:35 GMT -5
It may have been an old copy of Blues Unlimited that I saw it in or not. I just can't remember.
rooster
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Post by rooster on Jun 4, 2015 19:10:32 GMT -5
OK...and away we go...I'm only going to concentrate on the 78 RPM releases here, for numerous reasons. The LPs are for the most part reissues of the 78's and unreleased material.
I am having fun with this stuff and I want thank Alan for getting me started on it.
For the sake of correctness, I called the Parent company, the American Recording Company in an earlier post. It's actually the "American Recording Corporation". There was an "American Recording Company" (sometimes called "ARC" or "ARCo" by record collectors) that released records between 1904 and 1906 but that company has no connection to the company described herein.
1935
Vocalion 02951
Strut That Thing/Monkey Man Blues
Criple Clarence Lofton
1935
Melotone 6-11-66; Perfect 6-11-66; Romeo 6-11-66
You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down/Brown Skin Girls
Cripple Clarence Lofton
Note: The three labels listed were all owned by The American Recording Corporation. This company owned many labels and sold them sometimes to specific retail outlets. as in this case:
Melotone: Melotone had general retail distribution but was mostly known as a juke box label
Perfect: Perfect was mainly a general purpose label and so had regular distribution.
Romeo: The Romeo label was sold exclusively at Kress department stores.
Note: This coupling was also re-released on the Biltmore label and Jazz Classics label
194x
Biltmore 1042
You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down/Brown Skin Girls
Cripple Clarence Lofton
194x
Jazz Classics 256
You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down/Brown Skin Girls
Cripple Clarence Lofton
Note: "You Tore Your Playhouse Down" was also released on the Conqueror label with the flipside by a different artist. the Conqueror label was also owned by the American Recording Corporation and was sold exclusively by the Sears & Roebuck chain.
(Probably)1935
Conqueror 8758
You Tore Your Playhouse Down/Let's Get Drunk And Truck
Cripple Clarence Lofton/The Blue Chips
1935
Bluebird 5930
Policy Blues/Providence Help The Poor People
Albert Clemens/Joe Williams
Note: This Albert Clemens side is reportedly by Cripple Clarence Lofton under a pseudonym.
1939
Solo Art 12003
Streamline Train/Had A Dream
Cripple Clarence Lofton
1939
Solo Art 12009
I Don't Know/Pine Top's Boogie Woogie
Cripple Clarence Lofton
Note: It appears some of the unreleased Solo Art recordings were later released on the Riverside label LP
1944
Session 10-002
The Fives/Deep End Boogie
Cripple Clarence Lofton
1944
Session 10-005
I Don't Know No. 2/Streamlined Train
Cripple Clarence Lofton
1944
Session 10-006
In De Mornin'/Early Blues
Cripple Clarence Lofton
1946
Session 10-014
Policy Blues/I Don't Know
Cripple Clarence Lofton
Note: The Session label was initially run out of the Session Record Shop in Chicago, Ill. It was a very small label that was really producing records for specialty Jazz collectors market. The company specialized in re-issues of earlier recordings produced by other labels and later, new material recorded by themselves.
So, there you have it. Comments/Corrections/etc. always welcome.
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Post by AlanB on Jun 5, 2015 5:25:03 GMT -5
Well done.....
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Post by rooster on Jun 5, 2015 6:39:15 GMT -5
Lord knows, I try.
rooster
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KateL
New Artist
Posts: 2
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Post by KateL on Jul 28, 2015 5:03:11 GMT -5
Thanks for this great thread. As well as the many versions of BB by Minnie, I know there have been many covers of the song. In a brief discussion of the song in "Deep Blues", Palmer states that Muddy Waters "tampered with Memphis Minnie’s “Bumble Bee” until he’d made it into his own “Honey Bee” which later became one of his classic recordings for Chess" (Palmer 111). Does any one have thoughts on this ? Or any other references ? Thanks all !
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