Memphis Minnie
Tracking down the ultimate woman blues guitar hero is problematic because woman blues singers seldom recorded as guitar players and woman guitar players (such as Rosetta Tharpe and Sister O.M. Terrell) were seldom recorded playing blues. Excluding contemporary artists, the most notable exception to this pattern was Memphis Minnie. The most popular and prolific blueswoman outside the vaudeville tradition, she earned the respect of critics, the support of record-buying fans, and the unqualified praise of the blues artists she worked with throughout her long career. Despite her Southern roots and popularity, she was as much a Chicago blues artist as anyone in her day. Big Bill Broonzy recalls her beating both him and Tampa Red in a guitar contest and claims she was the best woman guitarist he had ever heard. Tough enough to endure in a hard business, she earned the respect of her peers with her solid musicianship and recorded good blues over four decades for Columbia, Vocalion, Bluebird, OKeh, Regal, Checker, and JOB. She also proved to have as good taste in musical husbands as music and sustained working marriages with guitarists Casey Bill Weldon, Joe McCoy, and Ernest Lawlars. Their guitar duets span the spectrum of African-American folk and popular music, including spirituals, comic dialogs, and old-time dance pieces, but Memphis Minnie's best work consisted of deep blues like "Moaning the Blues." More than a good woman blues guitarist and singer, Memphis Minnie holds her own against the best blues artists of her time, and her work has special resonance for today's aspiring guitarists.
© Barry Lee Pearson /TiVo
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Memphis Minnie Vol. 4 (1938-1939)
Blues - Released by Document Records on 27 Sep 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe Vol. 3 (1931 - 1932)
Blues - Released by Document Records on 5 Apr 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Killer Diller Blues
Country - Released by Wolf Records International GmbH on 29 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Me And My Chauffeur Blues
Blues - Released by Findina Records on 21 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Columbia Original Masters
Blues - Released by Columbia on 9 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keep on Goin': 1930 - 1953 Recordings
Blues - Released by Dark Was the Night Records on 15 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Memphis Minnie Vol. 3 (1937)
Blues - Released by Document Records on 27 Sep 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Memphis Minnie Selected Favorites, Vol. 1
Blues - Released by Charly Records on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Memphis Minnie Selected Favorites, Vol. 3
Blues - Released by Charly Records on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The First Lady of Blues (Digitally Remastered)
Blues - Released by Nub Music on 3 May 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blue Notes – A Blues Survey from 1920-1960, vol. 2
Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Bukka White
Blues - Released by Phontastic on 5 Apr 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Columbia Original Masters
Blues - Released by Columbia on 9 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Blues Legend
Blues - Released by Charly Records on 14 Apr 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Sailin' Away With You
R&B - Released by Reminisce Music on 29 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Night Time BluesNothing But the Blues
Blues - Released by History on 2 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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