• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

‘Brother Johnny’: As Much About Edgar Winter As His More Famous Brother 

May 25, 2022

Exclusive: Soul Blues Belter Lauren Anderson Premieres New Single ‘Tell Me Baby’

May 25, 2022

Windy City Wednesday – Eddie C. Campbell with Lurrie Bell ‘Spider Eating Preacher’

May 25, 2022

Calypso Rose Announces New Album ‘Forever’

May 24, 2022
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»C.C. Rider the Venerator: Memphis Minnie
News

C.C. Rider the Venerator: Memphis Minnie

C.C. RiderBy C.C. RiderJune 3, 2015Updated:April 10, 2020No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

This is the latest from The Bluesmobile’s C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Memphis Minnie

Memphis Minnie (photo from The Language of the Blues, courtesy Delta Haze Corporation)

(June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973)

The lady born Elizabeth ‘Kid’ Douglas, chewed tobacco while she sang. Perched in her chiffon ballgown, she spat without missin’ a beat. With her dark red nails she picked out radical melodies, rhythms, counter-rhythms on her guitar. ‘Kid’ Douglas—known to the rest of us by the stage name that changed the game—Memphis Minnie.

By the time Memphis Minnie hit the scene, the heyday of women blues singers was all but finished. But that didn’t matter. See, Minnie was one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. Shattering gender stereotypes with every thump of her high-heel. Minnie wasn’t just “good for a girl.” Minnie was better than any man. In the words of frequent collaborator Willie Moore: “She was a guitar king.”

A child prodigy—she picked up the banjo at 7 and had a guitar by 11. Soon enough she’d run away to join the Ringling Brothers circus. Left the circus, and gigged around Memphis before moving to Chicago, where she schooled the boys in guitar contests. Even Big Bill Broonzy had to bow before Queen Minnie. She wrote hundreds of songs. Here’s one of em. From her first recording session, Memphis Minnie and “Bumble Bee Blues.”

cc logo 4 dark brown small canvas

C.C. Rider the Venerator Memphis Minnie The Bluesmobile
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleThe New Blues Roaring Out of Louisiana
Next Article 24th Street Wailers' “Where Evil Grows” Jumps and Swings
C.C. Rider
  • Website
  • Twitter

C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Related Posts

Calypso Rose Announces New Album ‘Forever’

May 24, 2022

The Gun Club’s Classic ‘The Las Vegas Story’

May 24, 2022

Mitch Grainger Releases ‘Strong Woman’

May 23, 2022

‘Blues Doctor’ Chicago Slim Helps Build Chicago Blues Society

May 23, 2022

Comments are closed.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.