Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted from the 1920s to the 1950s. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being "Bumble Bee", "Nothing in Rambling", and "Me and My Chauffeur Blues". Her performances and songwriting made her well known in a genre dominated by men.
Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897, in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest of 13 siblings. Her parents, Abe and Gertrude Douglas, nicknamed her Kid when she was a young child, and her family called her Kid throughout her childhood, because she never liked the name Lizzie. When she first began performing, she played under the name Kid Douglas.
When she was 7, she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, south of Memphis. The following year she received her first guitar as a Christmas present. She learned to play banjo by the age of 10 and guitar by the age of 11, when she started playing local parties. The family later moved to Brunswick, Tennessee. After Minnie's mother died, in 1922, Abe Douglas moved back to Walls, where he died in 1935.
(Memphis Minnie)
It's a cold, cold morning, I was out in the rain and snow
It's a cold, cold morning, I was out in the rain and snow
Yes, in a world of trouble, I couldn't find no place to
The wind was blowing and the rain began to freeze
The wind was blowing and the rain began to freeze
So much of trouble, Lord, have mercy on me
Standing on the corner, my friends all was passing by
Standing on the corner, my friends all was passing by
Well, I cried so much, Lord, I didn't have no tears to
My brother, he's in trouble, my dad he just broke jail
My man, he's in trouble, and the law is on his trail
It's a cold, cold morning, and I'm out in the rain and
snow