LED ZEPPELIN VS MEMPHIS MINNIE
The musical and cultural bloodline of Louisiana-born, Delta-raised Lizzie Douglas (1897–1973), better known to history as Memphis Minnie, runs through the veins of every woman who’s ever picked up a guitar and rocked the blues. A powerhouse singer, guitarist and songwriter whose raunch, skill and charisma challenged the male monopoly of down-home guitar blues, she was sufficiently formidable to best the majestic Big Bill Broonzy himself in blues contests held on his own Chicago turf. Bukka White rated her as “about the best thing goin’ in the woman line”.
It’s therefore bitterly ironic that the song with which this pioneer is most frequently associated in the rock era is one she neither sang nor wrote. The composer credits for – the closing track on Led Zeppelin’s multi-platinum fourth album (the on) – read: ‘Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham & Memphis Minnie’. The original dates back to 1929, and Minnie’s first ever recording session. She was already a veteran of almost two decades of performing in jukes, bars and tent shows, with jug bands and on street corners, when she and her partner, Kansas Joe McCoy – a fellow singer/songwriter/guitarist, eight years her junior, with whom she’d hooked up a few years earlier – were talent-spotted by a Columbia Records scout, and the duo were whisked off to New York to record. From that session came Minnie’s first classic, . It was a huge hit, upon which Muddy Waters based his , just as, a little later on, Minnie’s generated a song credited to Willie Dixon and associated with Howlin’ Wolf and the Rolling Stones. The NY session also reaped McCoy’s composition , sung by him and garnished with Minnie’s deft, sparkling lead guitar. It was credited to ‘Joe & Minnie McCoy’, although they didn’t marry until the following year.
