MEMPHIS MINNIE & KANSAS JOE — 1929-1934 Recordings In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 • 1933-1934 | DOCD-5031 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although the title credits the material herein to Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe, very few of the tracks which comprise this volume are actually collaborative efforts between the duo -- by 1933 their personal and professional relationships were both on the rocks, with Minnie instead recording solo and Joe working with his guitarist brother Charlie. The Minnie solo sides which open the set are uniformly excellent, with the saucy "My Butcher Man" spotlighting her gifts as a lyricist and the Mississippi-styled "Too Late" underscoring her guitar prowess. By mid-1934, some measure of reconciliation had clearly been reached, as the couple was now performing together again; although their reunion was short-lived -- and their subsequent break final -- these last sides are also powerful, with the revealing "Moaning the Blues" capping their career in peak form. Jason Ankeny

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes After a gap of almost two years Memphis Minnie returned to the studio in November 1933 but this time it was as a solo artist. The session only produced four numbers of which two were commercially released. My Butcher Man, a double-entendre employing some nice ‘meat cutting’ imagery (“slice my pork chop, grind my sausage too” etc) and culminating in the vivid,

If anybody ask you “butcher man where you bin?”, Show them that long bladed knife, tell ’em you’ve bin butchering out in that slaughter pen.

was coupled with the outstanding, Too Late, a blues that in structure and attack owed more to Mississippi than Memphis or Chicago, the superb guitar accompaniment so reminiscent of Mattie Delaney. Four months later, in March 1934, she returned to record a further two titles, Stinging Snake Blues and Drunken Barrel House, again without Joe McCoy. The reasons behind Joe McCoy‘s disappearance from the recording scene have never been explained, though artists who knew the couple reported that Joe couldn’t come to terms with Minnie’s success and as such was putting a strain on the marriage. However, they must have resolved their problems because in August 1934 they signed to the newly formed Decca label. The company policy was to undercut existing race labels by pricing all records at 35 cents. This was justified by maintaining that corresponding cuts in overheads would be achieved by keeping as many recordings as possible to a single take. In practice though this seldom happened as the two takes of Keep It To Yourself prove. It was in this climate that Memphis Minnie and Joe McCoy came to record their initial sessions for Decca and over a two month period they cut a mixture of duets and solo items. The reconciliation, however, was short lived and following their last recording, the magnificent if slightly prophetic, Moanin’ The Blues, they parted permanently. Ironically the split was to coincide with a shift in the tastes of black record buyers who were demanding less traditional sounds and more ‘swing’. Joe McCoy forged a career for himself under his own name, finally teaming up with the Harlem Hamfats and Memphis Minnie embarked upon a very busy recording career which will be covered by further discs in this series. DOCD-5031
Tracklist :
1    Memphis Minnie–    My Butcher Man 2:58
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
2    Memphis Minnie–    Too Late 2:56
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
3    Memphis Minnie–    Ain't No Use Trying To Tell On Me 3:11
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
4    Memphis Minnie–    Stinging Snake Blues 3:01
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
5    Memphis Minnie–    Drunken Barrel House Blues 2:50
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
6    The Mississippi Mudder (Mud Dauber Joe)–    I Got To Have A Little More 3:16
Piano – Chuck Segar
Vocals – Unknown Artist
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
Washboard [Prob.] – Unknown Artist
7    The Mississippi Mudder (Mud Dauber Joe)–    Someday I'll Be In The Clay 3:12
Piano – Jimmie Gordon
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
Washboard [Prob.] – Unknown Artist
8    Kansas Joe McCoy–    Evil Devil Woman Blues 3:10
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
9    Kansas Joe McCoy–    Going Back Home Blues 3:02
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
10    Kansas Joe McCoy–    Meat Cutter Blues 2:52
Guitar [Poss.] – Charlie McCoy
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
11    Memphis Minnie And Kansas Joe–    You Got To Move - Part I 3:02
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe, Memphis Minnie
12    Memphis Minnie–    Keep It To Yourself 2:47
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
13    Memphis Minnie–    Keep It To Yourself 2:55
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
14    Memphis Minnie–    Chickasaw Train Blues (Low Down Dirty Thing) 3:15
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
15    Memphis Minnie–    Banana Man Blues (I Don't Want That Thing) 3:02
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
16    Memphis Minnie And Kansas Joe–    You Got To Move - Part II 2:47
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe, Memphis Minnie
17    Memphis Minnie And Kansas Joe–    Hole In The Wall 3:11
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe, Memphis Minnie
18    Memphis Minnie And Kansas Joe–    Give It To Me In My Hand (Can I Go Home With You) 3:25
Vocals, Guitar – Kansas Joe, Memphis Minnie
19    Memphis Minnie–    Squat It 2:48
Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie
20    Memphis Minnie–    Moaning The Blues 3:05
Guitar – Kansas Joe McCoy
Vocals, Guitar – Memphis Minnie