Page 36 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2021

their version of “When the Levee Breaks,” a song written and she was a major attraction on the K.C. club scene. Ms. Lee’s
recorded by Minnie and her husband Joe McCoy in 1929. place in history is important because her material was both clever
At a ceremony in 1996, 23 years after Minnie’s death, and among the first to playfully champion women’s sexuality.
attended by 35 family members, including sisters, nephews Over the years, her songs have found their way into commercials
and nieces (among them, R&B legend Laverne Baker), Bonnie (Pillsbury) and movies (Eddie Murphy’s 1999 release Life). She
Raitt placed a headstone on the unmarked grave of Lizzie “Kid” had a good sense of humor about all of it and once described
Douglas Lawlers a.k.a. Memphis Minnie. The inscription on the her music as, “the songs my mother taught me not to sing!”
back reads: Ella Mae Morse
“The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect (vocals)
material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once
general and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly Great music has the ability to build bridges and knock down
singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie’s songs we hear fences. Hailing from Mansfield, TX, Ella Mae was a blue-eyed
her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as bombshell that bridged numerous musical and racial gaps in the
if they were our own.” ‘40s. Back then, before the days of television, because of her
As one of the first women, Black or white, to earn the respect phrasing, style and “jump line of chatter,” audiences thought she
of her peers as a top-notch musician, composer and all-around was Black. Matter of fact, Ms. Morse had several #1 hits on
professional in the male-dominated music business, Memphis the Black R&B charts, and no one seemed to care. Bandleader
Minnie opened a lot of doors for future generations. Everyone Freddie Slack served as her partner and provided boogie-
woogie piano to her hipster jive and smooth, smooth delivery.
from Koko Taylor, to Ms. Raitt, to my friend, the late Ann Rabson Ella also gave Capitol Records its first gold record with “Cow
of Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, has loudly sung her praises Cow Boogie,” and benefited from well-produced records with
and openly acknowledged a huge debt to her, not only as an artist stellar sidemen, like the legendary Speedy West on steel and
who wrote and sang damn fine songs, but also as a role model for Jimmy Bryant on electric guitar. Ella Mae stopped recording in
young women with dreams and the determination to follow them.
the mid-1950s, but continued to do live appearances until the
Camille Howard late ‘80s. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is
(piano, vocals) considered by many to be the first true female rock ‘n’ roll singer.
Born in 1914 in Galveston, TX, Camille Browning Howard’s Look for her best work on Bear Family Records.
career lasted from the mid-1930s till the late ‘50s. Starting as a And, finally...
teenager, Camille jumped into the music business with local trios The International Sweethearts of Rhythm
and made the move to California in her early twenties. There, (all-women big band, playing swing, jazz and blues)
she joined the vibrant music scene as a member of Roy Milton
And His Solid Senders (great name!). Her rocking piano playing Okay this is a stretch, we are stepping over into jazz, but
was featured on his huge national hit, “R.M. Blues.” trust me, this is a perfect final group for you to be familiar
A jazz critic once described her playing as an “unending
flood of florid melodies with her right hand.” Howard also
pounded thundering boogie-woogie with her left hand that
sounded straight out of the lobby in a Galveston Brothel. In 1948,
she recorded “X-Temporaneous Boogie” for Specialty Records.
Selling over 250,000 copies, she finally had a genuine hit.
Staying on with Milton for a number of years, she was also the
featured vocalist on his big hit, “Thrill Me.” Ms. Howard toured
up until 1956 and then retired from active performing. Leaving
a legacy of what Bill Dahl describes as, “storming boogies and
sultry ballads,” Camille Howard remains one of early R&B’s most
distinctive musicians and vocalists.
Julia Lee
(piano, vocals, double entendre lyrics)
From Kansas City, MO, comes another great player and
stylist. Julia Lee was a terrific pianist, but is best remembered for
songs like “King-Sized Papa,” “Snatch and Grab It,” “My Man
Stands Out” and the notorious “I Didn’t Like It the First Time (The
Spinach Song).” Beginning in the 1920s with local bands (that
often included a young Charlie Parker) and on through the ‘50s, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm

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