Topic: Memphis Minnie - That'll Be Alright

[misterjones]

This song appears on Yazoo's "Memphis Jamboree" and is attributed to Memphis Minnie (1929).  Her voice sounds uncharacteristically deep.  Is it really she, or is there a pitch problem that makes her sound more like a man?  If yes and no, was her voice that different in 1929?

[dj]

I don't have B&GR4 at hand, but it sure sounds like Joe McCoy.

[misterjones]

I've seen it listed elsewhere as "That Will Be Alright (feat. Kansas Joe McCoy)", so it must be his vocals with her guitar accompaniment.

[CF]

This happened to me several times early on in my discovery of the music . . . tracks attributed to Minnie but with a Kansas Joe vocal & rhythm guitar, thinking Minnie had one hell of a deep voice . . . ('Joliet Bound' & 'When The Levee Breaks')

[uncle bud]

It's definitely Joe McCoy singing, both Joe and Minnie playing guitar. B&GR has the song listed under McCoy's name, not Minnie's. Some of their records were released under the name Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie, some as Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe, some as Memphis Minnie, among other permutations. Unfortunately, Yazoo has never provided proper discographical information on their releases. But Joe McCoy has a pretty distinctive voice to my ear. 

[Mr.OMuck]

One of the great songs btw. Fantastic, got everything ya need!

[misterjones]

I have a 78 that states on one side "Black Rat Swing" by "Mr Memphis Minnie" (instead of Little Son Joe).  I guess the record A&Rs thought she had quite a bit of name recognition for record sales.

I don't know what the label for "That'll Be Alright" stated, but I wouldn't be surprised if Memphis Minnie got top billing.

[uncle bud]

[banjochris]

This was from their first session, too, if memory serves, so Memphis Minnie wouldn't yet have been the name draw she was in later years, so no reason for a "Mr. Memphis Minnie"-type appellation.
Chris

[LD50]

I think a lot of reissue companies assume records listed as Memphis Minnie will sell better than records listed as Kansas Joe McCoy, so it's real common for records where Kansas Joe did all the singing to be listed as Memphis Minnie Records. I can't count all the times I've seen When the Levee Breaks listed as a Memphis Minnie record, even tho Minnie never sang on it.

[dj]

On Memphis Jamboree, Yazoo attributes Joliet Bound, another Minnie/Joe duet with Joe doing the singing, to Kansas Joe McCoy.  So I think the artist attribution (and title!) on That Will Be Alright were just mistakes on Yazoo's part.

[LD50]

Yeah, usually Yazoo didn't do that -- on the first LP that ever issued When the Levee Breaks in good sound (Roots of Rock), they credited the song to 'Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie'.