Died On This Date (August 6, 1973) Memphis Minnie / Early Blues Great
themusicsover Memphis Minnie (Born Lizzie Douglas)
June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973
With a career that spanned an impressive four decades, Memphis Minnie is considered one of the most influential female blues guitarists of all time, and having started her career in the ’20s, she is definitely a blues pioneer. Minnie learned to play the guitar as a child, and by the time she was 14, she had run away from home and joined the Ringling Brothers circus. In 1929, she landed her first contract with Columbia Records who released her first hit, “Bumble Bee.” In the early ’40s, Minnie added the electic guitar to her country blues repertoire, being one of the first blues artists to do so, thus paving the way for Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Rogers. Minnie continued to perform and record until her health started to decline in the mid-’50s, at which time she retired. She died of a stroke in a Memphis nursing home on August 6, 1973.
Eddie Daye was a long time fixture of the Washington DC blues scene. He and his family moved to the area when he was just a teenager but he was already a veteran of gospel choirs. He soon graduated to a local doo wop group, the 4 Bars who began playing along the local chitlin circuit. The group was put on hold in 1951 when Daye and another member were sent overseas during the Korean War. After returning home, the 4 Bars reformed and signed with regional boutique label, Josie Records. Their first single sold in the neighborhood of 150,000 units. The group continued to record and perform for many years to come. Daye was still a regional favorite through recent years. Eddie Daye died of undisclosed causes at the age of 78.
Otha Young was a guitarist and songwriter who worked with Juice Newton for many years. Over the course of his career, Young wrote such Newton hits as 1981’s “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known)” The two began playing together as Dixie Peach, but by the time Newton released her first album on RCA Records in 1975, she was using her own name. As a gifted guitarist, Young played alongside Newton through most of their careers. He can be heard on most of her hit records. Otha Young died as a result of cancer at the age of 66.
Catfish Collins is best remembered as the rhythm guitarist on several influential recordings by P-Funk, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, which was lead by his brother, Bootsy Collins. During the late ’60s, Collins and his brother, Bootsy, and