AFRAM 337 #1 Memphis Minne, Big Mama Thornton, and rock n roll.

Memphis Minnie and Big Mama Thornton were two pioneers in the blues genre as both women in a male-dominated field and African-Americans who faced adversary on their respective paths. While both Minnie and Thornton were distinctively unique in relation to each other. They shared many remarkable similarities that were not a function of their time period. These mavericks, black women, were unconventional in a dimension controlled by white males and drew on inspiration from  “The Empress of Blues” Bessie Smith. What separated them was the use of how they approached their craft.

Thornton’s songs centered around her booming and commanding voice which would foreshadow her toughened personality “I figured that she came out the womb standing up and pissed off.” said a club promoter Dick Waterman. In the “Jukebox” era Memphis Minnie was one of the first to take advantage of the changes as technology began to meet the intersection of art. Unlike Thornton, Minnie’s music was centered around her electric guitar. “The electric guitar is very loud, science having magnified all its softness away...her voice hard and strong anyhow for a little woman’s is made harder and stronger by science.”

    Last night I was watching covers from Pat Boone, another artist who probably wouldn't have found success without his shameless use of black music. Here is a hilarious example that has both versions of "Tutti Frutti" originally sung by Little Richard. Another example can sometime later after Pat Boone's & Elvis Presely's antics When The Levee Breaks mentioned in my response was adopted by Led Zeppelin albeit they took more creative license with the original song. 

Interestingly reading through the WWR and scrolling through their oral histories I learned about a rapper named Medusa from LA. She was a very early adopter of hip-hop, pre-hip hop in a sense since she was involved so heavily with pop-locking. It's a shame that we aren't exposed to these powerful women, who seem to have something different about them. 

- Philmon Tesfaye