Kansas Joe McCoy | |
|---|---|
 McCoyc. 1945 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kansas Joseph Allen McCoy |
| Born | Wilbur Joe McCoy (1905-05-11)May 11, 1905 Raymond, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 1950(1950-01-28) (aged 44) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1920s–1940s |
Wilbur Joe "Kansas Joe" McCoy[1] (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950)[2] was an AmericanDelta blues singer, musician and songwriter.[3]
McCoy performed under various stage names but is best known as Kansas Joe McCoy.[4] Born inRaymond, Mississippi,[4] he was the older brother of the blues accompanistPapa Charlie McCoy. As a young man, McCoy was drawn to the music scene inMemphis, Tennessee, where he played guitar and sang during the 1920s. He teamed up his with future wife, Lizzie Douglas, a guitarist better known asMemphis Minnie,[4] and their 1930 recording of the song "Bumble Bee" forColumbia Records was ahit.[5][6] In 1930, the couple moved to Chicago, where they were an important part of the burgeoning blues scene there.[4] After they were divorced, McCoy teamed up with his brother to form theHarlem Hamfats, a band that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s.[4]
In 1936, the Harlem Hamfats released their recording of the song "The Weed Smoker's Dream". McCoy later refined the tune, changed the lyrics and retitled the song "Why Don't You Do Right?" forLil Green, who recorded it in 1941. It wascovered a year later by bothBenny Goodman andPeggy Lee, becoming Lee's firsthit single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" remains ajazz standard and is McCoy's most enduring composition.[7]
At the outbreak ofWorld War II Charlie McCoy entered the military, but a heart condition kept Joe McCoy from service. He formed a band, Big Joe and his Rhythm, which performed during most of the 1940s. The band featuredRobert Nighthawk on harmonica and Charlie McCoy onmandolin.[8]
McCoy died ofheart disease in Chicago in 1950, at the age of 44, only a few months before Charlie died. They are both buried inRestvale Cemetery, inAlsip, Illinois.
Led Zeppelin vocalistRobert Plant took a recording of "When the Levee Breaks," by McCoy and Memphis Minnie, which was in his personal collection, to guitaristJimmy Page, who revamped the music, and the band recorded it, with most of the original lyrics, for Led Zeppelin's 1971 album,Led Zeppelin IV. Neither writer was credited on the original album but Minnie was given credit on later pressings.
McCoy's songs have also been covered bySkip James,Bob Dylan,John Mellencamp, theInk Spots,Ella Fitzgerald,Jo Ann Kelly,Cleo Laine andA Perfect Circle.
McCoy also performed and recorded under the names Bill Wither, Georgia Pine Boy, Hallelujah Joe, Big Joe McCoy and His Washboard Band, and the Mississippi Mudder.[8] He also used the names Hamfoot Ham, Hillbilly Plowboy, and Mud Dauber Joe.[2]
Like many blues musicians of his era, Joe McCoy's grave site was originally unmarked. A tribute concert[9] was held in October 2010 to celebrate the music of Joe and Charlie McCoy and to buy gravestones for each of them; they were installed on May 31, 2011.
