Kansas Joe McCoy

about

Joe McCoy (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950) was a Delta blues musician and songwriter. McCoy played music under a variety of stage names but is best known as "Kansas Joe McCoy". Born in Raymond, Mississippi, he was the older brother of the blues accompanist Papa Charlie McCoy. As a young man, McCoy was drawn to the music scene in Memphis, Tennessee where he played guitar and sang vocals during the 1920s. He teamed up with future wife Lizzie Douglas, a guitarist better known as Memphis Minnie, and their 1929 recording of the song "Bumble Bee" on the Columbia Records label was a hit. In 1930, the couple moved to Chicago where they were an important part of the burgeoning blues scene. Following their divorce, McCoy teamed up with his brother to form a band known as the Harlem Hamfats that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s. In 1936, the Harlem Hamfats released a record with the song "The Weed Smoker's Dream" on it. McCoy later refined the tune, changed the lyrics and titled the new song "Why Don't You Do Right?" for Lil Green, who recorded it in 1941. It was covered a year later by both Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, becoming Lee's first hit single. "Why Don't You Do Right?" remains a jazz standard and is McCoy's most enduring composition. At the outbreak of World War II Charlie McCoy entered the military, but a heart condition kept Joe McCoy from service. Out on his own, he created a band known as 'Big Joe and his Rhythm' that performed together throughou

top songs

albums

When the Levee Breaks - Greatest Blues Masters

I'm Wild About My Stuff

One In A Hundred

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Top 50 Classics - The Very Best of Kansas Joe McCoy

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Century of the Blues

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New York City Blues

Cherry Ball Blues

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Memphis Jamboree 1927-1936

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The Definitve Country Blues Collection 4 Of 4

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Definitive Delta Blues CD1

Definitive Delta Blues

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Good Morning Blues - A Classic Blues Anthology 1920 - 1942 CD 2

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