Memphis Minnie (nee Lizzie Douglas, 1897-1973) had a singing career that started professionally with a Ringling Brothers show in Clarksdale, Mississippi, while she was a teenager. She eventually moved back up to the Memphis area where her parents and siblings had settled when she was a child, and started recording in Memphis in the late 1920s (the era when playing in a club probably meant a speakeasy). She moved on to Chicago in early 1930 during the depression era. This set is an exceptionally good buy having 124 tracks on 5 CDs, and including her recordings from 1929 to 1937 (the first three were in New York City). The recordings have been remastered and are good quality considering the originals.The set illustrates her development as a blues singer. Unlike most other female vocalists of that era, she played the guitar, and her early recordings were guitar and vocal. On the last of the 5 CDs in the set (Chicago in 1936-1937), she gradually added in instruments and expanded to a fuller band, the last 14 tracks having a trumpet and piano, and the last 7 having drums added.It is not possible to comment on all the individual songs, but to provide some general comments on the individual discs -Disc A (1929-1930) - she was accompanied on most tracs by Kansas Joe McCoy (vocal and sometimes guitar) on most tracks. On tracks 14 and 15, she was accompanied by the Memphis Jug Band - harmonica, guitar and jug (one of the few recordings you will find that includes someone playing the jug)Disc B (mid 1930 - early 1932) - she was still with Kansas Joe McCoy, and tracks 7 and 8 also had an unknown jug band (possibly the Jed Davenport Jug Band).Disc C (early 1932 to early 1935) - she was still with Kansas Joe McCoy on most tracks, but on tracks 22 to 25 she was accompanied by a piano.Disc D (early 1935 to early 1936) - she seems to have dropped Kansas Joe McCoy, who was said to be the first of her husbands. Tracks 1 and 2 have unknown backup vocals and piano, tracks 3 to 7 are solo, tracks 8 to 10 have an unknown second guitar, track 11 to 14 have Black Bob (piano) and Bill Settles (bass), tracks 15 to 18 have Bob and Settles with Casey Bill Weldon (steel guitar) added, tracks 19 to 23 have Bob and an unknown bass, and the last track (track 24) is a duet with Bumble Bee Slim with unknown bass and percussion.Disc E (early 1936 to mid 1937) - This disc seems to give the best representation of her change in style as the playing becomes quite jazzy as the tracks progress. on tracks 1 to 3 she is accompanied by an unknown bass, tracks 5 to 11 have Black Bob back on piano (on track 11) with an unknown woodblocks, tracks 12 to 18 have Black Bob on piano, and unknowns playing trumpet and bass, tracks 19-25 have probably Alfred Bell on trumpet, and unknown piano player, and Fred Williams on drums.Overall, it's an incredible collection.Memphis Minnie was a beautiful woman (Bukka White was quoted as saying, "She was about the best thing going in the woman line"), but she had a reputation of not taking any foolishness from men. Johnny Shine recalled "guitar, pocket-knife, pistol, anything she got her hand on, she'd use it." She was married several times but had no children of her own. She had numerous nieces and nephews.The only biography that I could find available on Amazon is Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues which has mixed reviews is is somewhat expensive. A more recent biography seems to be out of stock at this writing.