These ladies, Rosa Lee Hill, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Ada Mae Anderson, come from a long line of musicians. They were all taught to play by their father and or grandfather. When George Mitchell arrived in Mississippi he was introduced to Rosa Lee and her niece, Jessie Mae at Fred McDowell’s house. He couldn’t believe he was meeting Rosa Lee Hill and asked if he could record her. She tells him not tonight but then invites him to her house in a few days and maybe then.
Rosa Lee Hill was born in Panola County in 1911 and her father was Sid Hemphill. Sid was a popular 
musician in the Senatobia area. He played every night to make money for his family and taught all of them to play too. Rosa Lee began playing guitar at age seven and was playing parties with other family members by the age of ten. Jessie Mae was Rosa Lee’s sisters child and as soon as she was old enough was taught to play guitar by her grandfather, Sid. She soon though started to beat the snare drum with some of the Fife and Drum bands that played at the picnics around the area. Ada Mae Anderson was the daughter of Sid’s brother, George Hemphill, she played with the Hemphill clan when she was young but also sang in a female gospel band. Jessie Mae is probably the most well known of the 
“Hemphill Girls” having collaborated on many albums and touring Europe and being featured in the documentary Deep Blues. There is no doubt that the Hemphill Clan was an important and vital part of the history of the MS Hill Country Music history.
For your listening pleasure…Rosa Lee Hill singing Bullying Well. This was recorded in Como, MS in 1967.
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