Bo Carter

Complete recorded Works c. November/December 1928 – 12 February 1940

Vol. 2: 5th June 1931 to 26th March 1934

Featuring the recordings of:

Bo Carter, vocal / guitar. Bo Carter, vocal / guitar; prob. Lonnie Chatmon, violin.

Genres: Blues, Country Blues, Mississippi Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Blues Violin.

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. In the time between his December 1928 New Orleans session and his next solo recording date at the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi on December 15, 1930, Bo Carter had participated in numerous sessions in the role of accompanist. There were two sessions in Memphis in late September 1929 and February 1930 where Chatman’s Mississippi Hotfooters (with Carter probably on violin) backed both Walter Vincent (Vincson) and Charlie McCoy on several tracks apiece. On these occasions he most likely had contact with some of the other artists who recorded there. Included among their number were some of the more popular and influential Race artists of the period: Jim Jackson, Tampa Red, Georgia Tom, Speckled Red, Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie, Kansas Joe, Robert Wilkins, Jed Davenport, and Garfield Akers. An extended session with the Mississippi Sheiks in San Antonio in June 1930 was the occasion to record not only with the family group and to support Texas Alexander with them, but to record with Walter Jacobs (Vincson) and the Carter Brothers as well. The point of all this is that Bo Carter went from being a versatile performing musician to being an experienced recording musician in a relatively short time period. He had ample opportunity to witness first-hand what other artists were recording, how they met the very different demands of the new medium, what the companies themselves were likely to want, and ultimately, what it took to produce a best-selling blues record.

Ken Romanowski Copyright 1991 & 2007 Document Records

DOCD-5079