Born
Armenter Chatmon on a plantation outside of Bolton, Mississippi, in 1893.
His mother played the guitar, and his father, who had learned to fiddle from
a planter during slavery, were his earliest teachers and influences. The
whole Chatmon family was musical and Bo, with his brothers Lonnie and Sam,
started a string band that became famous as the 'Mississippi Sheiks'. They
were one of the best selling 'Race recording acts' of the Depression years
and the brothers were usually joined by Walter Vinson, all of whom played
several instruments. As a solo artist Bo Carter also enjoyed considerable
recording success, often using risqué and ribald lyrics and metaphors in his
songs, overlaid with hokum influences. Because of his style he was sometimes
overlooked by 'blues researchers' who did not regard his music as "serious".
Nevertheless he recorded a range of more serious blues numbers, particularly
later in his career, and he was the first to record the standard 'Corrine Corrina' in 1928. Shortly after this however Bo Carter went blind and from
the mid 1930's he settled into a life as a street singer in Memphis. He died
in Memphis in 1964 aged 71.
Born
Armenter Chatmon on a plantation outside of Bolton, Mississippi, in 1893.
His mother played the guitar, and his father, who had learned to fiddle from
a planter during slavery, were his earliest teachers and influences. The
whole Chatmon family was musical and Bo, with his brothers Lonnie and Sam,
started a string band that became famous as the '