Hello folks, If all goes well I will post a few pictures of a guitar that was given to a friend of mine, collector Ken Swerilas, by Sam Chatman. Sam stated that this was a guitar owned by Bo Carter, his brother. Ken was a good friend of Sam's and Sam had stayed at his house in California.
I wonder what happened to the one he owned when Paul Oliver interviewed him in 1960 which he described Bo as initially being "too weak to hold down the strings of his heavy steel guitar with its worn finger board". Here's a scan of the photo Oliver took as on page 84 of Conversation With The Blues.
Weenie member Chezztone tells a great story of tracking down Bo's National. I don't think he's shared it with us here, though he has written an article about it.
Thanks for the pictures, phhawk. That's one worn fretboard.
Weenie member Chezztone tells a great story of tracking down Bo's National. I don't think he's shared it with us here, though he has written an article about it.
From the AG website:
From Mississippi by Steve Cheseborough. Steve Cheseborough tracks down the guitar played by his musical hero, bluesman Bo Carter. August 2002.
Now all I have to do is dig up that particular back issue.
Thought I'd add one more photo. This is the label that Sam taped to the side of the guitar case, in the case it got lost in transit. I screwed up the exposure so it might be hard to see. Anyway...