Topic: Bo Carter's Solo Guitar-Accompanied Recordings

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Having been recently immersed in transcribing the lyrics to Bo Carter's commercial recordings, I wanted to follow up by analyzing his recordings in which he supplied the sole accompaniment on his guitar. Bo recorded 102 titles that ended up being released (some after his death) starting with his first solo session on December 15, 1930 and finishing up at his final commercial recording session, on February 12, 1940. On the tables that follow, which I will sort by session, those recordings will be listed chronologically, with the sessions indicated, Bo's playing position/tuning, the key in which each rendition sounded, and finally each song's category. The categories in which I've chosen to sort the songs are:
   * One-off: These are songs with unique chord progressions, phrasing, melodies and solos, based on the position/tuning that Bo used to play the song.
   * Archetype: These would be songs that would be one-offs, except that Bo was later to record other songs with the same chord progression, phrasing and melody in the same playing position/tuning.
   * Iteration: These are songs that recreate the chord progression, phrasing, form and melody of an archetypal song that Bo recorded previously in the same playing position/tuning. The number after an iteration designation shows the number of the song upon which the iteration's structure was based.
By looking at the way Bo's recordings fall into these categories as his recording career progressed, we're able to get a sense of how much he repeated himself (the archetypes and iterations) and how much he continued to come up with new ideas for his songs, new melodies, solos, etc.
One further note: In the playing position/tuning category, unless the tuning for a song is stipulated as DGDGBE, Vestapol or Dropped-D tuning, it should be assumed that Bo played the piece in standard tuning in the position indicated. All of Bo's songs in DGDGBE tuning were played in G, all of his songs in Vestapol were played in the key of his open sixth string, and all of his songs in Dropped-D tuning were played in D. For songs where the playing position/tuning is followed by (FP), Bo played the song with a flat pick in his picking hand.

Bo Carter's Solo Guitar Recordings

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
1)  I'm An Old Bumble Bee	12/15/30	DGDGBE	G#	Archetype
2) Mean Feeling Blues	12/15/30	Vestapol	E+	Archetype
3) I've Got The Whole World In My Hands	12/15/30	G(FP)	G#	One-off
4) She's Your Cook, But She Burns My Bread Sometimes	12/15/30	Bb(FP)	B	One-off
5) Same Thing The Cats Fight About	12/15/30	Bb(FP)	B	Archetype
6) Times Is Tight Like That	12/15/30	Bb(FP)	B	Iteration(5)

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
7) My Pencil Won't Write No More	6/4/31	Bb(FP)	B-	One-off
8 ) Banana In Your Fruit Basket	6/4/31	G(FP)	G-	Archetype
9) Pin In Your Cushion	6/4/31	G(FP)	G-	Archetype
10) Pussy Cat Blues	6/4/31	E	E+	One-off
11) Ram Rod Daddy	6/4/31	Vestapol	E+	Archetype
12) Loveless Love	6/4/31	G(FP)	G#-	One-off
13) I Love That Thing	6/4/31	Vestapol	E-	Archetype
14) Backache Blues	6/4/31	Vestapol	E-	Iteration(11)
15) Sorry Feeling Blues	6/4/31	Vestapol	E-	Iteration(2)
16) Baby, When You Marry	6/4/31	Vestapol	E-	One-off
17) Boot It	6/4/31	Dropped-D	D- -	One-off
18) Twist It, Baby	6/4/31	Dropped-D	F	One-off

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
19) So Long, Baby, So Long	6/5/31	DGDGBE	G#-	One-off
20) The Law Gonna Step On You	6/5/31	DGDGBE	G#	One-off
21) Pig Meat Is What I Crave	6/5/31	Vestapol	F-	One-off
22) Howling Tom Cat Blues	6/5/31	A	A	Archetype
23) Ants In My Pants	6/5/31	Vestapol	E	Archetype
24) Blue Runner Blues	6/5/31	Vestapol	E	Iteration(11)

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
25) I've Got A Case Of Mashin' It	10/24/31	Vestapol	Eb-	One-off
26) New Auto Blues	10/24/31	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(11)
27) You Don't Love Me No More	10/24/31	DGDGBE	G-	Iteration(1)*
28) What Kind Of Scent Is This?	10/24/31	E	E-	One-off

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
29) Pretty Baby	10/25/31	DGDGBE	G-	Iteration(1)*
30) I Want You To Know	10/25/31	DGDGBE	G	Archetype
31) Last Go Round	10/25/31	A(FP)	A-	One-off
32) You Keep On Spending My Change	10/25/31	Dropped-D	D	One-off

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
33) Backache Blues	3/26/34	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(11)
34) Bo Carter Special	3/26/34	Vestapol	Eb- -	One-off
35) Beans	3/26/34	C	D- -	One-off
36) Nobody's Business	3/26/34	C	C#	One-off
37) Pin In Your Cushion	3/26/34	G(FP)	G-	Iteration(9)
38) Banana In The Fruit Basket	3/26/34	G(FP)	G-	Iteration(8 )

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
39) Howlin' Tom Cat	3/27/34	A	A#-	Iteration(22)
40) Don't Cross Lay Your Daddy	3/27/34	Dropped-D	D#-	One-off

The tables continue on the next page.
All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Bo Carter's Solo Guitar Recordings, Continued

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
41) Who Broke The Latch?	1/19/35	C	C#- -	One-off
42) Don't Do It No More	1/19/35	DGDGBE	G	Iteration(30)
43) Skin Ball Blues	1/19/35	DGDGBE	G#-	Archetype
44) Old Shoe Blues	1/19/35	DGDGBE	G	Archetype
45) Please Warm My Weiner	1/19/35	DGDGBE	G	One-off
46) She's Gonna Crawl Back Home To You	1/19/35	Dropped-D	D-	One-off
47) Let Me Roll Your Lemon	1/19/35	E	E	One-off
48) Mashing That Thing	1/19/35	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(13)
49) Blue Runner Blues	1/19/35	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(11)
50) Fifty-Fifty With Me	1/19/35	Vestapol	Eb	Archetype

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
51) Ride My Mule	2/20/36	DGDGBE	G#	Iteration(44)
52) T Baby Blues	2/20/36	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(43)
53) I Get The Blues	2/20/36	DGDGBE	G#	Iteration(9)
54) Spotted Sow Blues	2/20/36	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(29)
55) Rolling Blues	2/20/36	D	D#	One-off
56) All Around Man	2/20/36	A	A- -	Archetype
57) Fat Mouth Blues	2/20/36	A	A- -	One-off
58) You Better Know Your Business	2/20/36	A	A- -	One-off
59) It's Too Wet	2/20/36	Vestapol	E	Iteration(13)
60) Dinner Blues	2/20/36	Vestapol	E	One-off
61) Ain't Nobody Got It	2/20/36	Vestapol	E	One-off
62 Cigarette Blues	2/20/36	Vestapol	E	One-off

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
63) Pussy Cat Blues	10/13/36	A	A-	One-off
64) The Ins And Outs Of My Girl	10/13/36	A	A	One-off
65) All Around Man--Part 2	10/13/36	A	A+	Iteration(56)
66) Bo Carter's Advice	10/13/36	A	A-	One-off
67) Doubled Up In A Knot	10/13/36	DGDGBE	G#+	One-off
68) Worried G Blues	10/13/36	DGDGBE	G+	Iteration(43)
69) Your Biscuits Are Big Enough For Me	10/13/36	C	C- -	One-off
70) Don't Mash My Digger So Deep	10/13/36	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(50)
71) Flea On Me	10/13/36	Vestapol	Eb	Iteration(23)
72) Got To Work Somewhere	10/13/36	Vestapol	Eb	One-off
73) Sue Cow	10/13/36	Vestapol	Eb	One-off

The tables Will be continued on the next page.

   

[Johnm]

Bo Carter's Solo Guitar Recordings, Continued

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
74) Shake 'Em On Down	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#	One-off
75) A Girl For Every Day Of The Week	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#	Iteration(43)*
76) Trouble In Blues	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#	One-off
77) World In A Jug	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#	One-off
78) Who's Been Here?	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	One-off
79) Whiskey Blues	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(43)
80) Shoo That Chicken	10/22/38	C	C#	One-off
81) Let's Get Drunk Again	10/22/38	C	C#	One-off
82) Some Day	10/22/38	C	C#	One-off
83) Old Devil	10/22/38	E	E#	One-off
84) Country Fool	10/22/38	A	A#	One-off
85) Santa Claus	10/22/38	A	A#+	One-off
86) Be My Salty Dog	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	Archetype
87) Five Dollar Bill	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	One-off
88) Ways Like A Crawfish	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(45)
89) Brown-Skin Woman	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(29)
90) Lucille, Lucille	10/22/38	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(43)

Song Title	Session Date	Playing Position/Tuning	Key	Category
91) The County Farm Blues	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G-	One-off
92) Border Of New Mexico Blues	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G	Iteration(44)
93) Arrangement For Me--Blues	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G-	One-off
94) Lock The Lock	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(43)
95) Trouble, Oh Trouble	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G#-	One-off
96) Baby Ruth	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(43,91)
97) My Baby	2/12/40	DGDGBE	G#-	Iteration(86)
98) Policy Blues	2/12/40	Dropped-D	D- -	One-off
99) Tush Hog Blues	2/12/40	A	A- -	One-off
100) My Little Mind	2/12/40	E	E-	One-off
101) Honey	2/12/40	C	C-	One-off
102) What You Want Your Daddy To Do?	2/12/40	C	C#-	One-off

I'll discuss Bo's recordings on the next page.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
There's a lot to take in when you look at a recorded repertoire of the scale of Bo Carter's--it's a huge amount of music! I'll just try to highlight a number of points that grabbed my attention:
   Bo's playing position/tuning breakdown
     * DGDGBE--34 songs
     * Vestapol--24 songs
     * A, standard tuning--13 songs
     * C, standard tuning--9 songs
     * Dropped-D--6 songs
     * G, standard tuning--6 songs
     * E, standard tuning--5 songs
     * Bb, standard tuning--4 songs
     * D, standard tuning--1 song
Expressed as percentages of his recorded repertoire, DGDGBE is 33%, Vestapol is 23.5%, A in standard tuning is 12.7%, C in standard tuning is 8.8%, Dropped-D is 5.8%, G in standard tuning is 5.8%, E in standard tuning is 4.9%, Bb in standard tuning is 3.9% and D in standard tuning is .9%. It is perhaps slightly surprising that Bo never recorded a single number in F in standard tuning, for he certainly had the knowledge and facility required to do that. That he never recorded in cross-note tuning is less surprising, given his predilection for harmonic complexity; cross-note yields up harmonic complexity grudgingly.

   Bo's flat-picked accompaniments
Every song that Bo recorded in G and Bb in standard tuning he chose to accompany with a flat pick. The only other song that he chose to accompany with a flat pick was "Last Go Round", in A in standard tuning. Of the flat-picked songs he played in G, three, "Banana In Your (The) Fruit Basket", "Pin In Your Cushion" and "Loveless Love" were played using only the top four strings of the guitar, DGBE. It has been suggested that Bo may have played these tunes on a tenor guitar. I'm dubious--mostly because of the inconvenience of carrying an extra instrument when the same accompaniment could be played on his regular six-string guitar. He chose not to take solos on any of those three songs. Bo would have had plenty of experience flat-picking in Bb, for it was a favorite playing key of his fiddling brother, Lonnie Chatmon. The two cuts on which Bo played open position chords at the base of the neck were "I've Got The Whole World In My Hands", in G, and "Last Go Round", in A. Bo never recorded another solo flat-picked accompaniment after his 3/26/34 recording session.

   Bo's Blues Standard re-writes
Bo recorded a number of songs in which he set new lyrics to well-known Blues Standards. He used the melody and form of "Sitting On Top Of The World" for "I've Got The Whole World In My Hands", "Ants In My Pants", "Flea On Me" and "World In A Jug". He used the melody and form of "Careless Love" for "Loveless Love". He used the melody and form of "Tight Like That" for "I Love That Thing" and "It's Too Wet". And he used the melody and form of "How Long, How Long Blues" for "So Long, Baby, So Long".

    Bo's lyric innovation
Bo had a huge amount of original lyrics. A particular innovation that he used a couple of times was to sing the first verse of a song as a 12-bar blues phrased AAB, and in all subsequent verses switch to a chorus blues in which he used the A and B lines from the first verse for his chorus. He did this for the first time on "Don't Mash My Digger So Deep", and also did it on "Old Shoe Blues".

    Bo's playing in A, C, and E in standard tuning and Dropped-D
I hadn't realized until I looked at Bo's solo recorded repertoire as a whole, that in the songs that he recorded in C and E in standard tuning and in Dropped-D tuning, every single song was a one-off! In other words, in these playing positions/tunings, Bo never once recycled an accompaniment or melody. That's really remarkable considering how many titles he recorded, and it provides a further reminder, if one were necessary, of how inventive and fertile Bo's musical imagination was. In A, he had two archetypes and two iterations, but this was only by virtue of recording two versions of the same song, twice, "Howling Tom Cat Blues" and "Howlin' Tom Cat" and "All Around Man" and "All Around Man--Part 2". With the exception of those four songs, all of his other songs that he played in A were one-offs as well. Whew!

   Bo's playing in Vestapol
I didn't appreciate fully in the past how many titles Bo recorded in Vestapol. There can't be many other country blues guitarists who recorded more titles in Vestapol--I would guess Blind Willie Johnson and perhaps Josh White. Bo probably repeated himself instrumentally more in Vestapol than any other playing position/tuning in which he recorded, but his repetitions tended to be selective. His greatest area of repetition was in his instrumental intros to songs; he had one that he used over and over, sometimes intact,  and other times with minor variations. Even on the one-offs that he recorded in Vestapol there would often be an intro or instrumental fill here and there that he had previously recorded. The heaviest concentration of Bo's Vestapol tunes falls in the middle period of his recording career--for a while there it looked like his Vestapol tunes would out-number those in DGDGBE. Bo did not record a single tune in Vestapol at his last two sessions.

   Bo's playing in DGDGBE
Prior to Bo's 1/19/35 session, it appeared that DGDGBE would probably comprise a minor portion of Bo's recorded accompaniments. Beginning at that session, though, Bo began to favor DGDGBE markedly, and by his last two sessions it had taken over as Bo's clear favorite playing position/tuning.  In his next-to-last session he had stretches of six and five consecutive songs recorded in DGDGBE, and he began his final session with seven consecutive songs in DGDGBE. As with Vestapol tuning, Bo was most likely to repeat hiself in DGDGBE in his intros and his instrumental fills. He also quite often returned to what he played over the last four bars of his intro to "I'm An Old Bumble Bee" when soloing on other DGDGBE tunes. It was tricky sometimes deciding whether to call some of his DGDGBE tunes one-offs or iterations; usually if the song had some previously un-encountered phrasing I'd call it a one-off, even if it had some recycled licks. That having been said, Bo repeated himself far less than many other players in the style, and it's a bit harsh to be graded down for returning to something that you came up with yourself.

   Bo's treatment of musical time
Some players in the style favored straight eighth notes, like John Hurt, Henry Thomas and Frank Stokes,  while others, like Buddy Moss and Scrapper Blackwell favored a swung eighth note rhythmic feel. Bo was comfortable with and played with equal facility both swung eighth notes and straight eighth notes. On his songs with a straight eighth note feel, like "Shake 'Em On Down", "My Baby", and "Old Devil", he tended to maintain the straight eighth note feel over the course of the rendition. On his songs with a swung eighth note feel, though, like "Pretty Baby", "Policy Blues" or "I'm An Old Bumble Bee", he quite often alternated between swung eighth notes in his intro, instrumental responses, solos and coda and a straight eighth note feel under his vocals. This alternation between swung and straight eighth notes created a distinctive rhythmic tension, and paradoxically, the straight eighth notes seem to feel more syncopated, with a staggering, almost drunken feel, in contrast with the smoother swung feel. Other players in the style who utilized movement between swung and straight eighth notes include Skip James, Robert Johnson, Big Joe Williams and Blind Blake.

    Bo's accompaniment of his singing
One aspect of Bo's playing that is interesting, considering how harmonically sophisticated a player he was and how technically he could play is that he very much preferred a quiet fretting hand under his singing. Most often when singing, he would simply hold a chordal position and run his picking hand. It's not difficult to see the advantage in that approach--with the fretting hand just holding its ground, there is that much more attention to devote to the vocal. And quite often, Bo would follow the the quiet fretting hand under his vocal with a flashy string of triplets in his instrumental response. It set up a nice balance.   

It has been a privilege to spend the time I have recently with Bo's lyrics and playing. I'd be interested to hear discoveries  of Bo's music that others of you have made, or things that impressed you. One tip: If you'd like to listen to his songs, the most efficient way to do that is to go to Lyrics in Weeniepedia, once there, click on Lyrics by Artist, and in the page that you get taken to from there, click on Bo Carter Lyrics. Once at the Bo Carter Lyrics page, click on any title you'd like to hear, and at the end of its lyrics click on "Go to original forum thread" and you'll be taken right to a youtube video of the song you wish to hear. Happy listening!
All best,
Johnm   

[Old Man Ned]

Thanks for posting this John. There's so much information here and it gives another viewpoint when looking at an artists repertoire as apposed to looking at just how they play a particular tune. The more I listen and look into how Bo Carter played the more it becomes apparent what an amazing player he was.

It's going to take some time but I look forward to digging deeper into Bo's playing and this is certainly going to help.

Much appreciated.
All the Best,
Ned

[Johnm]

I'm glad you found the information on Bo's playing interesting, Ned. There are so many of his performances that were stellar that I have never heard played by present-day players--so there's much to work on and learn from there.
All best,
Johnm

[MarkC]

John -
Thanks for this amazingly thorough guide to Bo Carter’s music. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of it.

[eric]

Great work, John.

[banjochris]

This is so great, John, thanks!

[Stuart]

Thank you. John. This is a monumental effort and contribution to say the least.

When I was looking through the information one thing I thought about was that Bo was around 36 years old when he first recorded as a solo artist on 12/15/1930. Based on what has come down to us, we know he came from a musical family, played in various bands for different audiences and had a wide repertoire of material. I think it's a reasonable assumption that he had a wide and deep musical knowledge base that informed his playing. This is not to suggest that what he played was derivative. There is obviously a lot of individual talent and creativity in his music. That he stood on a broad base informed by vast musical experience goes without saying, but I wish we knew more of the details as I think they would be fascinating.

[lindy]

Wonderful effort, John, so many players will benefit from this.

Another observation: by the time that first 12/15/1930 session happened, the country was already well into The Depression. Bo was one of the very few country blues artists to continue recording throughout. Make of that what you will, obviously enough people bought copies to warrant consistent invitations to a recording studio during some of the worst of times.

We're very fortunate to have access to that much output.

L

[harvey]

Thank you John that is very generous of you to share your hard work with us. I am looking forward to working through this. -

It was really interesting to see his songs laid out like this, what stands out is how prolific and varied in terms of tunings and keys he was, which I was already well aware of thanks to your teaching. However, I have always wondered if there was a pattern to his tunings/keys in terms of recording sessions, apart from the occasional bunch it looks fairly random.   

Happy New Year

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the positive comments, I really appreciate them. I realized there were a couple of more aspects of Bo's playing that I wanted to mention and so I edited my post back a little ways in this thread to talk about Bo's treatment of musical time and how he accompanied his singing.
All best,
Johnm

[Andi]

Thanks so much for this great work John! I'll enjoy diving deeper into Bo Carters music and this is going to be a big help...
Andi (long time lurker from Germany, living in Italy, first time posting, love this page since many years...)