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The photo (>which I'll upload as soon as I can get it down to the size limits - JP<) is of Bo Carter's stepgrandson, Miles Floyd, holding Bo Carter's guitar at the new headstone, during yesterday's ceremony in Nitta Yuma. I think the kids are Miles' stepkids.The stone is not finished, unfortunately. There will be an engraving of the guitar in black granite at the top, but somehow that didn't get done in time for the ceremony.The ceremony was terrific! About 65 people attended, including friends of mine from California, Washington, Michigan, Georgia and Mississippi. Nitta Yuma is a hamlet of 20 residents, an old plantation where they still grow huge fields of corn. The little cemetery is on the edge of a cornfield, and we all drove through dusty paths to get there.Miles was raised by Bo Carter's son, Ezell, who married Miles' mother. He was obviously emotional about Bo's music and this tribute. DeWayne Moore, director of Mt Zion Foundation, which put this together, spoke for awhile. Next to speak was Henry Phelps, owner of the plantation, who cooperated with the process, granted perpetual access to the cemetery and hosted the event. Then Miles spoke, breaking into tears as he talked about the music. Then an unscheduled speech from Miles' lawyer, who is working on recovering royalties from Eric Clapton's "Alberta, Alberta," which is actually a reworded cover of Bo Carter's "Corrine Corrina."I was scheduled to speak next. But DeWayne unveiled the headstone, which created chaos as everyone rushed to it to look at it, pose for pictures etc. After 20 minutes or so I sat at the base of the statue and asked Bill Steber, who was there as a musician but is also an excellent professional photographer, to shoot a picture of me there. (He shoots on film so I don't know when I'll see that picture.) Someone stuck Bo Carter's guitar in my hands for the picture. Of course I started playing and singing, "I Want You to Know." The crowd quieted down and listened! They applauded at the end and I stood up to speak. It worked out well because now everyone was gathered right around the stone. No one ever introduced me, but many of them knew me, and maybe the others can figure it out from the program.I spoke about my own devotion to Carter's music and about his career and significance. Then I introduced Bill Gandy, owner of Bo Carter's guitar, and asked him to tell the story of how he happened to acquire it and later discover its history. After he spoke I asked him to play a song on it but he demurred and instead brought up Kenny Brown (Gandy's neighbor, companion on the drive from Potts Camp to Nitta Yuma, and longtime RL Burnside sideman) to play. Brown said he hadn't heard of Bo Carter until the day before (!) so he did a Muddy Waters number.Steber and his fiddler played "Sitting On Top of the World," Moses Crouch sang "County Farm Blues" and then Andy Cohen led all the musicians in "Corrine Corrina," which we tried to get the crowd to sing along on. Then we all trucked out of the cemetery, up the hill to Nitta Yuma proper, for a reception. Except the music was in one building and the food in another, so it didn't really jell. After awhile I walked into the music building, a small old church, where Andy Cohen was sitting up front playing for a dozen or so people. He beckoned me to join him. We took turns doing songs, me sticking to Bo Carter and him doing Rev Gary Davis and Lonnie Johnson in his lovely style. When Miles Floyd and his family came in I played "All Around Man," his favorite Bo Carter song, for him. He loved it. We hugged and talked afterward. Oh, another highlight for me was meeting a woman who brought two photos of Bo Carter playing for her and other local white children in 1956! He was playing the familiar guitar. He wore coveralls in one picture, as if he had come from work as a mechanic. In the other he is dressed up and accompanied by a fiddler. I asked about the repertoire. She said he would start with "Tennessee Waltz," saying his other songs were too dirty for children! But he also played other songs which she doesn't remember. She said it was a frequent event, his performances in the area. She is going to talk to a woman in her 90s who might remember more about it, and get back to me with any info.The party broke up kinda early. I'm very glad I came down for it!Steve Cheseborough
