{{short description|American blues musician (1893–1964)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Bo Carter | image = Bo_Carter_musician.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Armenter Chatmon<ref name="russell"/><br/>or Armentia Chatmon<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Eagle |first1=Bob L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 |title=Blues: A Regional Experience |last2=LeBlanc |first2=Eric S. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2013 |isbn=9780313344244 |pages=214}}</ref> | birth_date = March 21, 1893<ref name="AMG"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Greg |title=Bo Carter (Armenter Chatmon) |url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/bo-carter/ |access-date=November 11, 2022 |website=Mississippiencyclopedia.org}}</ref> or January 1894<ref name=":0" /> | birth_place = Bolton, Mississippi, U.S. | death_date = September 21, 1964 (aged 70-71) | death_place = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | genre = {{Flatlist| * Delta blues * Country blues }} | occupation = {{Flatlist| * Musician * Songwriter }} | instrument = {{Flatlist| * Vocals * Guitar }} | years_active = 1928–1944 | label = | alias = | website = }}
'''Armenter''' (or '''Armentia''') '''Chatmon''' (March 21, 1893 or January 1894 – September 21, 1964), known as '''Bo Carter''', was an early American blues musician. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks in concerts and on a few of their recordings. He also managed that group, which included his brothers Lonnie Chatmon on fiddle and, occasionally, Sam Chatmon on bass, and their friend Walter Vinson on guitar and lead vocals.<ref name="russell" /><ref name="AMG" />
==Career== He was born in Bolton, Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mswritersandmusicians.com/mississippi-musicians/bo-carter|title=Blues Guitarist Bo Carter from Bolton, Mississippi, of the Chatmon Family and Mississippi Sheiks|website=Mswritersandmusicians.com|access-date=November 8, 2025}}</ref> Since the 1960s, Carter has become best known for his bawdy songs, such as "Let Me Roll Your Lemon",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elyrics.net/read/b/bo-carter-lyrics/let-me-roll-your-lemon-lyrics.html |title=Let Me Roll Your Lemon Lyrics – Bo Carter |website=Elyrics.net |date= |access-date=2015-08-30}}</ref> "Banana in Your Fruit Basket", "Pin in Your Cushion", "Your Biscuits Are Big Enough for Me", "Please Warm My Wiener", "All Around Man" and "My Pencil Won't Write No More".<ref name="russell"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/bo_carter_1.htm |title=Harry's Blues Lyrics Online, Bo Carter Lyrics, page 1 |website=Blueslyrics.tripod.com |access-date=2015-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907230540/http://blueslyrics.tripod.com/artistswithsongs/bo_carter_1.htm |archive-date=2015-09-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, his output was not limited to dirty blues.<ref name="russell"/> In 1928, he recorded the original version of "Corrine, Corrina", which later became a hit for Big Joe Turner and has become a standard in various musical genres.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Biography by Jim O'Neal |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bo-carter-mn0000045188/biography |access-date=November 11, 2022 |website=AllMusic}}</ref>
Carter and his brothers (including the pianist Harry Chatmon, who also made recordings) first learned music from their father, the fiddler Henderson Chatmon, a former slave, at their home on a plantation between Bolton and Edwards, Mississippi. Their mother, Eliza, also sang and played the guitar.
Carter made his recording debut in 1928, backing Alec Johnson, and was soon recording as a solo musician. He became one of the dominant blues recording acts of the 1930s, recording 110 sides.<ref name="russell">{{cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher=Carlton Books | location= Dubai | pages= 99–100 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}</ref> He also played with and managed the family group, the Mississippi Sheiks, and several other acts in the area. He and the Sheiks often performed for whites, playing the pop hits of the day and white-oriented dance music, as well as for blacks, playing a bluesier repertoire.<ref name="Devil">{{cite book|title=The Devil's Music|author=Giles Oakley|publisher=Da Capo Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/52 52]|isbn=978-0-306-80743-5|date=1997|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/52}}</ref>
Carter went partly blind during the 1930s.<ref name="russell"/> He settled in Glen Allan, Mississippi,<ref name="Bo Carter & the Mississippi Sheiks">{{cite AV media | url=https://www.amazon.com/Bo-Carter-Mississippi-Sheiks-The/dp/B006CLHARW | title=Bo Carter & the Mississippi Sheiks | publisher=JSP Records | date=January 31, 2012 | people= | medium=box set}}</ref> and despite his vision problems did some farming but also continued to play music and perform, sometimes with his brothers.<ref name="Devil"/> He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and worked outside the music industry in the 1940s.
Carter had several strokes and died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Shelby County Hospital, in Memphis, on September 21, 1964. He is buried in Nitta Yuma Cemetery, Sharkey County, Mississippi.<ref name="Early">{{Cite web|url=http://earlyblues.org/resting-places/|title=Resting Places|website=Earlybues.org|access-date=March 1, 2021}}</ref>
==Compilations== *''Greatest Hits 1930-1940'' (Yazoo, 1969) *''Twist It Babe 1931-1940'' (Yazoo, 1973) *''Banana In Your Fruit Basket'' (Yazoo, 1980) *''The Best of Bo Carter Vol. 1 1928-1940'' (Earl Archives, 1982) *''Bo Carter 1931-1940'' (Old Tramp, 1987) *''Bo Carter 1928-1938'' (Document, 1988) *''The Rarest Bo Carter Vol. 2 1930-1938'' (Earl Archives, 1989) *''Bo Carter Vol. 1-5'' (Document, 1991) *''Bo Carter's Advice'' (Catfish, 2000) *''The Essential Bo Carter'' (Document, 2003) *''The Country Farm Blues'' (P-Vine, 2011) *''Bo Carter & The Mississippi Sheiks'' (JSP, 2012)
==Selected songs== *"Corrine, Corrina", 1928 (Brunswick) *"All Around Man", 1931 (Bluebird) *"Your Biscuits Are Big Enough for Me", 1936 *"Old Devil", 1938 (Bluebird)
==Influence== Carter's style of playing the guitar and his songwriting have won him fans{{who|date=July 2019}} long after he died. One of the most notable examples is the Irish blues rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, who performed several of Carter's songs, including "All Around Man."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/banana-in-your-fruit-basket-mw0000677105|title=Banana in Your Fruit Basket - Bo Carter | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=December 30, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/against-the-grain-mw0000205652|title=Against the Grain - Rory Gallagher | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=December 30, 2019}}</ref>
Carter was not related to former Southwest and Big 12 Conference assistant commissioner Sam T. (Bo) Carter.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.emusic.com/artist/10565/10565632.html Bo Carter biography] at the emusic website *[https://www.wirz.de/music/cartbfrm.htm Bo Carter discography] * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106294 Bo Carter recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Bo}} Category:1893 births Category:1964 deaths Category:Delta blues musicians Category:Dirty blues musicians Category:Country blues musicians Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:American blues guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:Country blues singers Category:American folk musicians Category:American blind singers Category:American blind guitarists Category:Blind blues musicians Category:Bluebird Records artists Category:People from Bolton, Mississippi Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:African-American guitarists