# Bo Carter > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bo_Carter > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bo_Carter.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Carter > Source revision: 1339732099 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American blues musician (1893–1964)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Bo Carter | image = Bo_Carter_musician.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Armenter Chatmon
or Armentia Chatmon{{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}} | birth_date = March 21, 1893{{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}} or January 1894 | birth_place = [Bolton, Mississippi](/source/Bolton%2C_Mississippi), U.S. | death_date = September 21, 1964 (aged 70-71) | death_place = [Memphis, Tennessee](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee), U.S. | genre = {{Flatlist| * [Delta blues](/source/Delta_blues) * [Country blues](/source/Country_blues) }} | occupation = {{Flatlist| * [Musician](/source/Musician) * [Songwriter](/source/Songwriter) }} | instrument = {{Flatlist| * [Vocals](/source/Human_voice) * [Guitar](/source/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](/source/blues) [musician](/source/musician). He was a member of the [Mississippi Sheiks](/source/Mississippi_Sheiks) in [concert](/source/concert)s and on a few of their [recordings](/source/sound_recording_and_reproduction). He also managed that group, which included his brothers Lonnie Chatmon on [fiddle](/source/fiddle) and, occasionally, [Sam Chatmon](/source/Sam_Chatmon) on [bass](/source/Double_bass), and their friend [Walter Vinson](/source/Walter_Vinson) on [guitar](/source/guitar) and [lead vocal](/source/singing)s. ==Career== He was born in [Bolton, Mississippi](/source/Bolton%2C_Mississippi).{{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}} Since the 1960s, Carter has become best known for his [bawdy](/source/bawdy) songs, such as "Let Me Roll Your Lemon",{{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}} "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".{{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 }} However, his output was not limited to [dirty blues](/source/dirty_blues). In 1928, he recorded the original version of "[Corrine, Corrina](/source/Corrine%2C_Corrina)", which later became a [hit](/source/hit_record) for [Big Joe Turner](/source/Big_Joe_Turner) and has become a [standard](/source/Standard_(music)) in various musical genres.{{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](/source/AllMusic)}} Carter and his brothers (including the [pianist](/source/pianist) Harry Chatmon, who also made recordings) first learned music from their father, the [fiddle](/source/fiddle)r Henderson Chatmon, a former slave, at their home on a plantation between Bolton and [Edwards, Mississippi](/source/Edwards%2C_Mississippi). Their mother, Eliza, also sang and played the [guitar](/source/guitar). Carter made his recording debut in 1928, backing Alec Johnson, and was soon recording as a [solo](/source/solo_(music)) musician. He became one of the dominant blues recording acts of the 1930s, recording 110 [sides](/source/gramophone_record).{{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}} 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](/source/white_people), playing the [pop](/source/popular_music) [hits](/source/hit_record) of the day and white-oriented [dance music](/source/dance_music), as well as for [blacks](/source/black_people), playing a bluesier repertoire.{{cite book|title=The Devil's Music|author=Giles Oakley|publisher=[Da Capo Press](/source/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}} Carter went partly blind during the 1930s. He settled in [Glen Allan, Mississippi](/source/Glen_Allan%2C_Mississippi),{{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}} and despite his vision problems did some farming but also continued to play music and perform, sometimes with his brothers. He moved to [Memphis, Tennessee](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee), and worked outside the [music industry](/source/music_industry) in the 1940s. Carter had several [stroke](/source/stroke)s and died of a [cerebral hemorrhage](/source/cerebral_hemorrhage) at Shelby County Hospital, in Memphis, on September 21, 1964. He is buried in Nitta Yuma Cemetery, [Sharkey County, Mississippi](/source/Sharkey_County%2C_Mississippi).{{Cite web|url=http://earlyblues.org/resting-places/|title=Resting Places|website=Earlybues.org|access-date=March 1, 2021}} ==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](/source/Corrine%2C_Corrina)", 1928 ([Brunswick](/source/Brunswick_Records)) *"All Around Man", 1931 ([Bluebird](/source/Bluebird_Records)) *"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](/source/blues_rock) guitarist [Rory Gallagher](/source/Rory_Gallagher), who performed several of Carter's songs, including "All Around Man."{{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](/source/AllMusic)|access-date=December 30, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/against-the-grain-mw0000205652|title=Against the Grain - Rory Gallagher | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|access-date=December 30, 2019}} Carter was not related to former Southwest and [Big 12 Conference](/source/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](/source/emusic) [website](/source/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](/source/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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bo Carter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Carter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Carter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.