Bo Carter was a great guitar player. He played with absolute facility in a variety of tunings and keys and his harmonic sense was unique in the Country Blues. Bo’s recording career in the pre-World War II period, from 1928-1940, was of a longevity equaled by very few Country bluesmen. His repertoire centered on (but was not comprised exclusively of) “party” songs, such as Let Me Roll Your Lemon or Pussy Cat Blues. Whatever you may think of the “single entendre” aspect of some of his lyrics, when you really listen to what Bo Carter was doing, it become perfectly obvious that he was one of the great masters of Country Blues, and a player of unusual versatility, subtlety and imagination.

As with other players of his generation, the origins of Bo’s music are shrouded in mystery, and it is very unlikely we’ll ever find an explanation for the harmonic richness of his music, so different from other musicians of his region. Bo’s right hand approach was different, too, picking with all fingers and moving fluidly between alternation, thumping and runs with his thumb.

The accompanying booklet includes lyrics and TAB/standard notation transcriptions of the songs.

Titles include: Let Me Roll Your Lemon, Pussy Cat Blues, Policy Blues, Dinner Blues, My Baby and Arrangement for Me Blues

91 minutes / Level 2/3 / 48 page tab/music booklet

no longer available on VHS

Now available only on DVD