George Carter was an American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
musician, who recorded four songs for
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Early years
Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
in 1929. Very little is known of his life. Believed to have hailed from
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, United States, he played a
twelve-string guitar
A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...
, common in the Atlanta area, occasionally using an open tuning and a slide.
Some blues scholars believe that "George Carter" may actually be a pseudonym for another Atlanta blues singer at the time,
Charley Lincoln
Charley Lincoln (born Charlie Hicks, Jr., March 11, 1900 – September 28, 1963), also known as Laughing Charley, was an early American country blues musician. He often recorded with his brother Robert Hicks, who was billed as Barbecue Bob.
L ...
.
Carter's song, "Hot Jelly Roll Blues", was recorded by
Hot Tuna
Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the ...
for their album ''
Yellow Fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
'' in 1975.
Recordings
All recordings were made in February 1929.
* "Rising River Blues" - 12750A
* "Hot Jelly Roll Blues" - 12750B
* "Ghost Woman Blues" - 12769A (Also issued by
Herwin Records under Record no. 93018 under the name "Bob Crane")
* "Weeping Willow Blues" - 12769B (Also issued by Herwin Records under Record no. 93018 under the name "Bob Crane")
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, George
Musicians from Atlanta
American blues singers
20th-century American singers
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)
American male guitarists
20th-century American male singers