BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1928-1931 | DOCD-5078 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Bo’s first appearance on record seems to be a Columbia session held in Atlanta, Georgia on November 2, 1928, where he, Charlie and Joe McCoy, and an unknown pianist, backed a singer named Alec Johnson. A Columbia session did take place on December 17, 1928 in New Orleans, with Bo Carter, Charlie McCoy and Walter Vincson, where two titles were cut as the Jackson Blue Boys. But before that session, the group ran into the Brunswick mobile unit and recorded as Charlie McCoy and Bo Chatman, as well as backing Mary Butler on four titles. After Good Old Turnip Greens the vocal chores were turned over to Mary Butler for four blues titles. Bungalow Blues was handled smoothly, although a bit stiffly, with its occasional II and VI chords lending it a vaudeville flavour. On Mary Blues the blues style in the vocal was harder and the guitarist (probably Vincson) begins the instrumental introduction with a few bluesy slurs. On Electric Chair Blues the mandolinist had the same difficulty as on Mary Blues, and Butler cut Mad Dog Blues to better effect with only Vincson on guitar (including some mandolin imitation on the breaks). Chatman and McCoy returned with Bo’s standard Corrine Corrina a lilting vocal duet, but closer to Hillbilly blues than to the tracks just laid down by Mary Butler. Finally, Bo appeared to give in and sang East Jackson Blues, although he didn’t seem quite comfortable with the style. At his first session using the name Bo Carter in Jackson, Mississippi on December 15, 1930, the guitarist had the benefit of two years of varying recording experiences. He neatly divided the songs into three categories. The two finger picked blues numbers were the standouts (I’m An Old Bumble Bee and Mean Feeling Blues); with the next two (I’ve Got The Whole World In My Hands – a version of the Sheiks’ “Sitting On Top Of The World” – and She’s Your Cook) sounding like the Hillbilly approximations of the blues so often favoured by Bo and his brothers. The last two tracks on this date were hokum blues in deference to the popularity of Tampa Red, Georgia Tom, Big Bill and numerous others who rode the wave of the hokum fad into lengthy careers. Clearly, Bo Carter was doing his homework. DOCD-5078
Tracklist :
1    Bo Chatman–    Good Old Turnip Greens    3:06
2    Mary Butler–    Bungalow Blues    2:48
3    Mary Butler–    Mary Blues    2:40
4    Mary Butler–    Electrocuted Blues    2:45
5    Bo Chatman–    Corrine Corrina    3:17
6    Bo Chatman–    East Jackson Blues    2:55
7    Bo Carter–    I’m An Old Bumble Bee    2:53
8    Bo Carter–    Mean Feeling Blues    3:10
9    Bo Carter–    I’ve Got The Whole World In My Hand    2:46
10    Bo Carter–    She’s Your Cook But She Burns My Bread Sometimes    2:58
11    Bo Carter–    Same Thing The Cats Fight About    3:20
12    Bo Carter–    Times Is Tight Like That    3:08
13    Bo Carter–    My Pencil Won’t Write No More    2:55
14    Bo Carter–    Banana In Your Fruit Basket    3:06
15    Bo Carter–    Pin In Your Cushion    3:04
16    Bo Carter–    Pussy Cat Blues    2:52
17    Bo Carter–    Ram Rod Daddy    2:58
18    Bo Carter–    Loveless Love    2:55
19    Bo Carter–    I Love That Thing    2:44
20    Bo Carter–    Backache Blues    2:59
21    Bo Carter–    Sorry Feeling Blues    3:07
22    Bo Carter–    Baby, When You Marry    2:55
23    Bo Carter–    Boot It    3:04
24    Bo Carter–    Twist It, Baby    3:17

BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1931-1934 | DOCD-5079 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

22 songs (with three still missing) cut by Carter, solo with guitar or with Lonnie Chatmon on fiddle, over a three-year period. Document has had unusual luck with the quality on this release, as there's relatively little surface noise on much of it. This helps bring out the richness, dexterity, and playfulness of Carter's playing, as well as the expressiveness of his voice in extraordinary detail. Perhaps the most surprising element of these sides are the two unissued Okeh tracks from 1931, "The Law Is Gonna Step On You" and "Pig Meat Is What I Crave," which are the equal of anything that the label did put out from those same sessions, and show Carter's playing to great advantage and in extraordinarily high-quality sound. His music was probably closest in spirit to the early work of Tampa Red and Georgia Tom Dorsey, with its mixture of double-entendre lyrics and hokum influences. The three-year gap in Carter's recordings, caused by the crunch that hit the blues business with the Great Depression, show him re-emerging at the end (for Bluebird) with a more sophisticated sound, less stripped-down than his early sides but just as playful in its risqué way ("Banana In Your Fruit Basket," etc.).  Bruce Eder

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes Bo Carter was still touring the South with the Mississippi Sheiks in the years 1930 through 1935. This activity took the band through Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and as far north as Illinois and New York. During this period Bo’s eyesight got progressively worse and he eventually went blind sometime in the 1930s. This ensuing blindness and the disbanding of the Sheiks led Carter to concentrate on his solo recordings. On October 22, 1938 he had his longest session ever, recording eighteen titles in one day, all but one of them issued. This session produced some of his most advanced music from a structural and harmonic standpoint. Let’s Get Drunk Again and Some Day contained some ordinary blues and rag chord progressions structurally utilized in a manner suggesting pop music, and yet the finger picking approach was firmly in the blues mode with some stunning blues riffing in between verses. Both songs also had interesting harmonic bridges that further removed them from mainstream blues. There are also delightfully archaic pieces like Old Devil, taken at a manic pace, and Be My Salty Dog with its suggestion of John Hurt‘s “Candy Man Blues” and Willie Brown‘s “Future Blues” in the figure played in between verses on the bass strings of the guitar. Bo Carter was a veritable encyclopedia of Mississippi blues styles, and then some. At his last session cut in Atlanta on February 12, 1940 he recorded fourteen tracks with twelve being issued. There was less of a divergence from straight blues at this session, but Bo Carter still knew how to put an original stamp on any blues he recorded. Border Of New Mexico Blues is a version of “Kokomo Blues” first recorded by Madlyn Davis as “Kokola Blues” (a mistitling by Paramount) in 1927, and popularized by Kokomo Arnold as “Old Original Kokomo Blues”, and Robert Johnson as “Sweet Home Chicago”. He finished the date with Honey and What You Want Your Daddy To Do?, two eccentric tracks somewhat similar to Some Day (recorded at the previous session). DOCD-5079

Tracklist :
1        So Long, Baby, So Long (A) 3:09
2        The Law Gonna Step On You    (A) 2:41
3        Pig Meat Is What I Crave (A) 2:48
4        Howling Tom Cat Blues (A) 2:47
5        Ants In My Pants (A) 2:53
6        Blue Runner Blues (A) 2:56
7        I've Got A Case Of Mashin' It (B) 3:03
8        You Don't Love Me No More     (B) 3:10
9        What Kind Of Scent Is This? (B) 3:23
10        Pretty Baby (C) 3:02
11        I Want You To Know (C) 3:00
12        Last Go Round (C) 3:06
13        I Keep On Spending My Change (C) 3:10
14        Baby, How Can It Be? (C) 3:28
15        Bo Carter Special (D) 3:03
16        Beans (D) 2:51
17        Nobody's Business (D)     2:57
18        Queen Bee (D) 3:07
19        Tellin' You 'Bout It (D) 2:38
20        Please Don't Drive Me From Your Door (D) 3:01
21        Pin In Your Cushion (D) 2:54
22        Banana In The Fruit Basket (D) 2:52

BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1934-1936 | DOCD-5080 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes The first Bluebird sessions in March of 1934 marked a return to the studio for Bo after a two and a half year absence. Tastes in blues had changed and the record companies could no longer afford to take chances on untested acts or untried material. A more disciplined approach was applied in the studio and this sometimes led to records that sounded formulaic or unexciting. Bo Carter’s records at this time showed as much or more diversity as any of his recording rivals and his regular trips to the studio attested to his popularity. The twelve titles cut at the January 1935 session further consolidated his position. More than four-fifths of the tracks were finger picked blues and the two that fell outside of this category were piano-guitar duets where considerations of volume may have dictated a change in style. Blue Runner Blues was a remake of his own Okeh recording and Mashing That Thing was a reworking of Papa Charlie Jackson’s best-selling “Shake That Thing”. Bo Carter must have been doing something right because the following five years would see him double his recorded output. DOCD-5080

Tracklist :
1        Howlin’ Tom Cat Blues (A) 2:30
2        Don’t Cross Lay Your Daddy     (A) 2:57
3        Who Broke The Latch? (B) 3:04
4        Don’t Do It No More (B) 2:21
5        Skin Ball Blues (B) 2:51
6        Old Shoe Blues (B) 2:56
7        Please Warm My Weiner (B)    2:58
8        She’s Gonna Crawl Back Home To You     (B) 3:00
9        Let Me Roll Your Lemon     (B) 2:55
10        Mashing That Thing (B) 2:38

11        Blue Runner Blues (B) 2:48
12        Fifty-Fifty With Me (B) 2:55
13        To Her Burying Ground     (B) 3:02
14        When Your Left Eye Go To Jumping (B) 2:55
15        Ride My Mule     (C) 2:50
16        T Baby Blues (C) 2:52
17        I Get The Blues (C) 2:54
18        Spotted Sow Blues (C)     2:55
19        Rolling Blues (C) 2:38
20        All Around Man (C) 2:57
21        Fat Mouth Blues (C) 2:56
22        You Better Know Your Business (C) 2:56

BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 • 1936-1938 | DOCD-5081 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. It has taken quite some time for Bo Carter‘s rightful place in blues history to be established. His music was complicated and multifaceted. The question of whether his lyrics are “pornographic” or merely an uninhibited and even healthy view of sexuality is really a relative one. There is certainly enough “raw” data contained in Bo Carter – Vol. 4 for the listener to come to his own conclusion. All Around Man, It’s Too Wet, Cigarette Blues, Your Biscuits Are Big Enough For Me, and Don’t Mash My Digger So Deep are classics of their type and the gorgeous guitar work on Cigarette Blues alone should be enough to persuade even the casual listener that there is more here than suggestive wordplay. Beginning with the February 1936 session all of the remaining titles Bo Carter was to record were finger picked on his National resonator guitar. He sometimes returned to earlier material that he would previously have played with a plectrum, but now it was played with a steady thumb or alternating bass pattern. He remade “Ants In My Pants” (itself a version of “Sitting On Top Of The World”) as Flea On Me, and the standards “Trouble In Mind” (as Trouble In Blues) and “My Monday Woman” (as A Girl For Every Day Of The Week). The session in San Antonio in October 1938 produced more songs than he had ever recorded at one sitting, including some of his most interesting pieces. Without a doubt, Bo Carter was at his peak. DOCD-5081

Tracklist :
1        It’s Too Wet    (A) 2:50
2        Dinner Blues    (A) 2:44
3        Ain’t Nobody Got It(A) 2:45
4        Cigarette Blues(A) 3:14
5        Pussy Cat Blues (B) 2:48
6        The Ins And Outs Of My Girl (B) 2:56
7        All Around Man - Part 2    (B) 3:00
8        Bo Carter’s Advice    (B) 3:11
9        Doubled Up In A Knot (B) 2:50
10        Worried G Blues (B) 2:58
11        Your Biscuits Are Big Enough For Me (B) 2:07

12        Don’t Mash My Digger So Deep (B) 2:56
13        Flea On Me (B) 2:36
14        Got To Work Somewhere (B) 2:25
15        Sue Cow    (B) 3:06
16        Shake ‘Em On Down (C)    3:08
17        A Girl For Every Day Of The Week (C) 3:10
18        Trouble In Blues (C) 2:52
19        World In A Jug (C) 2:50
20        Who’s Been Here? (C) 2:35
21        Whiskey Blues (C)    3:22
22        Shoo That Chicken  (C)  2:46

BO CARTER — The Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 5 • 1938-1940 | DOCD-5082 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes Bo Carter was still touring the South with the Mississippi Sheiks in the years 1930 through 1935. This activity took the band through Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana, and as far north as Illinois and New York. During this period Bo’s eyesight got progressively worse and he eventually went blind sometime in the 1930s. This ensuing blindness and the disbanding of the Sheiks led Carter to concentrate on his solo recordings. On October 22, 1938 he had his longest session ever, recording eighteen titles in one day, all but one of them issued. This session produced some of his most advanced music from a structural and harmonic standpoint. Let’s Get Drunk Again and Some Day contained some ordinary blues and rag chord progressions structurally utilized in a manner suggesting pop music, and yet the finger picking approach was firmly in the blues mode with some stunning blues riffing in between verses. Both songs also had interesting harmonic bridges that further removed them from mainstream blues. There are also delightfully archaic pieces like Old Devil, taken at a manic pace, and Be My Salty Dog with its suggestion of John Hurt‘s “Candy Man Blues” and Willie Brown‘s “Future Blues” in the figure played in between verses on the bass strings of the guitar. Bo Carter was a veritable encyclopedia of Mississippi blues styles, and then some. At his last session cut in Atlanta on February 12, 1940 he recorded fourteen tracks with twelve being issued. There was less of a divergence from straight blues at this session, but Bo Carter still knew how to put an original stamp on any blues he recorded. Border Of New Mexico Blues is a version of “Kokomo Blues” first recorded by Madlyn Davis as “Kokola Blues” (a mistitling by Paramount) in 1927, and popularized by Kokomo Arnold as “Old Original Kokomo Blues”, and Robert Johnson as “Sweet Home Chicago”. He finished the date with Honey and What You Want Your Daddy To Do?, two eccentric tracks somewhat similar to Some Day (recorded at the previous session). DOCD-5082

Tracklist :
1    Let’s Get Drunk Again (A) 3:16
2    Some Day (A) 2:47
3    Old Devil     (A) 3:00
4    Country Fool (A) 3:12
5    Santa Claus (A) 3:12
6    Be My Salty Dog (A) 3:13
7    Five Dollar Bill (A) 3:32
8    Ways Like A Crawfish (A) 3:19
9    Brown-Skin Woman  (A) 3:15

10    Lucille, Lucille (A)     2:47
11    The County Farm Blues (B) 3:28
12    Border Of New Mexico Blues (B) 3:17
13    Arrangement For Me-Blues (B) 3:05
14    Lock The Lock (B)     3:17
15    Trouble, Oh Trouble (B) 3:00
16    Baby Ruth (B) 3:05
17    My Baby (B) 3:01
18    Policy Blues (B) 3:04
19    Tush Hog Blues (B) 3:10
20    My Little Mind (B) 2:50
21    Honey (B) 2:44
22    What You Want Your Daddy To Do? (B) 2:58

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1930 | DOCD-5083 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. It wasn’t until February 1930 that the Mississippi Sheiks encountered Okeh’s field recording unit in Shreveport, Louisiana, some distance from their base in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Their name was made up at the recording session at the request of producer Polk Brockman, and was apparently inspired by the pop hit “Sheik of Araby”, although the word was common in black speech, thanks to Rudolph Valentino. At their first session, the Sheiks recorded their two biggest hits. Sitting On Top Of The World, with its mournful delivery in ironic contrast to the jaunty words, was a perfect song for the coming Depression, and attracted a host of cover versions. Stop And Listen Blues was musically based on Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues”, and gave Walter Vinson a chance to display his considerable guitar prowess, playing with unrestrained force. The lyrics, recounting a girlfriend’s funeral, are equally impressive, and this song, too, was widely covered. There was more to the Sheiks than blues, though; they were accustomed to playing for white dances, and The Sheik Waltz and The Jazz Fiddler reflect this side of their work, and were issued in Okeh’s old-time series, while Lonely One In This Town is more pop than blues. The waltz, which includes Charles K. Harris’s “After The Ball” among its strains, is also a showcase for Lonnie’s technique. Driving That Thing was the first of the many sexual metaphors they employed when playing a rural version of the hokum popularized by Tampa Red and others. Alberta Blues was a version of “Corrine Corrina”, which Bo Chatmon had recorded in 1928 which became a standard, recorded by blacks, hillbillies, folk revivalists and pop singers. At their next session, spread over four days in San Antonio, the Sheiks were equally eclectic, ranging from the tough and very black West Jackson Blues to the sentimental, white-influenced Jail Bird Love Song. This may be one of the sessions on which Sam Chatmon appears; compare the singing on Grinding Old Fool to that on the earlier Driving That Thing. Jake Leg Blues and Bootleggers’ Blues were alcohol-related topical commentary, the first blaming the “jake leg” epidemic caused by adulterated Jamaica Ginger on Prohibition, the second adapted from “To The Pines”. Topical in a different way were Yodeling Fiddling Blues and Loose Like That, respectively indebted to Jimmy Rodgers and Tampa Red. (Tampa’s “Chicago Moan” also inspired River Bottom Blues.) Stars themselves by now, as all-round entertainers the Mississippi Sheiks weren’t above covering the work of two of the most popular musicians in the country. DOCD-5083
Tracklist :
1    Mississippi Sheiks–    Driving That Thing 3:20
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
2    Mississippi Sheiks–    Alberta Blues 3:12
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
3    Mississippi Sheiks–    Winter Time Blues 3:17
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
4    Mississippi Sheiks–    The Sheik Waltz 3:12
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
5    Mississippi Sheiks–    The Jazz Fiddler 3:10
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
6    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sitting On Top Of The World 3:02
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
7    Mississippi Sheiks–    Stop And Listen Blues 3:29
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
8    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lonely One In This Town 3:20
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Violin [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
9    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    We Are Both Feeling Good Right Now 3:01
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
10    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Cracking Them Things 3:13
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
11    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Grinding Old Fool 2:46
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman, Sam Chatman
12    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Jake Leg Blues 3:06
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
13    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    Back To Mississippi 3:08
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatman
Vocals, Guitar, Violin – Bo Chatman
14    Mississippi Sheiks With Bo Carter–    West Jackson Blues 3:16
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman, Sam Chatman
15    Mississippi Sheiks–    Jail Bird Love Song 2:54
Guitar [Poss.], Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
16    Mississippi Sheiks–    Yodeling Fiddling Blues 3:08
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Yodeling, Guitar – Walter Vincson
17    Mississippi Sheiks–    Baby Keeps Stealin’ Lovin’ On Me 3:07
Guitar [Poss.], Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
18    Mississippi Sheiks–    River Bottom Blues 3:04
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
19    Mississippi Sheiks–    Bootleggers’ Blues 3:30
Guitar [Poss.] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
20    Mississippi Sheiks–    Loose Like That 2:59
Guitar [Poss.], Voice [Speech] – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Voice [Speech], Guitar – Walter Vincson

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1931-1934 | DOCD-5085 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Document's third helping of the Mississippi Sheiks' chronologically arranged "complete works" is stocked with 23 OKeh, Paramount, and Bluebird recordings made in Atlanta, GA, Grafton, WI, New York, NY, and San Antonio, TX, during the "lean years" of 1931-1934. One reason the Sheiks were able to maintain some measure of popularity and continue making records during a time when phonograph companies were shutting down and established artists had difficulty finding regular work was their practiced ability to appeal to both white and black listeners. The violin that they took turns playing was in that sense the key to success, as live audiences and the record-purchasing public really went in for the Southern rural sound that characterized this fiddle-and-guitar group during the first half of the 1930s. Credit is also due to the strongly steeped chemistry between Walter Vinson and the brothers Lonnie, Sam, and Bo Chatman. Bo succeeded as a solo act under the name Bo Carter by specializing in "dirty blues" that teemed with amusing sexual metaphors. On this intriguing collection, Bo is credited as the creator of such colorful titles as "Bed Spring Poker" and "I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You."  arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. The Mississippi Sheiks wrapped up their two days in Atlanta with four titles which show off Walter Vinson‘s guitar playing to particular advantage, as well as including some clever lyrics: When You’re Sick With The Blues is hokum, but Bed Spring Poker gives an unusual warning of the dangers of sexual gambling. I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You was one of four titles from these sessions issued on Columbia, the parent company of Okeh. Around the time Columbia 14660-D was released, in June 1932, the Sheiks were recording for Paramount, which was in turn to terminate its 12/13000 race series towards the end of that year. The last two discs issued were both by the Mississippi Sheiks; all through the Depression they had been favourites with black record buyers, and it’s not surprising that they were Paramount’s last throw of the dice. Nor, perhaps, is it surprising that much of the session was devoted to remakes and rewrites. Inevitably, they cut further – and very fine – versions of Stop and Listen and Sitting On Top Of The World, and Don’t Wake It Up (taken at a tearing speed) and Please Baby were second attempts at songs recorded in Atlanta the previous year. Shooting High Dice used the tune of W. C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”, while New Shake That Thing was a tribute to the enduring popularity of Papa Charlie Jackson‘s hit from 1925, given engaging new lyrics that celebrate the ability of Southerners to have fun. Apart from reworking old numbers, the Sheiks also made some excellent originals: She’s Crazy About Her Lovin’ showcases some of the finest and most intuitive playing recorded by either Vinson or Lonnie Chatmon, and He Calls That Religion is a biting attack on clerical hypocrisy. The most unusual song was the last: I’ll Be Gone, Long Gone is unsurprising in being one more lyric to the melody of “Sitting On Top Of The World”, but, uniquely for the Sheiks, it is a piano-guitar duet. As usual, Walter Vinson is the guitarist and vocalist. Even in 1933, there was still a little recording of blues singers going on, and in June of that year the Mississippi Sheiks were allocated a block of eight Columbia matrices, although only two titles were issued. Despite the standard discography, there are two guitars present along with Lonnie’s fiddle. One of the guitars is Walter Vinson; the other has been assumed to be Bo Carter. It’s quite possible, but the duetting, especially on Kitty Cat Blues, has a heavier, more percussive touch than that on “Sales Tax” (see DOCD-5086), where Bo is definitely present, and the second guitarist might be Charlie McCoy, who settled in Chicago about this time. Bo Carter was definitely present on 26th and 27th March 1934 and he is said by “Blues & Gospel Records” to be the vocalist and guitarist for the Sheiks on these dates, with Sam Chatman on second guitar, and Lonnie on violin as usual. Walter Vinson might be present on one of the sessions, as may be heard on DOCD-5086. Vinson was definitely present at both sessions, but it appears that he was absent for the titles on this album; the guitar picking is characteristic of Bo Carter. After much listening it can be concluded that Bo is the singer as well. Unsurprisingly, he recorded a version of Sitting On Top Of The World, although he gave it ingenious lyrics about the numbers game. It’s Done Got Wet was a joyful celebration of the end of Prohibition, with a scat episode, and Bo Carter imitating Walter’s intrusive “r” (“Oh-rit’s done got wet”, etc.). These six titles are all notable for the superb interplay between Bo’s guitar and Lonnie’s violin, which produces a quite different sound to that of the usual Sheiks duo. DOCD-5085
Tracklist :
1    Shake Hands And Tell Me Goodbye 2:54
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
2    Bed Spring Poker 3:08
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
3    When You’re Sick With The Blues 3:07
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
4    I’ve Got Blood In My Eyes For You 3:13
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Walter Vincson
5    Shooting High Dice 3:25
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
6    Isn’t A Pain To Me 3:42
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
7    She’s Crazy About Her Lovin’ 2:59
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
8    Tell Me To Do Right 3:29
Guitar, Vocals [Poss.] – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals [Poss.] – Lonnie Chatman
9    The New Stop And Listen Blues 3:44
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
10    Go ‘Way Woman 3:22
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
11    New Shake That Thing 3:02
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
12    The New Sittin’ On Top Of The World 3:09
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
13    He Calls That Religion 3:29
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
14    Don’t Wake It Up 3:33
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
15    Please Baby 3:31
Guitar – Walter Vincson
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
16    I’ll Be Gone, Long Gone 3:16
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Piano – Unknown Artist
17    Kitty Cat Blues 3:12
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
18    Show Me What You Got 3:08
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
19    Hitting The Numbers 2:58
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
20    It’s Done Got Wet 3:16
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
21    Pencil Won’t Write No More 2:53
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
22    I Am The Devil 3:06
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman
23    Baby, Please Make A Change 3:09
Guitar [Prob.] – Sam Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
Vocals, Guitar – Bo Chatman

MISSISSIPPI SHEIKS & CHATMAN BROTHERS — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 • 1934-1936 | DOCD-5086 (1991) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Document's fourth and final volume devoted to "the complete works" of the Mississippi Sheiks contains their final 15 Bluebird recordings, which were made in San Antonio, TX, and New Orleans, LA, in March 1934 and January 1935. Most of the vocals on these records were by guitarist Walter Vinson, whose collaborations with members of the Chatman or Chatmon family had generated so much great music during the first half of the decade. "Fingering with Your Fingers," their last recording under this name, is a rare example of a Sheiks instrumental. The rest of the compilation follows the trail of Lonnie, Sam, and Armenter "Bo" Chatman after they ceased recording with Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks. arwulf arwulf

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. As discussed in the notes to DOCD-5085, Walter Vinson was replaced by Bo Carter on the first six numbers made at the Mississippi Sheiks 26th March 1934 session; on You’ll Work Down To Me Someday, however, Vinson can be clearly heard to take over on vocals and guitar, and on Somebody’s Got To Help Me, which is set to his favourite Overtime Blues tune, he even identifies himself as “Poor Walter”. After the Sheiks’ ten titles, Bo Carter cut ten of his own, with Lonnie Chatmon playing fiddle on three of them. The following day was less intensive, Bo making two titles and the Sheiks four. Walter Vinson is again present as a vocalist on all four songs, and his appears to be the only guitar on Lonesome Grave Took My Baby Away and Pop Skull Blues, which is a tribute to the powers of Texan whiskey. The former song is the Sheiks’ last version of Stop and Listen, and not the least powerful of them. Sweet Maggie and Sales Tax were issued as by ‘Mississippi Sheiks with Bo Carter’, and Bo can be clearly heard singing and playing second guitar on both titles, which are respectively a remake of Corrine Corrina and a witty comment on the “three cents more” that had recently become “the Government’s rule”. It was 10 months before the – or rather a – Mississippi Sheiks got together again to record, in New Orleans in January 1935. As before, “Blues & Gospel Records” gives Bo Carter, vocal and guitar, Lonnie Chatmon, violin, possibly Sam Chatmon on second guitar, and “Walter Vincson (sic) might be present”. On this occasion, it is my view that both Vinson and Sam Chatmon are absent; there is one guitar, played by Bo Carter, who sings on It’s Backfiring Now, Lean To One Woman and I Can’t Go Wrong. On Dead Wagon Blues and She’s Going To Her Lonesome Grave, there is a different vocalist, presumably Lonnie Chatmon. The first title is to the tune of Your Good Man’ Caught The Train And Gone, which the Sheiks had recorded in 1930 (see DOCD-5084); the second, though also dealing with death and funerals, is set to a jaunty pop tune, with heavy use of syncopation. The last Mississippi Sheiks recording of all was a lively dance instrumental, displaying the violin prowess that Vinson so much admired in his long-time partner, Lonnie Chatmon. By October 1936, Bo Carter arranged for a group of Jackson musicians to record, again for Bluebird, and again in New Orleans. Walter Vinson was there, recording as Walter Jacobs, and accompanying Little Brother Montgomery, Tommy Griffin and Annie Turner. Also present was Lonnie Chatmon, but the two men did not record together; this time, Lonnie was partnered by his brother Sam, and five discs appeared by “The Chatmon Brothers (Lonnie And Sam)“. Most of these are hokum type numbers, relying on the usual doubles entendres; Sam Chatmon, who sings on all Chatmon Brothers titles on this disc, was still a master of clever sexual metaphors when he resumed his performing career in the late 60s. If You Don’t Want Me, however, is different, being a valuable, and beautifully played version of Make Me Down A Pallet On Your Floor. (Beautifully played by Lonnie, that is; Sam’s guitar is, as usual, accurate and rhythmically steady, rather than inspired.) Old Grey Mule seems to be another example of the Chatmon family’s ability to play any song, even if they didn’t know it; it bears no relation to the old vaudeville number of the same title. On Radio Blues, Sam does a pretty good imitation of Peetie Wheatstraw; on this title and Please Don’t Give My Love Away he and Lonnie are joined by Eugene Powell (Sonny Boy Nelson), who plays some unobtrusive treble figures; Powell was about to accompany his wife, Mississippi Matilda, on the next four matrices before making six sides of his own, and accompanying Robert Hill on ten more. DOCD-5086
Tracklist :
1    Mississippi Sheiks–    She’s Got Something Crazy 3:10
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin [Prob.] – Lonnie Chatman
2    Mississippi Sheiks–    You’ll Work Down To Me Someday 3:21
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
3    Mississippi Sheiks–    Somebody’s Got To Help Me 3:09
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
4    Mississippi Sheiks–    Good Morning Blues 2:46
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
5    Mississippi Sheiks–    Blues On My Mind 2:40
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
6    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lonesome Grave Took My Baby 3:11
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
7    Mississippi Sheiks–    Pop Skull Blues 3:14
Guitar – Bo Carter
Guitar, Vocals – Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
8    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sweet Maggie 3:31
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Carter, Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
9    Mississippi Sheiks–    Sales Tax 3:00
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Carter, Walter Vincson
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
10    Mississippi Sheiks–    It’s Backfiring Now 2:43
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
11    Mississippi Sheiks–    Lean To One Woman 2:58
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
12    Mississippi Sheiks–    I Can’t Go Wrong 3:06
Guitar, Vocals – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
13    Mississippi Sheiks–    Dead Wagon Blues 3:00
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
14    Mississippi Sheiks–    She’s Going To Her Lonesome Grave 2:33
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin, Vocals – Lonnie Chatman
15    Mississippi Sheiks–    Fingering With Your Finger 2:43
Guitar – Bo Chatman
Violin – Lonnie Chatman
16    Chatman Brothers–    If You Don’t Want Me Please Don’t Dog Me ‘Round 3:12
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
17    Chatman Brothers–    Wake Me Just Before Day 2:56
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
18    Chatman Brothers–    Old Grey Mule, You Ain’t What You Used To Be 2:48
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
19    Chatman Brothers–    What’s The Name Of That Thing? 2:45
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
20    Chatman Brothers–    Stir It Now 2:45
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
21    Chatman Brothers–    Jumping Out Blues 2:43
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
22    Chatman Brothers–    Radio Blues 3:13
Guitar – Eugene Powell
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon
23    Chatman Brothers–    Please Don’t Give My Love Away 2:54
Guitar – Eugene Powell
Vocals, Guitar – Sam Chatmon
Vocals, Violin – Lonnie Chatmon