Week 25: Arrangement For Me Blues



Bo Carter

The Man

Bo Carter was a very influential and popular country blues guitarist from the 1930s. A founding member of the Mississippi Sheiks, Bo also had a successful solo career best remembered for his ribald lyrics full of sexual innuendo.

He was born Armenter Chatmon on June 30, 1893, in Bolton, Mississippi on the edge of the Delta. His father was a freed slave by the name of Henderson Chatmon who was well known as a fiddler player in rural Mississippi with the ability to sight read music. Henderson was a true ladies man: Bo’s mother Eliza was his 3rd wife and she gave him 13 children – the smallest of his 3 families. He officially had over 60 children; and there were many more illegitimate offspring. The legendary Charley Patton is claimed as one of his illegitimate sons and is half-brother to Bo.

All of Bo’s brothers and sisters played music, and all played multiple instruments and soon as they could walk. The house had banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, violins, basses and a piano. Bo started when he was around 4, and quickly developed a liking for the guitar. With his brothers, they started performing as a string band on the street and at Sunday dances for separate black and white audiences while they were as young as 7. Henderson rented land from Gaddis & McLaurin Farms around the Bolton area, and the boys would farm crops to earn money.

There were a few other local musicians who would come to the house and play. Walter Vinson, also from Bolton, became a regular performing with the Chatmon boys. In the mid to late 1920s, he formed the Mississippi Sheiks with Bo, Sam (born Vivian) and Lonnie (Alonzo) Chatmon. They became popular around Bolton and Jacksonville, and met Blind Lemon Jefferson, a young Robert Johnson, Ishmon Bracey, Tommy Johnson, Charlie McCoy and a host of other blues legends from the area. Bo on guitar was the best musician, and the popularity of their performances lead him to work as a session guitarist.

His first session was in 1928 with Bo on violin in a band with Charlie McCoy and Charlie’s older brother (and Memphis Minnie’s husband) Joe McCoy backing singer Alec Johnson. It has been claimed that the little known Johnson was the stage name of Ferdinand Chatmon – Bo’s older half-brother and full brother to Charley Patton. Johnson had a minor hit with “Sundown Blues” in 1928, and only recorded a handful of sides, all featuring Bo on violin or guitar. He impressed the label with his talents and was recorded as a solo artist.

His first solo records were cut in December 1928 in New Orleans for the Brunswick label, backed by Charlie McCoy and Walter Vinson. They cut 4 songs, released under the name “Bo Chatman”, including an original piece by Bo based on a traditional folk song called “Corrina, Corrina”. “Corrina, Corrina” became quite popular, and has since became a blues standard. The success of these solo records lead to more interest in Bo and his brothers, and in 1930 they were signed to the Okeh label.

Due to a conflict with his original recordings, Bo’s name was changed to “Bo Carter” and in February 1930 Bo, Lonnie and Walter travelled to Shreveport Louisiana to record under the name “Mississippi Sheiks” for the first time. One of the tracks was an original by Walter Vinson called “Sitting On Top of The World”, which, Like “Corrina, Corrina” has become a blues standard. In June, joined by brother Sam, they were taken to Texas where they recorded some 20 tracks under various names: the Sheiks, “Mississippi Sheiks with Bo Carter”; “Carter Brothers” and as a backing band for Texas legend Texas Alexander. The records were successful, and suddenly the brothers were the biggest act in the South.

In December 1930, back in Jacksonville, Bo cut 8 sides as a solo artist or as a duo and another 18 as a member of the Sheiks. During the 30’s, Bo’s eyesight began to deteriorate and he went partially blind. Despite this, the Mississippi Sheiks continued to record until 1935, releasing over 100 songs in total. As a solo artist, Bo was equally prolific: recording in New York, Georgia and Texas and releasing approximately 100 sides. His solo material was more bawdy than the refined, white audience oriented, sounds of the Sheiks, he was called the “kind of the single entendre” for songs like “Banana in your Fruit Basket” and “My Pencil Won’t Work no More”.

In 1935, with the depression hitting race records hard, and the demand for string band music fading, the label dropped the Sheiks although they continued to play at dances and parties.

In 1937, 5 members of his family died from various causes, and this devastated the brothers. Lonnie and Same returned to the area they grew up in, Lonnie opening a cafe and Sam becoming a nightwatchman and farmer. They would occasionally play at parties and dances, but they gave up the life of a full time musician.

Bo Carter was kept on by Okeh, and continued to record up until the 1940s. He moved to Memphis, continued to play locally but was never recorded again. The blues revival of the late 1950s and early 60s sparked renewed interest in the music Bo and his brothers, and they enjoyed new found success.

Bo Carter died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Memphis on September 21, 1964.

Lonnie and Walter Vinson reformed the band, titled “The New Mississippi Sheiks” in 1972 and performed their old hits before Walter’s death in 1975. Sam became a legend during the folk revival, touring extensively and recording new material for twenty years until his death in 1983



The Song

“Arrangement for Me Blues” illustrate the influence blues had on rock and roll. It is a 12 bar blues in the key of G, and features neat playing using repeated riffs over chord shapes.

Bo uses a tuning called “half Spanish” in this piece – the E and A strings are tuned down to D and G receptively, making the tuning D G D G B E. It follows the standard I IV V chords of a 12 bar, but the chord shapes are unusual. The song features a little improvisation, but it is mainly some really cool sounding riffs repeated during the progression.

The singing follows a different pattern from the standrd AAB structure of a 12 bar. Each verse consists of two lines then a chorus of two lines that is consistent throughout the song.

The song is fast, and that’s what makes it hard. If you slow it down and concentrate on fretting the chords correctly, it’s really only a matter of coordinating your picking hand. It’s a very smart piece of music; nothing exceptionally tricky going on, just a really good musician applying his knowledge to make a really good song.



The Lyrics

G Baby I’ll split your kindling you know I’ll build your fire I will pack your water from the boggy bar C G Hey now tell me sweet baby who may your manager be D C G Before many more questions won’t you please make arrangements for me Your hair so doggone curly and your eyes ain’t blue That’s why sweet baby I’m making a fool about you Says I ain’t good‑looking baby I don’t dress fine When you come to loving I’ll pacify your mind Here’s another little thing baby want you to bear in mind When I get my pay cheque I give you my last dime I wished I was like a little fish in the deep blue sea So a woman like you could take a little fish at me

The Intro



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The Progression

G | C7 | D7 | G | $6.0.$4.5.$3.7.$2.8.$1.7 | $5.0.$4.2.$3.3.$2.1.$1.0 | $6.0.$4.0.$3.2.$2.1.$1.2 | $5.0.$4.0.$3.0.$2.0.$1.3 | The opening G section features 2 bars with muted notes played on the treble strings, followed by two bars with the clean ringing four note melody that acts like a bit of a hook in the song. The C and D are played as full chords, and the other Gs are played in a really nice finger picking riff. You have to be accurate and pay attention to which notes you want to ring out.

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The Solo



$6.0.$3.7.$2.8.$1.7 | $6.0.$3.6.$2.8.$1.6 | $6.0.$3.7.$2.8.$1.7 | $6.0.$3.7.$2.6.$1.7 | $6.0.$3.9.$2.8.$1.6 | $6.0.$3.9.$2.8.$1.6 | $6.0.$3.7.$2.8.$1.7 | $6.0.$3.4.$2.5.$1.4 | $6.0.$3.4.$2.2.$1.3 | $6.0.$3.2.$2.3.$1.2 | The thumb alternates between the open low D string and the note played on the G string (3rd string). He rapidly alternates between the B and high E string with his index and middle finger.

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The Outro

$5.0 $2.0 $3.0.$1.3 $4.2 0 | $5.3 $4.0 2 0 | $3.0 0 0 $2.3 ||

Replaces the last 4 bars of the standard progression.