His Guitar, His Hepcats And His Rocking Rhythm Orchestra - Let's Rock Awhile 1949-1951 ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED

"I had a lot of good songs that I just tore up, and they were good songs. I tore them up because they wouldn't let me cut them." Goree Carter.Goree Carter is one of the lesser known Texas guitarists that blues fans should hear. There's other albums dedicated to his music from this early period of 1949-1954, but this fine set focuses on his early days from 1949-51 when he was recording singles for the jukebox trade. Seventeen of the tracks are from '49 with his band The Hepcats or his Rocking Rhythm Orchestra. There's also a number of tracks simply under Carter's name from '50/'51, plus several tracks with Bill Hayes and His Band from '50. Plus, all nine of Carter's tracks for the Freedom label are included.This is for the most part rockin' blues/r&b in the Texas mold. Influenced by guitarist T-Bone Walker, Carter found his own style which still sounded influenced by Walker. No mere imitation, Carter had a great sound and his vocals were straight out of the post-war years of blues ("I Just Though Of You") and jumping r&b (hear "I'll Send You" and "Hoy-Hoy" as examples) with honking tenor sax and piano. But Carter also displays his guitar chops all through this set which is a perfect amalgam of his influences. Perhaps his most famous tune, "Rock Awhile" (from '49) is here, and is sometime batted around as one of the first rock 'n' roll songs, with it's insistent beat, honking sax, and Carter's guitar. Carter wasn't known too well except in his region of Texas and the states around that area, where his Hep Cats would play, and kept his day job at a rice mill during his few years of recording.Carter more or less quit the music business in the mid '50s so his music wasn't heard after that except by blues fans who occasionally would hear a track of his, years later on a collection of Texas guitarists (the JSP label comes to mind), or perhaps on the (relatively expensive) Blue Moon label's two volumes that cover his work from '49-'54. So that makes this Jasmine collection the one to buy if you want his earliest (and I think best) work at a decent price.The transfers and the digitally processed sound is decent/okay--certainly nothing that audiophiles will rave about--but it's perfectly listenable for blues fans who want to hear a good guitarist/vocalist. And for the money this set is a good deal if you want to hear Carter's earliest work from '49-'51 with that authenitc period sound that only adds to the feel of that whole time period. There's a five page fold out booklet with recording details and a short informative essay on Carter, plus under the tray are reproduced record labels that Carter recorded for.

Part T- Bone, part Gatemouth, this guy swings like mad. Real pity he didn’t record more, making this an essential record

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