Goree Carter
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Goree Carter (December 31, 1930 - December 29, 1990) was an American R&B singer and guitarist, best known for his 1949 single, "Rock Awhile".
[edit] Life
Goree Carter was born in Houston, Texas. In 1949 he and his jump blues band, The Hepcats, signed for Freedom Records, a local record label set up by Sol Kahal, and recorded the label's first release, "Sweet Ole Woman Blues."[1] As well as Carter, the band featured two saxophones, trumpet, piano, bass and drums.
Carter's electric guitar style was very much influenced by Aaron "T-Bone" Walker, but had a rougher edge which presaged the sound of rock and roll a few years later. His single-string runs and two-string "blue note" chords anticipated, and may have influenced, Chuck Berry.[2] His best known recording, "Rock Awhile", has been cited as one of many contenders for the title of "first rock and roll record", although it was not commercially successful at the time.
Carter recorded for several labels in the early 1950s, including Imperial, Coral and Modern, but last recorded in 1954 and seemed to have given up the music industry thereafter.[3]
He died in Houston, at the age of 59, in 1990.
