Fiddlin' John Carson - Career and Aftermath

Career and Aftermath

In early June 1923, Polk C. Brockman, an Atlanta furniture store owner, who had been instrumental in the distribution of records for Okeh, went to New York to work out a new business deal with Okeh Records. Later, in New York, he was asked if he knew of any artist in Atlanta that could justify a recording trip to Georgia. Brockman promised to return with an answer. A few days later, he was watching a movie followed by a silent newsreel at the Palace Theater in Times Square. The newsreel contained footage of Fiddlin' John Carson from an old time fiddler's contest in Virginia. Brockman wrote in his notebook: "Record Fiddlin' John Carson". At his next meeting with Okeh Records Board, he persuaded Ralph Peer to go ahead and record Carson.

About June 14, 1923 (date is uncertain), Carson made his recording debut in an empty building on Nassau Street in Atlanta, cutting two sides, "The Little Old Log Cabin In The Lane" and "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's going to Crow." Peer didn't like the singing style of Carson and described it "pluperfect awful" but he was persuaded by Brockman to press five hundred for him to distribute. The recording was immediately sold out from the stage of the next Fiddler's convention on July 13, 1923. Peer, realizing Carson's potential, immediately invited Carson to New York for another recording session.

Fiddlin' John Carson ceased recording temporarily in 1931 but resumed in 1934, now for the Victor label. Between 1923 and 1931, Carson recorded almost 150 songs, mostly together with the "Virginia Reelers" or his daughter Rosa Lee Carson, who performed with him as "Moonshine Kate". He wrote more than 150 songs in his life but only nine were ever copyrighted. Because Carson couldn't read sheet music he had his songs transferred to standard notation by the stepdaughter of preacher Andrew Jenkins, Irene Spain. Carson was involved in several copyright issues with both Okeh Records and other musicians during his active career.

In his later years, he worked for the local government as an elevator operator in Atlanta, a job he had obtained through his friendship with governor Herman Talmadge. He died in 1949 in Atlanta, Georgia, and is buried in Sylvester Cemetery in the East Atlanta neighborhood of Atlanta.