Moonshine Kate
Moonshine Kate (born Rosa Lee Carson, October 10, 1909, Atlanta, Georgia - 1992, Bainbridge, Georgia) was an American country and folk guitarist and banjo player who is best known for recording with her father Fiddlin' John Carson and his band, the Virginia Reelers. Kate was among the earliest recorded women in country music, and arguably her best remembered song was a rendition of her father's composition "Little Mary Phagan". Carson was born the youngest of nine children in Atlanta, Georgia. As early as the age of five, she appeared as a vocalist and dancer at stage shows and political rallies as an accompaniment to her father's musical act. By age 14, Carson proficiently performed with the guitar and banjo as she played alongside her father on Atlanta's flagship radio station, WSB, and toured with him and the Virginia Reelers throughout Georgia. When Carson graduated from high school, she became a permanent member of the band. In June 1925, Carson made her recording debut accompanying her father on guitar on four sides for OKeh Records. In the same session, she also recorded two solo efforts, "The Lonely Child", which was about a lonely wandering orphan, and "Little Mary Phagan". The somber ballad was composed by Fiddlin' Jon Carson in 1915, as a response to the notorious, and highly publicized murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, which was allegedly perpetrated by her manager, Leo Frank. She played and recorded with the Virginia Reelers until 1934, adopting the stage name Moonshine Kate in 1928 at the suggestion of Okeh Records man Polk Brockman. Many of Kate's recordings for Okeh play up her name, consisting of short musical passages interspersed with quick-witted dialogues revolving around the moonshine trade. The Great Depression ended the Carsons' recording days, and she continued to perform intermittently, also working with Eugene Talmadge on his 1932 bid for Governor of Georgia and for the Atlanta Department of Recreation. She married in 1944 and retired in Georgia. In 1983, both she and her father were inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame. |
Birth and Death Data: Born October 10, 1909 (Atlanta), Died 1992 (Bainbridge)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1929 - 1930
Roles Represented in DAHR: speaker, banjo
Notes: Daughter of Fiddlin' John Carson. Original name: Rosa Lee Carson.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OKeh | W402341 | 10-in. | 3/16/1929 | You can't get milk from a cow named Ben | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Dialogue and fiddle (violin) and guitar duet | speaker | |
OKeh | W402342 | 10-in. | 3/16/1929 | Going to the county fair | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Dialogue and fiddle (violin) and guitar duet | speaker | |
OKeh | W403446 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Pa's birthday party | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue and mixed vocal trio | instrumentalist, banjo | |
OKeh | W403447 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Corn licker and barbecue | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue and mixed vocal trio | instrumentalist, banjo | |
OKeh | W403448 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Corn licker and barbecue | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue and mixed vocal trio | instrumentalist, banjo | |
OKeh | W403449 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Who's the best fiddler? | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue | speaker | |
OKeh | W403500 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Who bit the wart off Grandma's nose? | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue and male vocal solo | instrumentalist, banjo | |
OKeh | W403501 | 10-in. | 12/17/1929 | Kate's snuff box | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Instrumental trio, with dialogue | instrumentalist, banjo | |
OKeh | W403926 | 10-in. | 4/24/1930 | You gotta let my dog alone | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Dialogue, with fiddle (violin), banjo, and guitar | speaker | |
OKeh | W403927 | 10-in. | 4/24/1930 | John in the army | Fiddlin' John Carson | Instrumental trio and male vocal solo, with comic dialogue | speaker | |
OKeh | W403928 | 10-in. | 4/24/1930 | The old grey horse ain't what he used to be | Fiddlin' John Carson ; Moonshine Kate | Dialogue, with fiddle (violin), banjo, and guitar | speaker |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Moonshine Kate," accessed November 25, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/100125.
Moonshine Kate. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/100125.
"Moonshine Kate." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Moonshine Kate, 1911-1992 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00067126
Wikidata: Moonshine Kate - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1946761
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/62778869
MusicBrainz: Moonshine Kate - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e97176e7-f1f8-47f3-8520-bfae90660296
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