[19] When he became a teenager, he began earning a living by hoisting sacks at the local Comet Rice Mill.

Carter's electric guitar style was influenced by Aaron "T-Bone" Walker, but was over-driven and 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 preceded,[22] and may have influenced, Chuck Berry.

The music historian Robert Palmer regards "Rock Awhile" to be a more appropriate candidate for the "first rock and roll record" title, because it was recorded two years earlier, and because of Carter's guitar work bearing a striking resemblance to Chuck Berry's later guitar work, while making use of an over-driven amplifier, along with the backing of boogie-based rhythms, and the appropriate title and lyrical subject matter.

[3][23] According to one source, Goree Carter was drafted for military service in 1950 [3] after filming his most recent recorded song at that time, Bad Feeling.

[3] After leaving the music industry, he continued working at the local Comet Rice Mill until its closure decades later.

[25] He developed arthritis later in his life, and had not been heard from again until 1982, when he was visited at his Fifth Ward home by members of the band the Juke Jumpers.

In fact, Carter is barely remembered even in Houston and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not recognized his contributions.