Difference between revisions of "Mississippi John Hurt" - New World Encyclopedia
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==Comeback== | ==Comeback== | ||
| + | In 1963, a [[folk music|folk]] musicologist Tom Hoskins, inspired by the OKeh recordings, was able to locate John Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi. He was not easy to find. Hoskins noticed that Hurt sang of "Avalon, my home town," but was not able to locate the tiny town until he found it on an old atlas. At 71 years of age, Hurt's his guitar playing skills still intact, and his voice was as charming as ever. Hoskins encouraged Hurt to move to [[Washington, DC]], and begin performing on a wider stage. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Whereas his first releases had coincided with the [[Great Depression]], Hurt's new career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 [[Newport Folk Festival]] saw his star rise among the new "folk revival" audience, and Hurt soon was busy playing at colleges, concert halls, coffee houses, and even on the [[Tonight Show]] with [[Johnny Carson]]/ | ||
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| + | For three years until his death, Mississippi John Hurt was a star after a lifetime of toil as a manual laborer. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Vanguard released a new album, ''Today!'' in 1966. A impressive live recording of a concert at Oberlin College in April of 1965 was released under the title ''The Best of Mississippi John Hurt'' featuring 21 songs. ''The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt'', was released posthumously, as was the ''Last Sessions'' album. To the end, Hurt's voice and guitar and guitar playing remained remarkably strong. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Style== | ||
| + | John Hurt's guitar and singing style was atypical of the usual Mississippi bluesman. Both his guitar play and his voice expressed a sweet, melodic quality, and he was as comfortable with rag-time and religious songs as with traditional blues. Unlike some blues players, his vocalization wre clearly enunciated and melodic. In many ways, he was a throw-back to the earliest days of southern music when black and white musicians played together in bands for whomever cared to listen and dance, as evidenced, for example by his early career partnering with fiddlers. | ||
| − | + | Hurt's guitar playing is particularly accessible to young players because of its clarity and emphasis on melody. He tended to play full, ringing, individual notes rather than damping his chords for rhymic effects or using a slide. His solo to "Candy Man" is a classic, which has been mastered and imitated by thousands of young finger-pickers. Country-folk master Doc Watson brought Hurt's style to wide audiences when he covered "Spike Driver Blues" and other Hurt songs. | |
| − | + | ==Legacy== | |
| − | Hurt's influence spans several music genres including blues, [[country music|country]], [[bluegrass]], folk and contemporary [[rock music|rock and roll]]. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end. | + | Mississippi John Hurt left a legacy of character as well as music. He was a soft-spoken, humble man whose wrinkled face lit up when he smiled. Unlike many bluesmen, his music was often uplifting and light-hearted, even when he was singing about toiling on a railroad or grabbing "a gun and shoot my Susie." He had never been particularly ambitious, and he accepted fame and adultation with remarkable grace. Hurt's influence spans several music genres including blues, [[country music|country]], [[bluegrass]], folk and contemporary [[rock music|rock and roll]]. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end. |
==Media== | ==Media== | ||
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==Discography== | ==Discography== | ||
| − | + | ====Avalon Blues==== | |
| − | + | The Complete 1928 OKEH Recordings (Columbia Roots N' Blues reissue) | |
| − | + | : Also released as ''Mississippi John Hurt: 1928 Sessions'' (Yazoo 1065, Yazoo Records) | |
| − | + | {|width="100%" | |
| − | + | |- | |
| − | + | | | |
| − | + | *"Frankie" (3:21) | |
| − | + | *"Nobody's Dirty Business" | |
| − | + | *"Ain't No Tellin'" | |
| − | + | *"Louis Collins" | |
| − | + | *"Avalon Blues" | |
| − | + | *"Big Leg Blues" | |
| − | + | *"[[Stagger Lee|Stack O' Lee]]" | |
| − | + | | | |
| − | + | *"Candy Man Blues" | |
| − | + | *"Got The Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" | |
| − | + | *"Blessed Be The Name" | |
| − | + | *"Praying On The Old Camp Ground" | |
| − | + | *"Blue Harvest Blues" | |
| − | + | *"Spike Driver Blues" | |
| − | + | |} | |
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| − | + | ====Last Sessions - 1966 (Vanguard)==== | |
| − | * | + | {|width="100%" |
| − | * | + | |- |
| − | * | + | | |
| − | * | + | *"Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home" |
| − | * I | + | *"Boys, You're Welcome" |
| + | *"Joe Turner Blues" | ||
| + | *"First Shot Missed Him" | ||
| + | *"Farther Along" | ||
| + | *"Funky Butt" | ||
| + | *"Spider, Spider" | ||
| + | *"Waiting For You" | ||
| + | *"Shortnin' Bread" | ||
| + | | | ||
| + | *"Trouble, I've Had It All My Days" | ||
| + | *"Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me" | ||
| + | *"Good Morning, Carrie" | ||
| + | *"Nobody Cares For Me" | ||
| + | *"All Night Long" | ||
| + | *"Hey, Honey, Right Away" | ||
| + | *"You've Got To Die" | ||
| + | *"Goodnight Irene" | ||
| + | |} | ||
| − | + | ====Worried Blues (Piedmont PLP 13161)===== | |
| + | {|width="100%" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | | ||
| + | *Lazy Blues | ||
| + | *Farther along | ||
| + | *Sliding delta | ||
| + | *Nobody cares for me | ||
| + | *Cow hooking blues | ||
| + | | | ||
| + | *Talkin’ Casey Jones | ||
| + | *Weeping and wailing | ||
| + | *Worried blues | ||
| + | *Oh Mary don’t you weep | ||
| + | *I been cryin’ since you been gone | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | ====Mississippi John Hurt Today(Vanguard VSD-79220)=== | ||
| + | {|width="100%" | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | | ||
Side 1 | Side 1 | ||
* Payday | * Payday | ||
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* Talkin’ Casey Jones | * Talkin’ Casey Jones | ||
* Corrinna, Corrinna | * Corrinna, Corrinna | ||
| − | + | | | |
| − | |||
* Coffee blues | * Coffee blues | ||
* Louis Collins | * Louis Collins | ||
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* Spike driver blues <ref name="r2" /> | * Spike driver blues <ref name="r2" /> | ||
* Beulah land | * Beulah land | ||
| + | |} | ||
| + | |||
| + | ====Mississippi John Hurt Last Sessions (Vanguard VSD-79327)==== | ||
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* Poor boy long ways from home | * Poor boy long ways from home | ||
* Boys, you’re welcome | * Boys, you’re welcome | ||
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* Waiting for you | * Waiting for you | ||
* Shortnin’ bread | * Shortnin’ bread | ||
| − | + | | | |
| − | |||
* Trouble, I’ve had it all my days | * Trouble, I’ve had it all my days | ||
* Let the mermaids flirt with me | * Let the mermaids flirt with me | ||
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* You’ve got to die | * You’ve got to die | ||
* Goodnight, Irene | * Goodnight, Irene | ||
| + | |} | ||
'''''The Best of Mississippi John Hurt''''' (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) | '''''The Best of Mississippi John Hurt''''' (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) | ||
Revision as of 18:55, 26 April 2007
"Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (1892 [1], Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist.
Early years
Hurt was born in Teoc, Mississippi and was the eighth of ten children. His parrents were Paul Hurt and Mae Jane Smith. Hurt learned to appreciate guitar music from William H Carson, boyfriend of his teacher at the St. James School, in Avalon, Mississippi. He began learning the guitar at the age of nine. Hurt stated, "I wasn't allowed to bother Mr. Carson's guitar. I would wait until he feel asleep at my house, then I would slip his guitar into my room and try to play... After that, my mother bought me a second hand guitar at the price of $1.50." [2]
He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances. In 1916, he married Gertrude Hoskins. They had two children: T.C. (born April 1, 1919) and Ida Mae (born June 26, 1921). John and Gertrude separated shortly after the birth of Ida Mae. Later, John became the father of another child John William, with his common law wife, Jesse Lee Cole.
Although her earned a living as a farm hand into the 1920s, Hurt continued playing for dances in his spare time, usually partnering with fiddle player Shell Smith. In 1923 he also played often with the fiddle player Willie Narmour. When Narmour got a chance to record for OKeh Records in reward for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, Narmour recommended Hurt to OKeh producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, Hurt took part in two recording sessions. The first, in Memphis, recorded eight sides, only two of which were release. The "Mississippi" tag was added to his name around this time by OKeh. The second session took place in New York City and included several of the songs for which Hurt later became well known, such as "Candy Man," and "Spike Driver Blues." (See Discography below). The resulting recordings, howeer, did not sell well, and OKeh records soon went out of business during the depression.
Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances. It would be more than three decades before he would record again.
Comeback
In 1963, a folk musicologist Tom Hoskins, inspired by the OKeh recordings, was able to locate John Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi. He was not easy to find. Hoskins noticed that Hurt sang of "Avalon, my home town," but was not able to locate the tiny town until he found it on an old atlas. At 71 years of age, Hurt's his guitar playing skills still intact, and his voice was as charming as ever. Hoskins encouraged Hurt to move to Washington, DC, and begin performing on a wider stage.
Whereas his first releases had coincided with the Great Depression, Hurt's new career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise among the new "folk revival" audience, and Hurt soon was busy playing at colleges, concert halls, coffee houses, and even on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson/
For three years until his death, Mississippi John Hurt was a star after a lifetime of toil as a manual laborer.
Vanguard released a new album, Today! in 1966. A impressive live recording of a concert at Oberlin College in April of 1965 was released under the title The Best of Mississippi John Hurt featuring 21 songs. The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt, was released posthumously, as was the Last Sessions album. To the end, Hurt's voice and guitar and guitar playing remained remarkably strong.
Style
John Hurt's guitar and singing style was atypical of the usual Mississippi bluesman. Both his guitar play and his voice expressed a sweet, melodic quality, and he was as comfortable with rag-time and religious songs as with traditional blues. Unlike some blues players, his vocalization wre clearly enunciated and melodic. In many ways, he was a throw-back to the earliest days of southern music when black and white musicians played together in bands for whomever cared to listen and dance, as evidenced, for example by his early career partnering with fiddlers.
Hurt's guitar playing is particularly accessible to young players because of its clarity and emphasis on melody. He tended to play full, ringing, individual notes rather than damping his chords for rhymic effects or using a slide. His solo to "Candy Man" is a classic, which has been mastered and imitated by thousands of young finger-pickers. Country-folk master Doc Watson brought Hurt's style to wide audiences when he covered "Spike Driver Blues" and other Hurt songs.
Legacy
Mississippi John Hurt left a legacy of character as well as music. He was a soft-spoken, humble man whose wrinkled face lit up when he smiled. Unlike many bluesmen, his music was often uplifting and light-hearted, even when he was singing about toiling on a railroad or grabbing "a gun and shoot my Susie." He had never been particularly ambitious, and he accepted fame and adultation with remarkable grace. Hurt's influence spans several music genres including blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end.
Media
|
|
Discography
Avalon Blues
The Complete 1928 OKEH Recordings (Columbia Roots N' Blues reissue)
- Also released as Mississippi John Hurt: 1928 Sessions (Yazoo 1065, Yazoo Records)
|
|
Last Sessions - 1966 (Vanguard)
|
|
Worried Blues (Piedmont PLP 13161)=
|
|
=Mississippi John Hurt Today(Vanguard VSD-79220)
|
Side 1
|
|
Mississippi John Hurt Last Sessions (Vanguard VSD-79327)
- Poor boy long ways from home
- Boys, you’re welcome
- Joe Turner blues
- First shot missed him
- Farther along
- Spider, spider
- Waiting for you
- Shortnin’ bread
|
- Trouble, I’ve had it all my days
- Let the mermaids flirt with me
- Good mornin’, Carrie
- Nobody cares for me
- All night long
- Hey, Honey, right away
- You’ve got to die
- Goodnight, Irene
|}
The Best of Mississippi John Hurt (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) Recorded live at Oberlin College April 15, 1965
Side 1
- Here I am, Oh Lord, send me
- I shall not be moved
- Nearer my God to thee
- Baby what’s wrong with you
- It ain’t nobody’s business
Side 2
- Salty dog blues
- Coffee blues
- Avalon, my home town
- Make me a pallet on the floor
- Since I’ve laid this burden down
Side 1
- Sliding delta
- Monday morning blues
- Richland women blues
- Candy man
- Stagolee
Side 2
- My creole belle
- CC rider
- Spanish Fandango
- Talking casey
- Chicken
- You are my sunshine
The Candy Man (QS 5042, Quicksilver Records)
Side 1
- Richland women blues
- Trouble, I’ve had it all my days
- Chicken
- Coffee blues
- Monday morning blues
Side 2
- Frankie and Albert
- Talking Casey
- Here I am, Oh Lord, send me
- Hard time in the old town tonight
- Spike driver blues [3]
Volume One of a Legacy (CLPS 1068, Piedmont Records)
Side 1
- Trouble, I’ve had it all my days
- Pera Lee
- See See rider
- Louis Collins
- Coffee blues
- Nobody’s dirty business
- Do Lord remember me
- Monday morning blues
Side 2
- Let the mermaids flirt with me
- Payday
- Stack-o-lee blues
- Casey Jones
- Frankie and Albert
Folk Songs and Blues (PLP 13757, Piedmont Records)
Side 1
- Avalon blues
- Richland woman blues
- Spike driver blues [3]
- Salty dog
- Cow hooking blues
- Spanish Fandang
Side 2
- Casey Jones
- Louis Collins
- Candy Man Blues
- My Creole belle
- Liza Jane – God’s unchanging hand
- Joe Turner blues
Notes
There is now a memorial in Avalon, Mississippi for Mississippi John Hurt. It is parallel to RR2, which is the rural road on which he grew up.
External links
- Mississippi John Hurt Museum
- Illustrated Mississippi John Hurt discography
- Vanguard Record's short biography of Mississippi John Hurt
- Video of John Hurt's Gravesite
Credits
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