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Mississippi John Hurt

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Mississippi John Hurt
Hurt recording for the Library of Congress in July 1963
Hurt recording for the Library of Congress in July 1963
Background information
Birth nameJohn Smith Hurt
Born(1893-03-08)March 8, 1893
Teoc, Mississippi, U.S.
OriginAvalon, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedNovember 2, 1966(1966-11-02) (aged 73)
Grenada, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
Years active1901–1966
Labels

John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893[1][nb 1] – November 2, 1966), known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.[3]

Biography

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Early years

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John Hurt was born in Teoc,[4] Carroll County, Mississippi and raised in Avalon, Mississippi. His parents, Isom and Mary, had both been slaves and as was common after the Civil War, they continued working on the same plantation, now as sharecroppers, for the same master.

John taught himself to play guitar at the age of nine. To earn extra money, his mother took in boarders. One of them, William Henry Carson, who played a guitar and was a friend of John's mother, often stayed at the Hurt home while courting a woman who lived nearby. When no one was around, John would play Carson's guitar.[5] As a youth, he played old-time music for friends and at dances or at the local general store. His syncopated playing style was ideal for dancing.[6]

He worked as a farmhand and sharecropper, sometimes working for the railroad into the 1920s. On occasion, a medicine show came through the area. Hurt recalled that one wanted to hire him: "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home."[4]

First recordings

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In 1923, he played with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for Narmour's regular partner, Shell Smith.[6] When Narmour won first place in a fiddle contest in 1928 and got a chance to record for Okeh Records, he recommended Hurt, who by that time had a good reputation, to Okeh producer Tommy Rockwell.[7] After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, Hurt took part in two recording sessions where he recorded 20 songs, in Memphis and New York City.[6] While in Memphis, he recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more."[4] Hurt described his first recording session:

... a great big hall with only the three of us in it: me, the man [Rockwell], and the engineer. It was really something. I sat on a chair, and they pushed the microphone right up to my mouth and told me that I couldn't move after they had found the right position. I had to keep my head absolutely still. Oh, I was nervous, and my neck was sore for days after.[4]

The records sold modestly well, not only with the black community but also among southern whites. One family that bought a set was the Watsons from Deep Gap, North Carolina. Their son, Arthel, learned John's finger picking style. Hurt attempted further negotiations with Okeh to record again but Okeh declined since his record sales were only modest. Okeh went out of business during the Great Depression, and Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing at local parties and dances.[8]

Rediscovery and death

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Hurt's grave

In 1952, musicologist Harry Smith included John's version of Frankie and Spike Driver Blues in his seminal collection The Anthology of American Folk Music which generated considerable interest in locating him.[9] When a copy of his Avalon Blues was discovered in 1963, it led musicologist Dick Spottswood to locate Avalon, Mississippi on a map and ask his friend, Tom Hoskins, who was traveling that way, to enquire after Hurt.[10][11]

"Avalon, my home town, always on my mind / Avalon, my home town." Avalon Blues

After finding Hurt, Hoskins persuaded him to perform several songs, to make sure that he was genuine.[9] Hoskins was convinced and, seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C. and perform for a broader audience.[10] In July 1963, Hoskins recorded Hurt for the Library of Congress. In 1964, Piedmont Records released an album, Folk Songs And Blues.[12]

This added to the American folk music revival which was blooming at that time and inspired the search for and the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era such as Son House, Skip James, Bukka White, Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins. Hurt performed on the festival, university and coffeehouse concert circuits with other Delta blues musicians who were brought out of retirement. His performances in 1963 at the Newport Folk Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival caused his star to rise.[8] In 1964, he recorded live for radio station WTBS-FM In Cambridge, Massachusetts as did Skip James.[13][14]

For three short years, Hurt performed extensively at colleges, concert halls, and coffeehouses, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, on Pete Seeger's public tv show, Rainbow Quest along side of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGHee and Hedy West and had a write up in Time magazine. He also recorded three albums for Vanguard Records.[8] Much of his repertoire was also recorded for the Library of Congress. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs Salty Dog, Candy Man and the blues ballads Spike Driver Blues (a variant of John Henry) and Frankie.[8]

Hurt's influence spanned several music genres including blues, spirituals, country, bluegrass, folk, and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature reflected his work which was a mellow mix of country, blues, and old-time music.[6]

Mississippi John Hurt made his last recordings at a hotel in New York City in February and July of that year though they were not released until 1972 on the Vanguard LP Last Sessions.[15] He died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966 at a hospital in Grenada, Mississippi.[1]

Several record labels Material recorded by Hurt recorded his songs. They've been covered by Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey, Gillian Welch, The Be Good Tanyas, Josh Ritter, Chris Smither, Guthrie Thomas, Parsonsfield, and Rory Block[16] among others.

Style

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Hurt used a syncopated finger picking style of guitar playing that he taught himself. He was influenced by few other musicians, among them was Rufus Hanks, an elderly, unrecorded blues singer from the Avalon area who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica.[4]

According to the music critic Robert Christgau, "the school of John Fahey proceeded from his finger picking and while he's not the only quietly conversational singer in the modern folk tradition, no one else has talked the blues with such delicacy or restraint."[17]

Tributes

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Mississippi John Hurt Museum, in Avalon, Mississippi

There was a memorial and museum dedicated to Hurt in Avalon, Mississippi, parallel to Rural Route 2, the rural road he grew up on. On February 20, 2024, it was destroyed in a fire the day after being made a National Landmark. Arson is not suspected.[18]

The singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, who met Hurt and played on the same bill with him at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977, "Did You Hear John Hurt?".[19]

The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album Requia is "Requiem for John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album, The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick, also features a version of the piece, entitled "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt".

Norman Greenbaum's eclectic minor hit, "Gondoliers, Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys And Bums" refers to Mississippi John Hurt singing the blues.[20]

The British folk and blues artist Wizz Jones recorded a tribute song, "Mississippi John", for his 1977 album Magical Flight.

The Delta blues artist Rory Block recorded the album Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt, released in 2013 as part of her "Mentor Series".[16]

The New England singer-songwriter Bill Morrissey released the Grammy-nominated album Songs of Mississippi John Hurt in 1999.

In 2017, Hurt's life story was told in the documentary series American Epic.[21] The film featured footage of Hurt performing and being interviewed,[22][23] and improved restorations of his 1920s recordings.[24][25] Director Bernard MacMahon stated that Hurt "was the inspiration for American Epic".[23] Hurt's life was profiled in the accompanying book, American Epic: The First Time America Heard Itself.[26]

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Hurt at number 159 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[27]

Discography

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Stefan Wirtz's in depth, illustrated discography [28]

Dixon, Robert M., Goodrich, John W. and Rye, Howard - Blues and Gospel Records, 1890-1943, Fourth Edition [29]

AllMusic discography [30]

78 rpm releases

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  • "Frankie" / "Nobody's Dirty Business" (Okeh Records, Okeh 8560), 1928
  • "Stack O' Lee" / "Candy Man Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8654), 1928
  • "Blessed Be the Name" / "Praying on the Old Camp Ground" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8666), 1928
  • "Blue Harvest Blues" / "Spike Driver Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8692), 1928
  • "Louis Collins" / "Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8724), 1928
  • "Ain't No Tellin'" / "Avalon Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8759), 1928

Rediscovery Era Albums

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  • Folk Songs and Blues (Piedmont Records, PLP 13157), 1963
  • Worried Blues, live recordings (Piedmont Records, PLP 13161), 1964
  • Today! (Vanguard Records, VSD-79220), 1966
  • The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (Vanguard Records, VSD-79248), 1967
  • The Best of Mississippi John Hurt, live recording from Oberlin College, April 15, 1965 (Vanguard Records, VSD-19/20), 1970
  • Last Sessions (Vanguard Records, VSD-79327), 1972
  • Volume One of a Legacy, live recordings (Piedmont Records, CLPS 1068), 1975
  • Monday Morning Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings, vol. 1 (Flyright Records, FLYLP 553), 1980
  • Avalon Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings, vol. 2 (Heritage Records, HT-301), 1982
  • Satisfied, live recordings (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5007), 1982
  • The Candy Man, live recordings (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5042), 1982
  • Sacred and Secular: The Library of Congress Recordings, vol. 3 (Heritage Records, HT-320), 1988
  • Avalon Blues (Flyright Records, FLYCD 06), 1989
  • Memorial Anthology, live recordings (Genes Records, GCD 9906/7), 1993
  • Rediscovered (Vanguard Records, CD 79519), 1998
  • The Complete Recordings (Vanguard Records, CD 70181–2), 1998

Selected pre-war albums

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Notes

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  1. ^ There is uncertainty about his date of birth. March 8, 1893, is the date written in his family's Bible and accepted by his biographer Philip Ratcliffe and by the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc as the most likely. Other possible dates include March 3, 1892 (shown on his gravestone); March 8, 1892; March 16, 1892; July 2, 1892; July 3, 1893;[2] and May 5, 1895.

Further reading

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  • Ratcliffe, Philip R. (2011). Mississippi John Hurt: His Life, His Times, His Blues. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
  • James, Steve (July 2018). "Gaslight Memories: Mississippi John Hurt's Influence on the 1960s Folk Scene and Beyond". Acoustic Guitar. Retrieved April 9, 2024.

References

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  1. ^ a b Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 214. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. ^ "Mississippi John Hurt: American Singer and Musician". Britannica.com. October 29, 2023.
  3. ^ "Trail of the Hellhound: Mississippi John Hurt". nps.gov. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e Cohen, Lawrence (1996). Liner notes to Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings. Columbia/Legacy CD.
  5. ^ MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT tells of making his first record in 1927, February 21, 2018, retrieved August 24, 2022
  6. ^ a b c d Eder, Bruce. "Mississippi John Hurt: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  7. ^ Oakley, Giles (1997). The Devil's Music. New York City: Da Capo Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-306-80743-5.
  8. ^ a b c d Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 121. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  9. ^ a b Dahl, Bill (1998). Liner notes to D.C. Blues: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 1. Fuel 2000 Records CD.
  10. ^ a b Segal, David (June 24, 2001). "Mississippi John Hurt, Discovered Again". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  11. ^ "Graded on a Curve: Mississippi John Hurt, Last Sessions – The Vinyl District". The Vinyl District. April 17, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Ostrow, Marty; Howard, Ira, eds. (September 7, 1963). "Piedmont Starts Folk Build-Up With Hurt LP" (PDF). Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 47. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 4, 2023.
  13. ^ Mississippi John Hurt & Skip James - Live At WTBS-FM In Cambridge. Ma October 1964, retrieved April 8, 2022
  14. ^ "Mississippi John Hurt And Skip James - In Session - 1964 - Nights At The Roundtable: Session Edition". Past Daily: News, History, Music And An Enormous Sound Archive. June 19, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  15. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: H". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 26, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  16. ^ a b Block, Rory (June 4, 2013). "Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt". Stony Plain Records. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  17. ^ Christgau, Robert (March 11, 1997). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  18. ^ Dankins, Pam. "'Fully engulfed in flames': Fire destroys Mississippi John Hurt Museum". Mississippi Clarion Ledger. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  19. ^ "Mississippi John Hurt". Tom Paxton. February 18, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  20. ^ Greenbaum, Norman; Dr. West's Medicine Show And Junk Band (1969). "Norman Greenbaum With Dr. West's Medicine Show And Junk Band". Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  21. ^ "BBC – Arena: American Epic – Media Centre". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "For Lovers of Recorded Music and its History, "American Epic" Is Must See PBS TV". Analog Planet. May 10, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  23. ^ a b "Greil Marcus' Real Life Rock Top 10: The Epic Tradition". Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  24. ^ "American Epic". Stereophile. June 12, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  25. ^ Lewis, Randy (May 14, 2017). "'American Epic' explores how a business crisis ignited a musical revolution". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  26. ^ MacMahon, Bernard; McGourty, Allison; Wald, Elijah (May 2, 2017). American Epic. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781501135606.
  27. ^ "The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. January 1, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  28. ^ "Illustrated Mississippi John Hurt discography". Wirz.de.
  29. ^ Robert M. W. Dixon; John Godrich; Howard W. Rye. Blues and Gospel Records, 1890-1943 (Fourth ed.).
  30. ^ "Mississippi John Hurt Songs, Albums, Reviews". AllMusic.
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