Mississippi John Hurt - Definition and Overview

Mississippi John Smith Hurt (July 3, 1893, Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist.

Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learnt to play guitar at age 10, and spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances. Earning a living as a farm hand, he continued in this vein until into the 1920s, when in 1923 he often partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour (Carroll County Blues) as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith. In 1928, Narmour won a fiddle contest, the first place prize was a chance to record for OKeh Records (which went out of business during the depresssion). Narmour recommended John Hurt to producer, Tommy Rockwell of [OKeh Records]]. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (See Discography below). The "Mississippi" tag was added by OKeh as a sales gimmick. After the commercial failure of the resulting disc and the depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.

In 1963, however, a folk musicologist named Tom Hoskins, inspired by the recordings, was able to locate John Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi. With his guitar playing skills still intact, 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, his new career could hardly have been better timed. A stellar performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new "folk revival" audience, and before his death in 1966 he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses, the Johnny Carson Tonight Show as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records. John 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.

Complete Discography

Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKEH Recordings (Columbia Roots N' Blues reissue)

• 1. "Frankie" (3:21)- February 24, 1928, Memphis, TN - 400221-B, OK 8560
  
• 2. "Nobody's Dirty Business" (2:52)- February 24, 1928, Memphis - 400223-B, OK 8560
  
• 3. "Ain't No Tellin'" (2:54)- December 21, 1928, New York City, NY - 401471-A, OK 8560
  
• 4. "Louis Collins" (2:57)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401472-A, OK 8724
  
• 5. "Avalon Blues" (3:01)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401473-B, OK 8759
• 6. "Big Leg Blues" (2:50)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401474-B, unissued
• 7. "Stack O' Lee" (2:55)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401481-B, OK 8654
• 8. "Candy Man Blues" (2:44)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401483-B, OK 8654
• 9. "Got The Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (2:49)- Dec 28, 1928, NYC- 401484-B, OK 8734
  
• 10."Blessed Be The Name" (2:46)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401485-B, OK 8666
• 11."Praying On The Old Camp Ground" (2:35)- Dec 28 1928, NYC- 401486-B, OK 8666
• 12."Blue Harvest Blues" (2:51)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401487-A, OK 8692
  
• 13. "Spike Driver Blues" (3:13)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401488, OK 8692
  

Last Sessions - 1966 (Vanguard)

• 1. "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home"
• 2. "Boys, You're Welcome"
• 3. "Joe Turner Blues"
• 4. "First Shot Missed Him"
• 5. "Farther Along"
• 6. "Funky Butt"
• 7. "Spider, Spider"
• 8. "Waiting For You"
• 9. "Shortnin' Bread"
• 10."Trouble, I've Had It All My Days"
• 11."Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me"
• 12."Good Morning, Carrie"
• 13. "Nobody Cares For Me"
• 14. "All Night Long"
• 15. "Hey, Honey, Right Away"
• 16. "You've Got To Die"
• 17. "Goodnight Irene"

Mississippi John Hurt 1928 Sessions – Yazoo 1065 Yazoo Records

Side 1

• Got the blues can’t be satisfied
• Louis Collins
• Blue Harvest Blues
• Avalon Blues
• Blessed be the name
• Nobody’s dirty business
• Frankie

Side 2

• Ain’t no tellin’
• Big leg blues
• Stack O’Lee blues
• Praying on the old camp ground
• Spike Driver Blues
• Candy Man Blues

Worried Blues - Mississippi John Hurt – Piedmont PLP 13161 Piedmont Records

Side 1

• Lazy Blues
• Farther along
• Sliding delta
• Nobody cares for me
• Cow hooking blues

Side 2

• 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 – VSD-79220 Vanguard Records

Side 1

• Payday
• I’m satisfied
• Candy man
• Make me a pallet on the floor
• Talkin’ Casey Jones
• Corrinna, Corrinna

Side 2

• Coffee blues
• Louis Collins
• Hot time in the old town tonight
• If you don’t want me. Baby
• Spike driver blues
• Beulah land

Mississippi John Hurt Last Sessions – VSD-79327 Vanguard Records

Side 1

• 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

Side 2

• 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

Mississippi John Hurt - 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

Mississippi John Hurt - 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

Mississippi John Hurt - Folk Songs and Blues– PLP 13757 - Piedmont Records

Side 1

• Avalon blues
• Richland woman blues
• Spike driver blues
• 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

Web Links

'http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com