Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi John Hurt | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | John Smith Hurt |
Born | Teoc, Mississippi, US | July 2, 1892
Died | November 2, 1966 Grenada, Mississippi, US | (aged 74)
Genres | Piedmont blues |
Occupation(s) | musician |
Instruments | guitar, vocals |
Years active | 1920s - 1960s |
Labels | Okeh Vanguard |
Website | http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com/ |
"Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (July 2, 1892,[1] Teoc, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an American blues singer and guitarist.
Life
[change | change source]Hurt was raised in Avalon. He tought himself playing guitar at the age of nine. While he was working as a sharecropper, he played at local dances and parties. He did his first recording in 1928 for Okeh Records but was not successful. So he worked on as a sharecropper and played on at the local parties.
Two of Hurt's songs were included in the album The Anthology of American Folk Music and an Australian found a copy of Avalon Blues. So the interest in finding John Hurt himself increased. In 1963 Tom Hoskins found him in Avalon and found out that his musical skill was still intact. He brought him to Washington, D. C. He started playing at greater festivals like the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. In his later years he often played in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and also on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He also recorded three albums for Vanguard Records and recorded most of his songs for the Library of Congress.
Hurt influenced different music genres like blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll.
Death
[change | change source]Hurt died on November 2, 1966 from a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.
Discography
[change | change source]- "Frankie" (3:21)- February 24, 1928, Memphis, TN - 400221-B, OK 8560
- "Nobody's Dirty Business" (2:52)- February 24, 1928, Memphis - 400223-B, OK 8560
- "Ain't No Tellin'" (2:54)- December 21, 1928, New York City, NY - 401471-A, OK 8560
- "Louis Collins" (2:57)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401472-A, OK 8724
- "Avalon Blues" (3:01)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401473-B, OK 8759
- "Big Leg Blues" (2:50)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401474-B, unissued
- "Stack O' Lee" (2:55)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401481-B, OK 8654
- "Candy Man Blues" (2:44)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401483-B, OK 8654
- "Got The Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (2:49)- Dec 28, 1928, NYC- 401484-B, OK 8734
- "Blessed Be The Name" (2:46)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401485-B, OK 8666
- "Praying On The Old Camp Ground" (2:35)- Dec 28 1928, NYC- 401486-B, OK 8666
- "Blue Harvest Blues" (2:51)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401487-A, OK 8692
- "Spike Driver Blues"[2] (3:13)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401488, OK 8692
Last Sessions - 1966 (Vanguard)
- "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home"
- "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"
Mississippi John Hurt 1928 Sessions (Yazoo 1065, Yazoo Records)
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Worried Blues (Piedmont PLP 13161, Piedmont Records)
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Mississippi John Hurt Today (VSD-79220, Vanguard Records)
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Mississippi John Hurt Last Sessions (VSD-79327, Vanguard Records)
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The Best of Mississippi John Hurt (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) Recorded live at Oberlin College April 15, 1966
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Side 3 | Side 4 |
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The Candy Man (QS 5042, Quicksilver Records)
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Volume One of a Legacy (CLPS 1068, Piedmont Records)
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Folk Songs and Blues (PLP 13757, Piedmont Records)
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Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ There is confusion about his date of birth, but the grave Archived 2015-03-25 at the Wayback Machine mentions this date.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Spike Driver's Blues is about the Afro-American folk hero John Henry (folklore).
Other websites
[change | change source]- Mississippi John Hurt Museum Archived 2020-09-09 at the Wayback Machine Includes a link to a discussion forum regarding Mississippi John Hurt with substantive participation by grand nephew, Fred Bolden.
- Mississippi John Hurt News Archived 2018-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Website run by John's grand nephew, Fred Bolden. Has several forums and discussions open to the public.
- Illustrated Mississippi John Hurt discography
- Available recordings at The Internet Archive
- Allmusic
- Mississippi John Hurt's Stackolee Archived 2016-06-19 at the Wayback Machine Recording, sheet music and guitar tab.