Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt (July 3, 1893 or Mar… Read Full Bio ↴John Smith Hurt, better known as Mississippi John Hurt (July 3, 1893 or March 8, 1892 - November 2, 1966) was an American country blues singer and guitarist.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. Singing to a melodious finger-picked accompaniment, he began to play local dances and parties while working as a sharecropper. He first recorded for Okeh Records in 1928, but these were commercial failures. Hurt then drifted out of the recording scene, and he continued his work as a farmer. Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, would be the first to locate Hurt in 1963. He convinced Hurt to relocate to Washington, D.C., where he was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This rediscovery helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt entered the same university and coffeehouse concert circuit as his contemporaries, as well as other Delta blues musicians brought out of retirement. As well as playing concerts, he recorded several studio albums for Vanguard Records.
Born John Smith Hurt in Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi (there is confusion about his date of birth, but the grave marker mentions March 8, 1892) and raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age nine. He was completely self-taught, stealthily playing the guitar of a friend of his mother's, who often stayed at the Hurt home while courting a lady who lived near by. His style was not reminiscent of any other style being played at the time; it was the way Hurt "thought the guitar should sound". He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farmhand into the 1920s. His fast, highly syncopated style of playing made his music adept for dancing. On occasion, a medicine show would come through the area; Hurt recalls being wanted by one of them. "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home." In 1923 he partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith.
When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records as a prize for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, he recommended Hurt to Okeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (see Discography below). While in Memphis, Hurt recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more." Hurt described his first recording session as such:
... 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.
Hurt attempted further negotiations with Okeh to record again, but after the commercial failure of the resulting records, and Okeh Records going out of business during the Great Depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.
After Hurt's renditions of "Frankie" and "Spike Driver Blues" were included in The Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, and an Australian man discovered a copy of "Avalon Blues", there became increased interest in finding Hurt himself. In 1963, a folk musicologist, Tom Hoskins, supervised by Richard Spottswood, was able to locate Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi using the lyrics of "Avalon Blues":
Avalon, my home town, always on my mind/Avalon, my home town.
While in Avalon, Hoskins convinced an apprehensive Hurt to perform several songs for him, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced, and seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, Hoskins encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and begin performing on a wider stage. His performance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new folk revival audience. Before his death he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and also on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records. Much of his repertoire was recorded for the Library of Congress, also. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs "Salty Dog" and "Candy Man", and the blues ballads "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie".
Hurt incorporated a fast, pick-less, syncopated fingerpicking style that he taught himself. He was influenced by very few people; but did recall an elderly, unrecorded, blues singer from that area, Rufus Hanks, who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica. He also recalled listening to the country singer Jimmie Rodgers. On occasion, Hurt would use an open tuning and a slide, as he did in his arrangement of "The Ballad of Casey Jones".
Hurt's influence spanned 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 consisted of a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music.
Material recorded by Hurt has been re-released by many record labels over the years (see discography); and his influence has extended over many generations of guitarists. Songs recorded by Hurt have been covered by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey and Gillian Welch.
Hurt died on November 2nd, 1966, of a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.
There is now a memorial in Avalon, Mississippi for Mississippi John Hurt. It is parallel to RR2, the rural road on which he grew up.
American singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, who met Hurt and played on the same bill as him at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977 entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" Paxton still frequently plays this song at his live performances.
The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album Requia is entitled "Requiem For John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick also features a version of the piece, there entitled "Requiem For Mississippi John Hurt".
British folk/blues artist Wizz Jones recorded a tribute song called "Mississippi John" for his 1977 album Magical Flight.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. Singing to a melodious finger-picked accompaniment, he began to play local dances and parties while working as a sharecropper. He first recorded for Okeh Records in 1928, but these were commercial failures. Hurt then drifted out of the recording scene, and he continued his work as a farmer. Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, would be the first to locate Hurt in 1963. He convinced Hurt to relocate to Washington, D.C., where he was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This rediscovery helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt entered the same university and coffeehouse concert circuit as his contemporaries, as well as other Delta blues musicians brought out of retirement. As well as playing concerts, he recorded several studio albums for Vanguard Records.
Born John Smith Hurt in Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi (there is confusion about his date of birth, but the grave marker mentions March 8, 1892) and raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age nine. He was completely self-taught, stealthily playing the guitar of a friend of his mother's, who often stayed at the Hurt home while courting a lady who lived near by. His style was not reminiscent of any other style being played at the time; it was the way Hurt "thought the guitar should sound". He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farmhand into the 1920s. His fast, highly syncopated style of playing made his music adept for dancing. On occasion, a medicine show would come through the area; Hurt recalls being wanted by one of them. "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home." In 1923 he partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith.
When Narmour got a chance to record for Okeh Records as a prize for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, he recommended Hurt to Okeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, he took part in two recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (see Discography below). While in Memphis, Hurt recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith, and lots, lots more." Hurt described his first recording session as such:
... 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.
Hurt attempted further negotiations with Okeh to record again, but after the commercial failure of the resulting records, and Okeh Records going out of business during the Great Depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.
After Hurt's renditions of "Frankie" and "Spike Driver Blues" were included in The Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, and an Australian man discovered a copy of "Avalon Blues", there became increased interest in finding Hurt himself. In 1963, a folk musicologist, Tom Hoskins, supervised by Richard Spottswood, was able to locate Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi using the lyrics of "Avalon Blues":
Avalon, my home town, always on my mind/Avalon, my home town.
While in Avalon, Hoskins convinced an apprehensive Hurt to perform several songs for him, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced, and seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, Hoskins encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and begin performing on a wider stage. His performance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the new folk revival audience. Before his death he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and also on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as well as recording three further albums for Vanguard Records. Much of his repertoire was recorded for the Library of Congress, also. His fans particularly liked the ragtime songs "Salty Dog" and "Candy Man", and the blues ballads "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie".
Hurt incorporated a fast, pick-less, syncopated fingerpicking style that he taught himself. He was influenced by very few people; but did recall an elderly, unrecorded, blues singer from that area, Rufus Hanks, who played twelve-string guitar and harmonica. He also recalled listening to the country singer Jimmie Rodgers. On occasion, Hurt would use an open tuning and a slide, as he did in his arrangement of "The Ballad of Casey Jones".
Hurt's influence spanned 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 consisted of a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music.
Material recorded by Hurt has been re-released by many record labels over the years (see discography); and his influence has extended over many generations of guitarists. Songs recorded by Hurt have been covered by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey and Gillian Welch.
Hurt died on November 2nd, 1966, of a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.
There is now a memorial in Avalon, Mississippi for Mississippi John Hurt. It is parallel to RR2, the rural road on which he grew up.
American singer-songwriter Tom Paxton, who met Hurt and played on the same bill as him at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977 entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?" Paxton still frequently plays this song at his live performances.
The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album Requia is entitled "Requiem For John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick also features a version of the piece, there entitled "Requiem For Mississippi John Hurt".
British folk/blues artist Wizz Jones recorded a tribute song called "Mississippi John" for his 1977 album Magical Flight.
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Mississippi John Hurt Lyrics
13. Nearer My God To Thee Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee! E'en tho' it…
A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight There's hot time in the old town, down town tonight Hot…
Ain't No Tellin Don't you let my good girl catch you here Don't you…
Avalon Blues Got to New York this mornin', just about half-past nine Got…
Baby What's Wrong With You Oh, baby Tell me, baby Tell me, baby Honey what's wrong with…
Beulah Land E I got a mother in Beulah Land, outshine the sun I…
Big Leg Blues Raise up, baby, get your big leg offa mine Raise up,…
Blessed Be the Name If you don't like your brother, don't you carry the…
Blessed Be the Name of the Lord If you don't like your sister, don't you carry her…
Blue Harvest Blues Standing on the mountain, far as I can see Standing on…
Boys You're Welcome Oh, it's my heart Is that-a-way Just as welcome, boy As the …
C.C. Rider You C C Rider, see what you done done C C…
Camp Meeting Tonight On the Old Camp Ground There is preaching tonight, preaching tonight Preaching on t…
Candy Man Well all you ladies gather 'round That good sweet candy man'…
Casey Jones Casey Jones was a brave engineer He told his fireman to…
Cc Rider You C C Rider, see what you done done C C…
Chicken Oh, chicken, chicken, you can't roost too high for me.…
Coffee Blues This is the 'Coffee Blues', I likes a certain brand Maxwell'…
Corrina Corrina Corrina, Corrina, where'd you stay last night? Corrina, Corr…
Farther Along Tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder Why it should…
Frankie Frankie was a good girl everybody know She pay one hundred…
Frankie And Albert Frankie was a good girl, everybody know, She paid one hundre…
Frankie and Johnny Frankie was a good girl everybody know She pay one hundred…
Goodnight Irene Irene, goodnight Irene, goodnight Goodnight, Irene, goodni…
Hard Time in Old Town Tonight There's hot time in the old town, down town tonight Hot…
Here Am I Oh Lord Send Me Here am I Oh Lord send me Here am I Oh…
Hot Time in Old Town Tonight There's hot time in the old town, down town tonight Hot…
I I'm satisfied, tickled too, old enough to marry you I'm sati…
I Shall Not Be Moved I shall not, I shall not be moved I shall not,…
I'm Satisfied I'm satisfied, tickled too, old enough to marry you I'm sati…
it ain't nobody's business Ain′t nobody's dirty business how my baby′s treatin' me Nobo…
Lazy Blues Wake up in the mornin' With a towel tied 'round her…
Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me Blues all on the ocean, blues all in the air Can't…
Louis Collins Mrs. Collins weeped, Mrs. Collins moaned, To see her son Lou…
Make Me a Pallet On the Floor Well make me down a pallet on your floor Make me…
Monday Mornin' Blues I woke up this morning... I woke up this morning...…
My Creole Belle My Creole Belle, I love her well My darlin' baby, my…
Nearer My God to Thee Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee! E'en tho' it…
Nobody Cares For Me [Chorus:] Lonesome is I, wished I could die Nobody cares for…
Nobody's Dirty Business Nobody's dirty business how my baby treat me, nobody's busin…
Pallet On the Floor Well make me down a pallet on your floor Make me…
Pay Day Yeah, I did all I can do, and I can't…
Payday Pay Day Mississippi John Hurt Yeah, I did all I can do,…
Pera Lee Pera Lee, gone to the worldly fair Oh Pera Lee, gone…
Praying on the Old Camp Ground There is preaching tonight, preaching tonight Preaching on t…
Rich Woman Blues Gimme red lipstick and a bright purple rouge A shingle bob…
Salty Dog You salty dog Hey, hey, hey, you salty dog Said, the big…
See See Rider You C C Rider, see what you done done C C…
Short'nin' Bread Mamma's little baby loves shortnin', shortnin' Mamma's littl…
Shortnin' Bread Put on the skillet, Slip on the lid, Mama's gonna make A lit…
Since I've Laid My Burden Down My friends don′t treat me like they Used to My friends don't…
Slidin The Sliding Delta run right by my door. Sliding Delta run…
Sliding Delta The Sliding Delta run right by my door. Sliding Delta run…
Sliding Delta Blues The Sliding Delta run right by my door. Sliding Delta run…
Spike Driver She walked down the yard, caught the longest train she…
Stack 'O Lee Police officer, how can it be? You can 'rest everybody but…
Stagolee Police officer, how can it be You arrest everybody but cruel…
Talkin Casey Jones was a brave engineer He told his fireman to…
Talking Casey Jones Casey Jones was a brave engineer He told his fireman to…
The Chicken Oh, chicken, chicken, you can't roost too high for me.…
Waiting For A Train All around the water tank Leakin in the rain A thousand mile…
Waiting for You Will you be faithful to me? Is your heart good and…
You Are My Sunshine The other night dear, as I lay sleeping I dreamed I…