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.
Coffee Blues
Mississippi John Hurt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Maxwell's House, it's good till the last drop
Just like it says on the can, I used to have a girl
Cookin' a good Maxwell House, she moved away
Some said to Memphis and some said to Leland
But I found her, I wanted her to cook me
Some good Maxwell's House, you understand?
Do me much good as two or three cups this other coffee
I've got to go to Memphis, bring her back to Leland
I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful, my lovin' spoonful
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin', I found her
Good mornin', baby, how you do this mornin'?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon, just a lovin' spoonful
I declare, I got to have my lovin' spoonful
My baby packed her suitcase and she went away
I couldn't let her stay for my lovin', my lovin' spoonful
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'
Good mornin', baby, how you do this mornin'?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon, just a lovin' spoonful
I declare, I got to have my lovin' spoonful
Well, the preacher in the pulpit, jumpin' up and down
He laid his Bible down for his lovin'
Ain't Maxwell House all right?
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'
The song "Coffee Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt is a classic country blues song about the love of coffee and the pang of missing someone. The song's opening lines, "This is the 'Coffee Blues', I like a certain brand // Maxwell's House, it's good till the last drop // Just like it says on the can," emphasize the singer's love for coffee and specifically, he prefers Maxwell House over any other brand. The second verse tells us that he used to have someone special who cooked him good coffee, but she has left him and moved away. He longs for her and her coffee-making skills, which he puts on a pedestal above all other coffee he's tasted.
The chorus, "I've got to go to Memphis, bring her back to Leland // I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful, my lovin' spoonful // Well, I'm just got to have my lovin', I found her," adds another layer to the song. The singer realizes that the girl he used to know may be in Memphis or Leland, and he needs to find her to fill his heart and cup with both love and coffee. The last verse mentions a preacher who puts down his Bible for his love of coffee. This can be interpreted in a religious or playful way, but it further emphasizes the love and need that the singer has for coffee.
Line by Line Meaning
This is the 'Coffee Blues', I likes a certain brand
I am singing about my love for a specific brand of coffee
Maxwell's House, it's good till the last drop
I think Maxwell's House is a great brand of coffee and enjoy it until the very last drop
Just like it says on the can, I used to have a girl
Similar to the slogan on the coffee can, I used to have a girlfriend
Cookin' a good Maxwell House, she moved away
She used to make good Maxwell's House coffee, but she moved away from me
Some said to Memphis and some said to Leland
People have told me she could be either in Memphis or Leland
But I found her, I wanted her to cook me
I successfully found her and needed her to make me
Some good Maxwell's House, you understand?
I needed her to make me some great Maxwell's House coffee, do you understand?
If I can get me just a spoonful of Maxwell's House
I believe that just a spoonful of Maxwell's House coffee would be as good as two or three cups of any other coffee
Do me much good as two or three cups this other coffee
I think a spoonful of Maxwell's House would be better for me than multiple cups of any other brand of coffee
I've got to go to Memphis, bring her back to Leland
I need to go to Memphis to find her and bring her back to Leland
I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful, my lovin' spoonful
I want to see my baby for the sake of a loving spoonful, or just a little bit of love
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin', I found her
I am so desperate for affection and love that I found her
Good mornin', baby, how you do this mornin'?
I am greeting my lover in the morning and asking how she is doing
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon, just a lovin' spoonful
I am begging her for affection, just a little bit of love
I declare, I got to have my lovin' spoonful
I am declaring my desperate need for love and affection
My baby packed her suitcase and she went away
My lover packed her bags and left me
I couldn't let her stay for my lovin', my lovin' spoonful
She left because she couldn't bear the intensity of my desperate need for love and affection
Well, the preacher in the pulpit, jumpin' up and down
I am referring to the passionate preacher in the pulpit who jumps up and down passionately
He laid his Bible down for his lovin'
The preacher is setting aside his religious beliefs for his need for love
Ain't Maxwell House all right?
Don't you agree that Maxwell House is a great brand of coffee?
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'
I am reiterating my desperate need for love and affection
Lyrics © WYNWOOD MUSIC CO. INC., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN S HURT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jean-Michel Dehalu
spoken:
This is the 'Coffee Blues'. I likes a certain brand:
Maxwell's House, it's good till the last drop
Just like it says on the can, I used to have a girl
Cookin' a good Maxwell House, she moved away
Some said to Memphis and some said to Leland
But I found her, I wanted her to cook me
Some good Maxwell's House. I understand
If I can get me just a spoonful of Maxwell's House
(It'll) Do me much good as two or three cups this other coffee
I've got to go to Memphis, bring her back to Leland
I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful, my lovin' spoonful
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'...
Spoken: I found her
Good mornin', baby, how you do this mornin'?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon, just a lovin' spoonful
I declare, I got to have my lovin' spoonful
My baby packed her suitcase and she went away
I couldn't let her stay for my lovin', my lovin' spoonful
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'...
Good mornin', baby, how you do this mornin'?
Well, please, ma'am, just a lovin' spoon, just a lovin' spoonful
I declare, I got to have my lovin' spoonful
Well, the preacher in the pulpit, jumpin' up and down
He laid his Bible down for his lovin'...
Ain't Maxwell House all right?
Well, I'm just got to have my lovin'...
Shayne Green
Love this man he is a angel. Love in his eyes
Evan's Gate
I love the conversation he seems to have with his guitar. That little "I found her" at 1:02 was enough to give me chills
Bradford Hammond
He must've had the Holy Spirit in his hands.Everytime I hear him play I wonder how does he do it?If anybody is still alive on record it's him.
tommymartin2551
Bradford Hammond , I T-totally agree with you 🙏🏽😇☝🏽
Mick Carlon
This man is beautiful. Truly.
no
Love my coffee, love my guitar,and this song❤✌
rabendranath
God bless this man.
Tymmtoga
Nothing short of transcendent. Really good stuff here.
Elizabeth Ashby
SO WONDERFUL THANK YOU OLD ROY FOR LETTING HIS VOICE IN MY LIFE
david hollyfield
Such a beautiful, gentle voice... Not at all the cliched macho growling of so many blues masters.