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.
Waiting for a Train
Mississippi John Hurt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Leakin in the rain
A thousand miles away from home
Waitin for a train
I went up to the brakeman
Asked for a line of talk
He said If you got money man
I will see that you don't walk
Not a penny can I show
Get of get off you railroad bum
And he slammed the boxcar door.
Put me off in Texas
Place I dearly love
Wide open spaces around me
Moon and stars up above
There's no one seem to care me
Either lend me a helpin hand
I'm on my way from Frisco
I'm goin back to Dixieland
My pocketbook is empty
And my heart is full of pain
A thousand miles away from home
Waitin for a train.
In Mississippi John Hurt's song "Waiting For A Train," the singer finds himself stranded a thousand miles from home, waiting for a train. He stands "all around the water tank, leakin' in the rain," which evokes a sense of dilapidation and despair. He seeks the help of a brakeman and asks for a "line of talk," but the brakeman is unsympathetic, telling him to "get off" and slamming the boxcar door. The singer eventually ends up in Texas, where he finds solace in the "wide open spaces." However, he is still struggling financially and emotionally, with an empty pocketbook and a heart full of pain. He is bound for Dixieland, and the sense of determination in his words indicates that he will not be deterred by the challenges he faces.
The song presents a poignant picture of the struggles faced by many poor, itinerant workers during the Great Depression. The singer's loneliness and desperation are palpable, and the imagery of the rain and leaky water tank adds to the sense of destitution. The lack of empathy from the brakeman reflects the hard-heartedness that often characterized people in positions of power during this time. Despite the hardships, however, the singer's determination to keep moving forward and return home suggests a deeply ingrained resilience that was necessary for survival during this difficult period.
Line by Line Meaning
All around the water tank
I am standing near a water tank.
Leakin in the rain
It's raining and the tank is leaking.
A thousand miles away from home
I am very far from where I live.
Waitin for a train
I am waiting for a train to arrive.
I went up to the brakeman
I approached the brakeman.
Asked for a line of talk
I asked him a question.
He said If you got money man
The brakeman replied, "If you have money".
I will see that you don't walk
The brakeman promised to help me if I had money.
I haven't got a nickel
I do not have any money.
Not a penny can I show
I have no money to show the brakeman.
Get of get off you railroad bum
The brakeman called me a railroad bum and told me to leave.
And he slammed the boxcar door.
The brakeman closed the door to the train car.
Put me off in Texas
I got off the train in Texas.
Place I dearly love
I love this place very much.
Wide open spaces around me
There is a lot of open space surrounding me.
Moon and stars up above
There are stars and a moon in the sky.
There's no one seem to care me
No one seems to care about me.
Either lend me a helpin hand
I need someone to help me.
I'm on my way from Frisco
I am traveling from Frisco.
I'm goin back to Dixieland
I am headed back to Dixieland.
My pocketbook is empty
I have no money.
And my heart is full of pain
I am in emotional pain.
A thousand miles away from home
I am still very far from my home.
Waitin for a train.
I am still waiting for a train to arrive.
Contributed by Eli L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jan Arnaud
This is real music and what a real artist is. He brings peace and joy. Hearing him, most of the commercial music of today seem noise and rubbish to me.
Joyce Randall
I agree.
Jonathan Patrick
I can listen to John hurt all day long. He is my favorite blue and folk singer.
Michael Collins
Mississippi John Hurt covering Jimmie Rodgers -- doesn't get any better than this.
Shelley Gazy
I love this, such good listening from my favorite blues/folk artist.
Raymond Holtslander
I'm amazed at how much I like Mississippi John Hurt.
Heath Watts
I'm amazed when people don't like him.
Seth Greenhill
just about the best blues player who ever. God Live the Blues
Stewart Fenton
Seth, this is not the blues. Just because it's old and great, doesn't make it the blues.
miyamototakahiko
good sounds and good, gentle voice. why so good.