Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt 1964

John Smith Hurt , better known as Mississippi John Hurt (born March 8, 1892 in Teoc , Carroll County , Mississippi , † November 2, 1966 in Grenada , Mississippi) was an influential blues singer and guitarist.

Life

Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, John Hurt learned to play the guitar when he was about 10 years old. During his youth he often played for friends and at dance events. Hurt earned his living as a farm worker.

In 1916 he was a track construction worker for five months. Here he met an a cappella version of the later recorded Spike Driver Blues - a variant of the ballad John Henry - from a caller named Walter Jackson .

John Hurt played on one occasion with fiddle player Willie Narmour, who recommended him on Okeh Records . As a result, Hurt had two recording sessions for the record label in 1928, in February in Memphis , Tennessee , and in December in New York . On this occasion the managers of the record company put the "Mississippi" in front of the musician's name for advertising reasons. Originally only seven titles were published, but they were not commercially successful. As with many other musicians, the Great Depression ended his career as a musician for a long time. Hurt disappeared from the public eye and went back to work as a farmer and farm laborer. He also continued to play as an entertainment musician at local events.

In the 1950s and early 1960s there was renewed interest in the early folk , blues and country recordings from the 1920s as part of the "Folk Revival" in the USA . In 1963, music researcher Tom Hoskins heard John Hurt 's Avalon Blues, recorded in 1928 . Based on the text, Hoskins could assume that Avalon was the home of the musician: "Avalon's my hometown / Always on my mind ..." At this point it was unknown where and whether the musician was still alive. Since then current maps did not show the place Avalon, Hoskins made the village with the help of historical maps. He was able to track down Hurt and persuaded him to make new recordings, which were recorded in Washington . In the same year, Hurt also performed at the Newport Folk Festival .

Mississippi John Hurt then enjoyed enormous popularity during the last three years of his life, playing in concert halls, colleges and bars and recording several albums. The musician died at the age of 75 on November 2, 1966 as a result of a heart attack.

plant

Mississippi John Hurt Museum in Avalon, MS

Mississippi John Hurt is a well-known representative of country blues , especially the stylistic variant of Delta Blues . His style is also described as a subtle mix of blues, folk , ragtime and bluegrass . Typical of his music are his virtuoso fingerpicking guitar playing , the ability to play a bass line and melody and rhythm accompaniment at the same time, as well as his easy and friendly singing.

Some of the tracks composed and interpreted by Hurt are now among the standards in the blues genre, such as the classic ragtime song Candy Man . The song Stagger Lee, which was later interpreted by countless other artists, is one of his successes . The true story of a murder in a saloon in 1895 exists in different versions of the text, but the first recorded by Hurt in 1928 is still considered the "official version" today.

Mississippi John Hurt was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988.

Discography (selection)

• Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings (1996) (Columbia Roots N 'Blues reissue)

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

(Genre assignment: Blues: 1st, 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th; Ragtime: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th .;: Spiritual : 10th, 11th .; Railroad song : 13.)
The very same compilation was released (presumably) in 1971 on Spokane Records under the title The Original 1928 Recordings .

• Today! (1966) (Vanguard)

1. Pay Day (4:17)
2. I'm Satisfied (2:51)
3. Candy Man (2:52)
4. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor (4:31)
5. Talking Casey (5:04)
6. Corrina, Corrina (1:47)
7. Coffee Blues (3:44)
8. Louis Collins (4:05)
9. Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight (3:29)
10. If You Don't Want Me Baby (3:18)
11. Spike Driver Blues (3:24)
12. Beulah Land (3:43)

• Last Sessions (1966) (Vanguard)

1. Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home (2:12)
2. Boys, You're Welcome (3:01)
3. Joe Turner Blues (3:29)
4. First Shot Missed Him (1:44)
5. Farther Along (3:42)
6. Funky Butt (1:56)
7. Spider, Spider (1:30)
8. Waiting For You (3:38)
9. Shortnin 'Bread (2:14)
10. Trouble, I've Had It All My Days (3:02)
11. Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me (3:20)
12. Good Morning, Carrie (1:55)
13. Nobody Cares For Me (3:40)
14. All Night Long (2:43)
15. Hey Honey Right Away (1:59)
16. You've Got To Die (3:27)
17. Goodnight Irene (2:25)

• The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (1967) (Vanguard)

1. Since I've Laid My Burden Down (2:43)
2. Moaning The Blues (3:12)
3. Stocktime (Buck Dance) (2:01)
4. Lazy Blues (1:26)
5. Richland Woman Blues (4:00)
6. Wise And Foolish Virgins (Tender Virgins) (2:50)
7. Hop Joint (2:05)
8. Monday Morning Blues (3:55)
9. I've Got The Blues And I Can't Be Satisfied (2:47)
10. Keep On Knocking (2:05)
11. The Chicken (1:06)
12. Stagolee (5:33)
13. Nearer my God To Thee (3:27)

(These three Vanguard albums were also released on this label in 2000 as a collective edition under the title The Complete Studio Recordings .)

Remarks

1. ↑ The 8. March 1892 is given as date of birth on Hurts grave stone; other sources cite 1893 ( archived copy ( memento of the original from April 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) or the 3rd July 1893 ( http://www.bridica.com/biography/Mississippi-John-Hurt ) 
2. ↑ Bill Wyman : Blues - History, Styles, Musicians, Songs & Recordings . Munich: Christian Verlag 2002, p. 144.
3. ↑ There are several spelling variants of the title. In Hurt's 1928 version it was "Stack O'Lee" and in the newly recorded version, published posthumously in 1967, "Stagolee".
4. ↑ Wyman 2002, p. 107.

literature

• Philip R. Ratcliffe: Mississippi John Hurt. His Life, His Times, His Blues The University Press of Mississippi, Jackson 2011, ISBN 978-1-61703-008-6 .

Web links

Commons : Mississippi John Hurt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Mississippi John Hurt Blues Foundation
• Mississippi John Hurt's gravestone at Avalon, Mississippi
• Extensive and illustrated discography by Mississippi John Hurt
• "Avalon Blues" Text and audio stream of the 1928 recording (Other titles by the musician are also available on this website.)