Mississippi John Hurt

"Mississippi" John Smith Hurt (July 2, 1892, Teoc, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Life
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. He died 1966 from a heart attack in Grenada, Mississippi.

Discography
 "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" (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)
 

Worried Blues (Piedmont PLP 13161, Piedmont Records)

Mississippi John Hurt Today (VSD-79220, Vanguard Records)

Mississippi John Hurt Last Sessions  (VSD-79327, Vanguard Records)

The Best of Mississippi John Hurt   (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) 
Recorded live at Oberlin College April 15, 1966

The Candy Man  (QS 5042, Quicksilver Records) 

Volume One of a Legacy (CLPS 1068, Piedmont Records) 

Folk Songs and Blues (PLP 13757, Piedmont Records)

Notes

Other websites
 Mississippi John Hurt Museum Includes a link to a discussion forum regarding Mississippi John Hurt with substantive participation by grand nephew, Fred Bolden.
 Mississippi John Hurt News  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  Recording, sheet music and guitar tab.

Blues guitarists
American blues singers
American guitarists
Singers from Mississippi
Musicians from Mississippi
1892 births
1966 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction