Thursday, October 06, 2005

mp3s by Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt

Stack O'Lee Blues

Frankie

Louis Collins

Nodbody's Dirty Business

"Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age 10. He spent much of his youth playing old time music for friends and dances, earning a living as a farm hand into the 1920s. In 1923 he often partnered with the fiddle player Willie Narmour (Carroll County Blues) as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith. When Narmour got a chance to record for OKeh Records in reward for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, Narmour recommended John 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 @ www.answers.com). The "Mississippi" tag was added by OKeh as a sales gimmick. After the commercial failure of the resulting disc and OKeh records going out of business during the depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances."

"Mississippi John Hurt." @ Answers.com.

Mississippi John Hurt

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1 comment:

Michael Fountain: Blood for Ink said...

Thanks for posting the songs (from 1928-29?), especially my favorite "Nobody's Business". John Hurt was my first real blues man; I bought the album "Today!" because the gentle smile reminded me of my maternal grandfather. Cracks me up how the sweetness of the ragtime/stride guitar (?) belies how sexual or violent the lyrics sometimes are. I just discovered "Squeeze My Lemon" today and look forward to repeated visits.