I feel like going to Mississippi...

And on my way there I got Mr. Mississippi John Hurt on my mind ...

Mississippi John Hurt - Lonesome Valley Blues



Mississippi John Hurt - Spike Driver Blues



Mississippi John Hurt - Goodnight Irene

The story that he tells before playing is delightful.



D.C. Blues: Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 2

click image for info

Mississippi John Hurt @Amazon.com


Mississippi John Hurt @ SqueezeMyLemon

mp3s by 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.



file under;

blues
music
Hurt
mp3

Mississippi John Hurt - "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor"

Mississippi John Hurt playing Make Me a Pallet on the Floor.

I love the image created by this song, so warm and inviting.



D.C. Blues: Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 2

click image for info

Mississippi John Hurt @Amazon.com


Mississippi John Hurt @ SqueezeMyLemon

Mississippi John Hurt - "Stagger Lee"

Mississippi John Hurt performing "Stagger Lee".





Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings

click image for info


Mississippi John Hurt @Amazon.com


Mississippi John Hurt @ SqueezeMyLemon

Mississippi John Hurt - "Spike Driver Blues"

Notes from YouTube:

Seen here with Pete Seeger & Hedy West. Not sure of date, circa 1950's-60's(post Seeger blacklist). Playing John Henry (Steeldriver Blues). Lived:(March 8, 1892,Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) the eighth child of ten.

D.C. Blues: Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 2

click image for info

Mississippi John Hurt @Amazon.com


Mississippi John Hurt @ SqueezeMyLemon

It's The Birthday of Mississippi John Hurt

Happy Birthday going out to Mississippi John Hurt. One of the most gentle and kind hearted bluesmen of all time.

According to Wikipedia;

Mississippi John Hurt (July 3, 1893 or March 8, 1892 — November 2, 1966) was an influential country blues singer and guitarist. He sang in a loud whisper, to a melodious finger-picked guitar accompaniment.

Goodnight Irene


Coffee Blues - Lovin' Spoonfull


Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings

click image for info

Mississippi John Hurt - Big Leg Blues

Mississippi John Hurt was an influential country blues singer and guitarist. He sang in a loud whisper, to a melodious finger-picked guitar accompaniment.

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 remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end

Delta Blues Music

When I think of blues music, the Delta Blues is what usually comes to mind. According to Wikipedia;

The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, the Mississippi River on the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The Mississippi Delta area is famous both for its fertile soil and its extreme poverty. Guitar and harmonica are the dominant instruments used. The vocal styles range from introspective and soulful to passionate and fiery.

List of Delta Blues Musicians @ SqueezeMyLemon

R.L. Burnside
James Cotton
John Lee Hooker
Son House
Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Skip James
Robert Johnson
Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie McTell
Charley Patton
Pinetop Perkins
Hound Dog Taylor
Muddy Waters
Bukka White
Big Joe Williams
Howlin' Wolf


List of References

Traveling the Blues Highway by Charles E. Cobb Jr. @ National Geographic Online.

Trail of the Hellhound - Delta Blues in the lower Mississippi Valley

Marybeth Hamilton's In Search of the Blues

Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale Mississippi.

Mississippi Delta Blues Society

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee Videos

One of the main reasons that I learned to play the harmonica was because of Sonny Terry. I actually became aware of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee via Sonny Terry's music which I listened to first. But then after I bought a couple of their CDs I learned to love Brownie McGee too. I really enjoy his performance in the video below.

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee- Born And Livin' With The Blues

Other Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee Videos @ YouTube

Corn Bread & Peas - This video includes some interesting commentary.

Key To The Highway

Easy Rider - Note the harmonica work on this song. This is from the Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest DVD mentioned below and is a delightfully display of blues mastery. These guys tear this one up.

Sun Gonna Shine In My Back Door

A great source of some great video of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee is the DVD Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest - with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and Mississippi John Hurt, Hedy West, & Paul Cadwell (see link below). This is a great DVD because it also has music by Mississippi John Hurt.



file under;
music, blues, video

mp3s by Sleepy John Estes

Born January 25, 1904, in Ripley, Tennessee, Sleepy John Estes life in my mind really embodies the blues. And he was truly a blues poet who wrote and lived the blues.

He was one of a sharecropping family of ten. His father Daniel was a guitarist, and this influenced his son to play. Young Estes was blinded in his right eye from a baseball accident at the age of six, and he later in life lost vision in his other eye and was completly blind. He was called "Sleepy" due to a chronic blood pressure disorder that caused him to have marcolepsy episodes, where he would fall asleep at the most unexpected times.

He made his living playing in jug bands during the teens and twenties. Playing house parties, picnics, and the streets in the Brownsville area from 1919 to 1927. He did some recordings during this time, you can check out some of his stuff at Sleepy John Estes' Amazon.com.

Sleepy Estes was rediscovered in 1962 during the blues revival that revived the careers of Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, and Skip James. He cut several albums for Delmark and returned to touring with Hammie Nixon before health problems confined him to Brownsville.

Sleepy John Estes died June 5, 1977, and is buried at Durhamville Baptist Church in Durhamville, Tennessee.

References;


Sleepy John Estes page at the National Parks Service "Links to the Past" site

John Adam Estes @ Answers.com

mp3s;

"The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair" (2:59, 522kB) - 55581-1-Vi V38549, Memphis TN, 24 September, 1929

"Milk Cow Blues" (3:05, 540 kB) - 59918-2-Vi V38614, Memphis TN, 13 May, 1930

"Someday Baby Blues" (3:02, 531 kB) - 90096-A-Ch 50068, Chicago, 9 July, 1935

cds;



file under;
blues
mp3
music

Mississippi John Hurt - "Spike Driver Blues"

Notes from YouTube;

Seen here with Pete Seeger & Hedy West. Not sure of date, circa 1950's-60's(post Seeger blacklist). Playing John Henry (Steeldriver Blues). Lived:(March 8, 1892,Carroll County, Mississippi - November 2, 1966, Grenada, Mississippi) the eighth child of ten.

Folk, Gospel & Blues - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

I don't think I can recommend this mp3 album more enthusiastically. I love it, and think that fans of the blues, folk music, and gospel music will too. Just check out the various artist who are included here.

The cool part about mp3 albums is that you only have to buy the tracks that you like, but in this case each track is a keeper.

Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will The Circle Be Unbroken

click image for mp3s @Amazon.com

CD1
1. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel - Fisk Jubilee Singers
2. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds
3. Careless Love Blues - Bessie Smith
4. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt
5. Lord I Can't Just Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson
6. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today - Washington Phillips
7. Sitting On Top Of The World - The Mississippi Sheiks
8. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
9. If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey
10. Broke Down Engine - Blind Willie McTell
11. Mister Tom Hughe's Town - Leadbelly
12. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
13. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
14. Nine Foot Shovel - Joshua White
15. Cowboy's Lament - Burl Ives
16. Me And My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
17. Swing Down Chariot - The Golden Gate Quartet
18. Dere's A Man Goin' Round / I Know De Lord - Paul Robeson
19. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams
20. Hard Day Blues - Muddy Waters
21. I'll Never Forget - Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds
22. I'll Fly Away - The Trumpeteers
23. I Will Move On Up A Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
24. Greenfields - The Brotehrs Four

CD2
1. Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
2. The Patriot Game - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
3. Green, Green - The New Christy Minstrels feat. Barry McGuire
4. We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger
5. The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
6. Death Letter - Son House
7. Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds
8. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Staple Singers
9. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
10. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue - Taj Mahal
11. These Days - Tom Rush
12. Mean Mistreater - Johnny Winter
13. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
14. Blue River - Eric Andersen
15. Longer - Dan Fogelberg
16. Romeo's Tune - Steve Forget
17. Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble
18. Steady On - Shawn Colvin
19. Galileo - Indigo Girls
20. Stand Still - Shirley Ceasar feat. John P. Kee
21. Every Morning - Keb'Mo'

Kicking Mule

In the folk and country blues revival of the 1960s he was listening to Broonzy, Brownie McGhee and Lightnin' Hopkins and beginning to collect old 78 rpm records from the 1920s and 1930s. This brought him into contact with other collectors, including John Fahey, Ed Denson, Bernie Klatzko, Tom Hoskins and Nick Perls. Collecting the 78s developed into searching for the artists who had recorded them, with many successes: during the mid-60s, Grossman met, befriended and studied guitar with Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell and other major blues artists.

Stefan Grossman (born 16 April 1945) is an American acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and singer, music producer and educator, and co-founder of Kicking Mule records.

Many of Stefan's videos are educational

Folk, Gospel & Blues - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

I don't think I can recommend this mp3 album more enthusiastically. I love it, and think that fans of the blues, folk music, and gospel music will too. Just check out the various artist who are included here.

The cool part about mp3 albums is that you only have to buy the tracks that you like, but in this case each track is a keeper.

Folk, Gospel & Blues: Will The Circle Be Unbroken

click image for mp3s @Amazon.com

CD1
1. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel - Fisk Jubilee Singers
2. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds
3. Careless Love Blues - Bessie Smith
4. Frankie - Mississippi John Hurt
5. Lord I Can't Just Keep From Crying - Blind Willie Johnson
6. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today - Washington Phillips
7. Sitting On Top Of The World - The Mississippi Sheiks
8. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell
9. If You See My Saviour - Thomas A. Dorsey
10. Broke Down Engine - Blind Willie McTell
11. Mister Tom Hughe's Town - Leadbelly
12. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson
13. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
14. Nine Foot Shovel - Joshua White
15. Cowboy's Lament - Burl Ives
16. Me And My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
17. Swing Down Chariot - The Golden Gate Quartet
18. Dere's A Man Goin' Round / I Know De Lord - Paul Robeson
19. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams
20. Hard Day Blues - Muddy Waters
21. I'll Never Forget - Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds
22. I'll Fly Away - The Trumpeteers
23. I Will Move On Up A Little Higher - Mahalia Jackson
24. Greenfields - The Brotehrs Four

CD2
1. Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
2. The Patriot Game - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
3. Green, Green - The New Christy Minstrels feat. Barry McGuire
4. We Shall Overcome - Pete Seeger
5. The Sound Of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
6. Death Letter - Son House
7. Little Boxes - Malvina Reynolds
8. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - The Staple Singers
9. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
10. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue - Taj Mahal
11. These Days - Tom Rush
12. Mean Mistreater - Johnny Winter
13. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon
14. Blue River - Eric Andersen
15. Longer - Dan Fogelberg
16. Romeo's Tune - Steve Forget
17. Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble
18. Steady On - Shawn Colvin
19. Galileo - Indigo Girls
20. Stand Still - Shirley Ceasar feat. John P. Kee
21. Every Morning - Keb'Mo'

Mississippi John Hurt - "Candy Man Blues"

Walk that Lonesome Valley

Mississippi John Hurt


Here's Pete Seeger performing the same tune at Hugh's Room in Toronto last year.


Interesting how this old gospel tune transcends genres.

Nobel Prize For Pete

I have written several times about Pete Seeger, here and in my other music blog. I've always wanted to do something to let Pete Seeger know how much I appreciate the help that he gave to so many blues musicians.

Simply put the man is a national treasure.

Please check out www.nobelprize4pete.org, and give them as much support as you can.



Pete Seger@SqueezeMyLemon

Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Cindy & Rock Island Line


Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - I Couldn't Believe My Eyes


Pete Seeger and Mississippi John Hurt - Goodnight Irene


Pete Seeger and Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train