Mississippi John Hurt - Mr. Hurt Goes To Washington

The early 1960s were like the musical equivalent of Field of Dreams for fans of pre-war country blues, decades before that immortal baseball movie was ever envisioned. Against all odds, one blues great after another was doggedly tracked down by young admirers they never knew they had and proudly reintroduced to the world, thus putting faces to names whose recognition had previously been limited to the faded labels of scratchy old 78s.

Most of those living, breathing legends were game for donning their guitars again so they could finally realize some much overdue scratch for having invented a priceless art form many years earlier. Of all those grizzled greats of the genre, the elfin Mississippi John Hurt may have weathered the lost decades the best. His dexterous, gently rolling finger-picking and calm, almost conversational vocal approach seemed indigenous to his essence. He had lived his life in an isolated region of Mississippi with virtually no discernible musical influences, rendering Hurt a virtual sub-genre unto himself.

Born March 8, 1892 in Teoc, Mississippi, Hurt’s recording career can be neatly divided into two parts: the pieces he committed to disc during three seminal 1928 recording dates for the OKeh label (a February session in Memphis and two more that December in New York that were held a week apart) that produced 20 solo titles, although only 13 are known to exist, and everything he placed on tape from 1963 on after his rediscovery by young guitarist Tom Hoskins in Hurt’s longtime hometown of Avalon, Mississippi.

Mississippi John had a habit of staying way under the radar to the outside world. OKeh recording director Tommy Rockwell looked him up in 1928 on the recommendation of one of his white artists, fiddler Willie Narmour, who often played with Hurt locally. It was harder to find him 35 years later. Musicologist Richard Spottswood asked Hoskins to poke around Avalon on his way down to Mardi Gras in New Orleans (an ultra-rare tape of Hurt’s old 78 “Avalon Blues” had recently turned up, offering a precious clue as to his possible whereabouts). When Hoskins found Hurt’s humble abode and asked him to play a few numbers to confirm he was the real deal, Hurt was understandably suspicious, worried that the young musician was a cop or an FBI agent. Fortunately for the blues world, Hoskins was persuasive, shepherding him back to D.C.

The first album Hurt made during his rediscovery years was supervised by Spottswood and Hoskins in April of ‘63 and released on the Piedmont label. Then in July, Mississippi John laid down the great majority of his vast repertoire for the Library of Congress in D.C. Recorded on the stage of Coolidge Auditorium on July 15 and 23 by engineers Bob Carneal and John Howell, the recordings offered the best document of Hurt’s singular legacy. His songlist ranged from blues to country to folk to spirituals (some musicologists of the day insisted he was a songster rather than a bluesman). The best of them are gathered on this collection.

Disc one is dominated by many of Hurt’s best-known songs, which were ripe for revisiting at those two amazingly bountiful dates: “Candy Man,” “Stack O’Lee,” “Frankie And Albert,” “Nobody’s Dirty Business,” “Spike Driver Blues,” and the theme that inadvertently spurred his rediscovery, “Avalon Blues.” The second disc digs a little deeper, examining Hurt’s penchant for country (“Waiting For A Train” underscores his respect for Jimmie Rodgers, whose music he heard on records and tha radio), spirituals, and whatever else popped into his mind while situated in front of the Library’s microphone.

Hurt quickly became the darling of the festival circuit, delighting the assembled folkies at Newport three years running and more new fans all across the country as well as making fresh recordings for Vanguard. He starred at the University of Chicago and Carnegie Hall as well as inside intimate coffeehouses, his laidback downhome charm never deserting him.

Hurt lived in D.C. from 1963 to 1966. But he was already past 70 when he was rediscovered, and an enlarged heart hinted that he wouldn’t last too much longer. He returned to Grenada, Mississippi, suffering a fatal heart attack on November 2, 1966 at age 74.

Truly one of a kind, Mississippi John Hurt singlehandedly put Avalon on the musical map.

--Bill Dahl

SOURCES

Blues & Gospel Records 1902-1943, by Robert M.W. Dixon and John Godrich (Essex, Great Britain: Storyville Pubs., 1982)

Blues Who’s Who, by Sheldon Harris (New York: Da Capo Press, 1991)

Blues Records 1943-70: A Selective Discography, Vol. 1, A to K, by Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven (London: Record Information Services, 1987)

len ficoJune 7, 2021