Mississippi John Hurt - Dirty's Triple 60's Package (3 cd post) -Today (1966). The Last Sessions (Recorded in 1966, Released in 1972) , The Imortal (1967)

 Review

Today is Mississippi John Hurt's first and finest studio release since his "rediscovery" on his Avalon farm by folklorist Tom Hoskins in 1963. Eclipsed possibly only by his earlier 1928 Sessions, this album shows a more mature Hurt picking his way through standards and originals after the Depression years and Hurt's fall into obscurity before the folk revival of the 1960s. It shows, however, that all that the great bluesman has lost is years; his voice retains its characteristic Buddha-esque warmth and it is still difficult to believe that there is just one man playing on the seemingly effortless guitar work. The music on the album comes from a variety of different influences, from the fun and poppy "Hot Time in Old Town Tonight" and "Coffee Blues," to the bluesy standards "Candy Man" (Hurt's most famous song) and "Spike Driver's Blues" to the soulful spirituals "Louis Collins" and "Beulah Land." Hurt's tranquil guitar work -- mixing country, Scottish folk, and Delta blues -- strings all of the songs along the same simple and elegant thread. Hurt himself never could explain his guitar playing, as he used to say, "I just make it sound like I think it ought to." Regardless, that sound, along with a mellow and heartfelt voice, wizened here by decades, combine to make Today an unforgettable whole. A truly essential album of the folk revival, unrivaled in its beauty and warmth.

Today! - 1966.

01. Pay Day 4:17
02. I’m Satisfied 2:51
03. Candy Man 2:52
04. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor 4:31
05. Talking Casey 5:04
06. Corrinna, Corrinna 1:47
07. Coffee Blues 3:44
08. Louis Collins 4:05
09. Hot Time In The Old Time Tonight 3:29
10. If You Don’t Want Me Babe 3:18
11. Spike Driver Blues 3:24
12. Beulah Land 3:43

 

Review
Recorded in New York during February and July of 1966, the 17 songs on this collection represent Mississippi John Hurt's final studio efforts. It is astonishing that this man, in the final months of his life, could do 17 songs that were the equal of anything he had done at his first sessions 45 years earlier, his playing (supported on some tracks with producer Patrick Sky on second guitar) as alluringly complex as ever and his voice still in top form. Hurt is brilliant throughout, his voice overpowering in its mixture of warmth, gentleness, and power, and in addition to the expected crop of standards and originals, he covers songs by Bukka White ("Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home") and Leadbelly ("Goodnight Irene") -- all of it is worthwhile, with some tracks, such as "Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me," especially haunting.

Last Sessions - 1966.

01. Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home 2:12
02. Boys, You’re Welcome 3:01
03. Joe Turner Blues 3:29
04. First Shot Missed Him 1:44
05. Father Along 3:42
06. Funky Butt 1:56
07. Spider, Spider 1:30
08. Waiting For You 3:38
09. 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

Review

One of the best albums of country blues ever recorded. The fingerpicking is delicate, the vocals mellow and sweet. Many tunes that remain associated with Hurt are included here in versions that rival his legendary recordings from the late '20s. "Richland Woman Blues," "Stagolee," "The Chicken," and "Since I've Laid My Burden Down" sound as fresh as ever in these '60s versions. This album leaves little doubt as to why Hurt was so beloved after his rediscovery.

The Imortal - 1967.
01. Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home 2:12
02. Boys, You’re Welcome 3:01
03. Joe Turner Blues 3:29
04. First Shot Missed Him 1:44
05. Father Along 3:42
06. Funky Butt 1:56
07. Spider, Spider 1:30
08. Waiting For You 3:38
09. 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

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Mississippi John Hurt - Live - Recorded in 1965, Released in 2002.

Review

Mississippi John Hurt's vocal and guitar style are always easy on the ears. Unlike a number of Delta stylists with their high-pitched voices and slashing slide guitars, Hurt's approach to country blues is immediately accessible. Recorded (for the most part) at Oberlin College in 1965, 'Live' captures Hurt a couple of years after his rediscovery and one year before his death. He kicks off with several spirituals, including 'I Shall Not Be Moved' and 'Nearer My God to Thee.' As Billy Altman points out in the liner notes, religious material was often excluded from studio recordings because no one believed it marketable. The remainder of 'Live' consists of folk-blues, from 'Salty Dog Blues' to 'Coffee Blues' to 'Ain't Nobody's Business.' Hurt's finger-style guitar reminds one of Elizabeth Cotton and has more in common with the Piedmont players in general than those of his Mississippi home. Perhaps this connection helps explain why Hurt, who is considered primarily a bluesman, covered so many traditional folk songs. Indeed, the inclusion of songs like 'C.C. Rider' also connects him to that other great straddler of folk and blues, Leadbelly. The last three tracks - 'Hop Joint,' 'Trouble, I've Had It All My Days,' and 'Spike Driver Blues' - originate from the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and fit in well with the other material. Fans will thank their Maker that Tom Hoskins traveled to Mississippi in 1963 to find out if Hurt was still among the living. Otherwise, excellent recordings like 'Live' would've never been made.

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Mississippi John Hurt - 1928 Sessions.

Review
The 13 original 1928 recordings of Hurt. Justifiably legendary, with gentle grace and power on these understated vocal and fingerpicking masterpieces. These are the ones to hear, although all Hurt is worth listening to.

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The Greatest Songsters - Richard 'Rabbit' Brown, Mississippi John Hurt, Hambone Willie Newbern 1927 -1929.

Review

This delightful disc collects the complete recorded work of three unique 1920s blues performers, Richard "Rabbit" Brown, Mississippi John Hurt, and Hambone Willie Newbern, each of whom had a highly individualized style in a genre known for homologous performers. Of these three, Hurt is easily the best known, due in part to his re-discovery in the 1960s with his skills still intact. All 13 of his Okeh sides recorded in 1928 are here, including the lovely "Blue Harvest Blues," and each exhibits his intricate guitar style and soft, gentle voice. Brown recorded five tracks in New Orleans in 1927 for Victor Records, and where Hurt is a fluid and composed performer, Brown is raggedy and halting with a voice that scratches and keens, but he brings a kind of everyman passion to his highly personal songs. "James Alley Blues" is a classic song of desperate frustration, with just a hint of humor (at least we hope it's humor, if not, then this is an absolutely murderous song). Brown's other songs here show equal amounts of odd phrasing and unexpected turns, and while he isn't a great guitarist, he builds his tunes with a kind of accumulative narrative force that makes each a singular performance. Newburn recorded six songs in Atlanta on March 13 and 14, 1929, for Okeh Records, and while his material isn't as immediately striking as Hurt's or Brown's, he shows himself to be a skillful, if unassuming, guitar player, and cuts like "Nobody Knows (What the Good Deacon Does)" are full of sly humor. A lot of early country blues players were, quite frankly, interchangeable, all out there working similar territory. These three, however, were each cut from their own unique cloth.

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Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues - The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings - 1996.

Review

Mississippi John Hurt's latter-day recordings after his rediscovery have somewhat obscured the importance of these debut sides -- the ones that made his rediscovery an idea initially worth pursuing. Archival recordings such as Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings are the collector's items that made his rep in the first place, and stand as some of the most poetic and beautiful of all country blues recordings. Hurt's playing is sheer musical perfection, with a keen sense of chord melody structure to make his bouncy, rhythmic execution of it sound both elegant and driving. Mississippi John's voice -- he was 36 at the time of these recordings -- was already a warm and friendly one, imbued with the laid-back wistfulness that would earmark his rediscovery recordings half-a-lifetime later. His best-known songs -- his adaptions of "Frankie (& Johnny)" and "Stack O' Lee," "Avalon Blues," "Nobody's Dirty Business," "Candy Man Blues" -- are all accounted for in their original incarnations here, and the NoNoiser remastering on this collection is superb. Mississippi John Hurt would go on to re-record this material for other labels in the '60s with fine results, but these are the originals -- the ones that much of his justifiable reputation rests on.

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