Mississippi John Hurt
 

It’s getting late, and I have a history test tomorrow on the interwar period, but I’d much rather spend my time on something that interests me, like Mississippi John Hurt. It would be inaccurate to call him an obscure figure (even though he rarely gets mentioned before Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Elmore James when talking about innovators in blues), but he certainly might be a cult figure. Regardless, he is one of my favorite players and songwriters, and the one who inspired me to pick up the fingerstyle blues guitar after a long lack of motivation to keep playing. For this I’m grateful.

John Hurt was merely a poor, self-taught guitarist when he made his first recordings in the late ‘20s for the label Okeh. On this label he only recorded about a dozen sides, which were commercially unsuccessful and largely unknown until decades later. After this he humbly went back to working at a plantation, thus sharing the destiny of many a black American in the south. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Hurt made his first recordings for the LC after being encouraged to do so by Tom Hoskins. This was at the time of the American Folk Revival, and it was when he played his first major shows that the humble sharecropper discovered that he had, indeed, an enthusiastic following.

Mississippi John Hurt was, despite the name, largely independent from the regional delta style. He was never much of a singer, but his soft and rusty voice goes well with his highly melodic fingerpicking style that accompanies it. In Hurt’s playing, the thumb plays a combination of alternating bass and strumming, functioning as accompaniment. The melody, usually syncopated, is played with the index, middle and ring fingers. This way he achieves a rich and complete sound with just this solo instrument. Mississippi John hurt is usually classified alongside Piedmont blues players such as Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Wille McTell, (Blind) Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Blake, but I find that his general style differs notably from those mentioned, who were musch more strongly based in ragtime, and had more expressive vocal styles. Hurt, along with Piedmont blueswoman Elizabeth Cotten, has a much more simple, “folky” sound, without the relative harmonic complexity of ragtime blues. However, Hurt's renditions of songs like “Candyman” and “Salty Dog” show that he had no problems stepping into ragtime territory once in a while.


In a hectic and alienating world that often seems meaningless, I find comfort and entertainment in the simple and down-to-earth music of Mississippi John Hurt. Much more so than a lot of other music which is intellectually demanding. There is nothing academical about the music of Mississippi John Hurt – his humble background and self-taught playing proves that – but musical quality doesn’t have to be theoretically determined. This might be an anti-elitist sentiment on my part, but I think that anyone will agree that music has to be felt, rather than judged from theoretical parameters. Therefore, good music doesn’t require much more than a guitar and something to say. That officially concludes this post, as I have to start reading up on the Great Depression, fascism, Communist Russia and the New Deal for tomorrow’s test, which I should have done hours (days?) ago. Wish me good luck!

I haven't been very active on the forum this last year. Moving out, enrolling in college, working a part-time job and being politically active on the side hasn't left too much time for it. I'm a ��️usy ��️oy. Yet I'm still sticking around. So let's get started:

I assume that Hank Williams cover is a reference to him dying in the back of a car in the early hours of New Year's Day on his way to a gig.

That's very likely