Mississippi John Hurt: The New, Old Nick Drake

"Good to the last drop, just like it says on the can."

"i canna believe there's no thread on..." averted

Surprised no one mentioned that Hurt's last album, THE IMMORTAL MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, was a surprise entry on the recent Rolling Stone "Best LP's of 1967" list.

Not much of a surprise really; Christgau is a huge MJH fan!

Wait a minute. I thought this would be a thread about the great British actor John Hurt and Nick Drake. Instead you're speaking disparagingly about the latter and I won't have it. Not at all.

That said, I will try to figure out this MJH thing.

"MJH songs" -- did he actually write any hisself? I agree about not beating the real deal that is MJH though. He was such a tender musician.

-- Tracer Hand, Saturday, December 8, 2001 8:00 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Link

All Music credits him as writer of a good number of the songs, and I'd never heard otherwise. He was quite a lyricist too. These are probably my favorite original (as far as I know) Hurt lyrics:

Blues all on the ocean, blues all in the air.
Can't stay here no longer, I have no steamship fare.
When my earthly trials are over, carry my body out in the sea.
Save all the undertaker bills, let the mermaids flirt with me.

I do not work for pleasure, earthly peace I'll see no more.
The only reason I work at all, is drive the world from my door.
When my earthly trials are over, carry my body out in the sea.
Save all the undertaker bills, let the mermaids flirt with me.

My wife controls our happy home, a sweetheart I can not find.
The only thing I can call my own, is a troubled and a worried mind.
When my earthly trials are over, carry my body out in the sea.
Save all the undertaker bills, let the mermaids flirt with me.

Blues all in my body, my darling has forsaken me.
If I ever see her face again, I have to swim across the sea.
When my earthly trials are over, carry my body out in the sea.
Save all the undertaker bills, let the mermaids flirt with me.

Blues all on the ocean, blues all in the air.
Can't stay here no longer, I have no steamship fare.
When my earthly trials are over, carry my body out in the sea.
Save all the undertaker bills, let the mermaids flirt with me.

That song's great. I like Hurt's combo of being so modest and understated on one hand and a ridiculous virtuoso on the other. Doesn't really fit in with other bluesmen and he's the only one of them with any detectable influence over Takoma style stuff.

FWIW, he did not consider himself a bluesman

Even that song, as much as it mentions blues, is more like a rag.

I first heard him on one of those Scorcese comps and he didn't sound anything like I'd expected--the sweetness of the voice is total.

he's the only one of them with any detectable influence over Takoma style stuff.

:-O

I was being provocative. Obviously Fahey covers Blind Blake and quotes Skip James and Charlie Patton but in terms of technique and overall sound he's way closer to Hurt.

my grandpappy wasn't exactly a bluesman. for an eloquent look at John Hurt's legacy re blooze and authenticity, see Barker and Taylor's "Faking It" and chapter on the musician.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr_VUEITbjY

He could be the star of the Anthology of American Folk Music box set, which is saying quite a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gytJemzNTM

yeah i'd say either him or dock boggs maybe?

They're both right at the top. Clarence Ashley too

i'm learning fingerpicking guitar right now and i swear i try to get tabs and listen to hurt stuff and i can't figure it out, it sounds like there are 2 players -- one strumming regular chords and one finger picking a pattern! it sounds so simple until you sit down and try to learn

yeah i feel like hurt had some weird combo of being ultra precise, but also had super loose-jointed fingers. there should be a scientific study of his hands.

yeah his shit feels way more precise and put together than some of the other real old school dudes like robert johnson and charley patton and stuff

probably goes back to the idea mentioned upthread that "did not consider himself a bluesman" -- i imagine that he listened to piano players (ragtime/jazz/stride) more than guitar music? don't know if he ever commented on that.

They show his hands on that video above. His left hand isn't doing anything that complex, but his right hand is fairly ninja-like

yeah his shit feels way more precise and put together

Yes. With the name Mississippi John Hurt you expect a raw howler. But he's so smooth, especially the stuff he did in the 1920s.

weird

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2jjd9VEUb1r91f2jo1_r1_cover.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OI6F8eWbwoc/TSggEeu0coI/AAAAAAAAA_I/IP-mEkBU4XM/s1600/nick-drake-bryter-layter-333180.jpg

It's been nearly 3 years so it's once again time to proclaim the greatness of Mississippi John Hurt.

Mississippi John Hurt sounds better the older I get.

Avalon blues is as classic as it gets

Still the greatest. An absolute giant.

we should change this thread title

srsly what a completely inapt comparison

Ugh

anyway
https://www.elijahwald.com/songblog/let-mermaids-flirt/

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1233089909/museum-honoring-mississippi-bluesman-john-hurt-is-destroyed-in-a-fire

Mississippi John Hurt house/ museum burns down. Sad

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2024/02/21/mississippi-john-hurt-museum-burns-down-in-carroll-county-mississippi/72689068007/

Sounds like it may been an electrical caused fire