Week 8: MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT

Mississippi John Hurt, 1964, David Gahr photo (detail)

For the next two weeks we'll explore the songster tradition--a wonderful example being the music of Mississippi John Hurt. First, here's a download on box with a selection of his songs:

https://berkeley.box.com/s/ys2pvqpxyluf8hoaz3dj 

Note that the download also includes a handful of songs by other artists (Henry Thomas, and Jim Jackson's Old Dog Blue, for example.) You'll need to add the xml file to your iTunes to see artists' names. However, Mississippi John Hurt's voice and guitar playing are unique--as are Henry Thomas'--so it should also be clear from listening which are which... 

READING. A good biography of MJH by Philip Radcliffe is available in the Music Library. This would be a good time to dip in. Also, you've read Norm Cohen on the folk revival movement, now (at some point) read another version--Eric von Schmidt ("Baby Let Me Follow You Down," Reader pps. 101-116) This was the period (early 1960s) when Mississippi John Hurt, by then in his 70s, became known to a wide audience... But for his story, we need to go back to Mississippi of the 1920s. Here are two very different versions. Read and consider them carefully!

*  Jas Obrecht article:  http://denniste/mjhurt/mjhjas.htm

Note for 2016 class: The Jas Obrecht article has been removed.That's a pity. Instead, do an online search--and visit the  Mississippi John Hurt Foundation website  (Bio, Archives and Links). I want you each to know Mississippi John Hurt's story.

For a more personal (and personally enlightening) view, I'll attach something Betsy (Elisabeth Dubovsky) wrote several years ago. Also a telling of the life of Mississippi John Hurt--as related to us one evening here in Berkeley by musician and poet friend Max Ochs. Max was part of the circle of people from the Washington DC area who located ("rediscovered") John Hurt in the early 1960s, in Avalon, Mississippi, invited him north, and helped introduce him to a wide and receptive new audience. Betsy's piece was published as a small chapbook edition, in 2005.  (Note: To maintain original formatting, you'll need to view online using MS word, or download before reading)


* With Mississippi John Hurt, by Max Ochs:  https://berkeley.box.com/s/oq4vltmialozpysrh0jv 

And listen to John Hurt telling his own telling of this story (a clip from from Pete Seeger's 1960's television show, Rainbow Quest):

* Rainbow Quest: Mississippi John Hurt - Goodnight Irene - YouTube

Note for 2016 class: Unfortunately, this longer version of the Rainbow Quest video (in which John Hurt his story) has also been removed. You can still find the closing minutes of the program, with John Hurt singing Goodnight Irene (with Peter Seeger and Hedy West) here.

So listen to Tom Hoskin's interview with Mississippi John Hurt   It's a little uneven, but if you listen carefully you can glean a lot about John Hurt's life--both from what he says--and even more, from the way in which he says it... In any case, it's wonderful to be able to hear Mississippi John Hurt in his own voice. Note that Tom Hoskins was the original "northerner" to make the trip to Avalon Mississippi to search out John Hurt...early 1960s...

Compare this interview with a second one--Stefan Grossman remembering Mississippi John Hurt and his music... About 10 minutes in Grossman mentions Tom Hoskins and talks about John Hurt in Berkeley. Many other great observations on Grossman's part. Well worth listening to!

Songs for the week. All of Mississippi John Hurt's songs are a delight, and for projects you're free to work from the ones you like best. But for singing together, here are three I like in particular:

Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor
Beulah Land (Mississippi John Hurt - Beulah Land - YouTube - not on download)
Louis Collins

The lyrics for these three are in your Gray Songset.
Note: We used to be able to find all of Mississippi John  Hurt lyrics in Ken Whitfield's compiliation from 2008. That link is no longer active, so my suggestion is to search for the lyrics song by song using MJH and song title.

John Hurt and Jessie

Also key: Avalon Blues, recorded by Mississippi John Hurt in one of those early sessions in 1928, and (because it made reference to Avalon, Miss., his hometown),  the route to his rediscover three decades later. It's on your download, but here's a YouTube link for convenience (below). The lyrics are important--you can find them in Ken Whitfield's compilation, in two versions:  MJH Lyrics – Compiled by Ken Whitfield 4-2008.   (If the Whitfield site is down, you can also find them on this Mudcat Thread: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=67223#1187009)   Consider where Mississippi John Hurt locates himself--the song speaks of this--and why. (How he juxtaposes Avalon, Miss. and New York City, where he'd gone for the first time to make the recording.)

* Avalon Blues:  Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues - YouTube

Montage by Ron Anton Rocz

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During the second week, we'll pull the camera back and look at (and listen two!) a wider variety of songster material--and consider how it brought together so many streams from American popular music of an earlier era. More to come...