Mississippi John Hurt

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The history of MississippiJohn Hurt reads like a real Cinderella story. Born JohnSmith Hurt on July 3, 1893, in Teoc (Carroll Co.), MS,his family moved to Avalon, MS (where he grew up) whenhe was two years of age. One of ten children (who allplayed music of one sort or another), Hurt was the mostinto it and taught himself how to play. Years later,when his White landlord asked how he came up with hismelodies, he replied, &quot;Well sir, I just make itsound like I think it should.&quot; Although he learned to read and write, he did notattend school past the fourth grade. As a young adult,he became a sharecropper or tenant farmer for many years,but finally gave that up and switched to day labor.For fun and extra cash, Hurt joined other local guitaristsand fiddlers for church suppers and town dances in surroundingtowns. Hurt soon became a popular favorite at theselocal functions. In the late '20s, a well-known fiddler named WillieNarmour, with whom Hurt often played, was spottedby a talent scout for Okeh Phonograph, a division ofColumbia Records. When asked about other talented localmusicians, Narmour gave them the name of John Hurt and directions on howto find him. Okeh found and interviewed Hurt, had himplay a few songs, and decided to record him, providedhe was willing to travel to Memphis and New York. Hurt recorded two songs in February of 1928 whilein Memphis, &quot;Frankie&quot; and &quot;Nobody's DirtyBusiness,&quot; and these were released by Okeh. ThatDecember, Hurt traveled to New York City to record fivemore sides. During that visit he met LonnieJohnson, but made a point of declaring that he cribbednothing from that great guitarist. Hurt's records didnot sell in great numbers, perhaps in the hundreds.After his short musical excursion, John returned toAvalon and went back to sharecropping and playing musicjust about every Saturday night in the towns surroundinghis home. That could have been the end of Hurt's national careerhad two young blues musicians from Washington, D.C., Tom Hoskins and Mike Stewart, not come across the original Okeh recordingof &quot;Avalon Blues.&quot; This was in 1963. Intriguedby John's intricate finger-picking style, they cameup with the idea of trying to locate some of the originalartists, should they still be alive. They checked theMississippi maps, but no town named Avalon could befound. However, after locating an 1878 atlas, sure enough,there was an Avalon marked on a rural road running betweenGreenwood and Grenada. On a hope and a whim, the twoblues archivists headed south armed with a tape recorder.With the help of the old map, they found Avalon withits single gas station/store and inquired about JohnHurt. They were floored to see the attendant point downthe road and say that Hurt's house was &quot;About amile down that road, third mail box up the hill. Can'tmiss it.&quot; Hurt, at 71 years of age, was waitingfor them, alive and still able to sing and play aboutas well as he had before. They recorded John and returnedto Washington with the precious taped results and therediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt. He was a completeand instant success in the folk/blues scene. From the Spring of 1963, when he was brought to Washington,D.C., to perform, until his death in 1966, Hurt playedall over the Northeast at clubs and many folk festivals,including twice at the Newport Folk Festival. Much admiredby his new-found audience, Hurt loved his late successand gave as much as he got. He was befriended by fellowperformers like Doc Watson, Fred McDowell, and Elizabeth Cotten. In the end, he retired to a small home inGranada, MS, not far from his home town of Avalon. Somuch for a great story; the music is just as good. Mississippi John Hurt is an exquisite country-bluessinger/guitarist with a

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