John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Biography

Early years

John Hurt was born in Teoc,Cohen, Lawrence (1996). Liner notes to ''Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings''. Columbia/

Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

CD.

Carroll County, Mississippi Carroll County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,998. Its county seats are Carrollton and Vaiden. The county is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of ...

and raised in

Avalon, Mississippi Avalon is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Mississippi, United States. Avalon is located on the former Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad and was at one time home to a general store. A post office first began operation under the ...

. His parents, Isom and Mary, had both been slaves and as was common after the Civil War, they continued working on the same plantation, now as

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

, for the same owner. John taught himself to play guitar at the age of nine. To earn extra money, his mother took in boarders. One of them, William Henry Carson, who played a guitar and was a friend of John's mother, often stayed at the Hurt home while courting a woman who lived nearby. When no one was around, John would play Carson's guitar. As a youth, he played

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...

for friends and at dances or at the local general store. His

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

playing style was ideal for dancing. He worked as a farmhand and

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

, sometimes working for the railroad into the 1920s. On occasion, a

medicine show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European Charlatan, mountebank shows and were common ...

came through the area. Hurt recalled that one wanted to hire him: "One of them wanted me, but I said no because I just never wanted to get away from home."

First recordings

In 1923, he played with the fiddle player Willie Narmour as a substitute for Narmour's regular partner, Shell Smith. When Narmour won first place in a fiddle contest in 1928 and got a chance to record for

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

, he recommended Hurt, who by that time had a good reputation, to Okeh producer Tommy Rockwell. After auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his home, Hurt took part in two recording sessions where he recorded 20 songs, in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

and New York City. While in Memphis, he recalled seeing "many, many blues singers ... Lonnie Johnson,

Blind Lemon Jefferson Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929) was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular and successful blues singers of the 1920s and has been called the "Fat ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

, and lots, lots more." Hurt described his first recording session: The records sold modestly well, not only with the black community but also among southern whites. Hurt attempted further negotiations with Okeh to record again but Okeh declined since his record sales were only modest. Okeh went out of business during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity, working as a sharecropper and playing at local parties and dances.

Rediscovery and death

In 1952, musicologist Harry Smith included John's version of " Frankie and Johnny" and " Spike Driver Blues" in his seminal collection ''The Anthology of American Folk Music'' which generated considerable interest in locating him.Dahl, Bill (1998). Liner notes to ''D.C. Blues: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings, Vol. 1''. Fuel 2000 Records CD. When a copy of his "Avalon Blues" was discovered in 1963, it led

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Dick Spottswood Richard K. "Dick" Spottswood (born April 17, 1937) is an American musicologist and author from Maryland, United States who has catalogued and been responsible for the reissue of many thousands of recordings of vernacular music in the United Sta ...

to locate Avalon, Mississippi on a map and ask his friend, Tom Hoskins, who was traveling that way, to enquire after Hurt. Upon locating Hurt, Hoskins persuaded him to perform several songs, to ensure that he was genuine. Hoskins was convinced and, seeing that Hurt's guitar playing skills were still intact, encouraged him to move to Washington, D.C., and perform for a broader audience. Early in 1963 Hurt recorded an album, ''Folk Songs and Blues'', that was released in August 1963 through Piedmont Records. This added to the

American folk music revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Early folk music performers include Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Ewan MacColl (UK), Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie ...

which was blooming at that time and inspired the search for and the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era such as

Son House Edward James "Son" House Jr. (March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988) was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing. After years of hostility to secular music, as a prea ...

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James' early recordings ...

Bukka White Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1906 – February 26, 1977) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. His first full-length biography'', The Life and Music of Booker "Bukka" White: Recalling the Blues'' (2024), has been ...

Mance Lipscomb Beau De Glen "Mance" Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) was an American blues singer, guitarist and songster. Biography Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895, near Navasota, Texas. His father had been born into slavery in Alabama; his ...

and

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its li ...

. Hurt performed on the festival, university and coffeehouse concert circuits with other

Delta blues musicians Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

who were brought out of retirement. His performances in 1963 at the

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

and the

Philadelphia Folk Festival The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a folk music festival held annually at Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. The four-night, three-day festival is produced and run by the non-profit Philadelphia Folkson ...

caused his star to rise. In 1964, he recorded live for radio station WTBS-FM In Cambridge, Massachusetts as did

. For three years, Hurt performed extensively at colleges, concert halls, and coffeehouses, appearing on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', on

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

's public TV show, ''

Rainbow Quest ''Rainbow Quest'' (1965–66) was a U.S. television series devoted to folk music and hosted by Pete Seeger. It was videotaped in black-and-white and featured musicians from traditional American music genres such as traditional folk music, old ...

'' alongside

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was bor ...

and

Hedy West Hedwig Grace "Hedy" West (April 6, 1938 – July 3, 2005) was an American folksinger, songwriter and song catcher. She belonged to the same generation of folk revivalists as Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Carolyn Hester. Her most famous song "50 ...

and had a write up in ''Time''. He also recorded three albums for

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the so ...

. Much of his repertoire was also recorded for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. His fans particularly liked the

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

songs " Salty Dog", "Candy Man" and the blues

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s "Spike Driver Blues" (a variant of "John Henry") and "Frankie". Hurt's influence spanned several music genres including blues, spirituals,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, bluegrass, folk, and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature reflected his work which was a mellow mix of country, blues, and old-time music. Mississippi John Hurt made his last recordings at a hotel in New York City in February and July of that year though they were not released until 1972 on the Vanguard LP '' Last Sessions''. He died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966 at a hospital in

Grenada, Mississippi Grenada () is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1836, the population was 13,092 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County, Mississippi, Gre ...

. Several record labels recorded his songs. They've been covered by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, Dave Van Ronk,

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

John McCutcheon John McCutcheon (born August 14, 1952) is an American folk music singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has produced 45 albums since the 1970s. He is regarded as a master of the hammered dulcimer, and is also proficient on many other in ...

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...

Bill Morrissey Bill Morrissey (November 25, 1951 – July 23, 2011) was a Grammy-nominated American folk singer-songwriter based in New Hampshire. Early life Morrissey was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Growing up in Connecticut and Massachusetts, he started ...

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The Be Good Tanyas The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good Tanyas f ...

Josh Ritter Joshua B. Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana (music), Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2 ...

Chris Smither William Christopher Smither (born November 11, 1944) is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, and modern poets and philosophers. Early life, influences and educat ...

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, Parsonsfield, and

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among others.

Style

Hurt used a syncopated finger picking style of guitar playing that he taught himself. He was influenced by few other musicians, among them was Rufus Hanks, an elderly, unrecorded blues singer from the Avalon area who played

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 string (music), strings in six Course (music), courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lo ...

and harmonica. According to the music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, "the school of John Fahey proceeded from his finger picking and while he's not the only quietly conversational singer in the modern folk tradition, no one else has talked the blues with such delicacy or restraint."

Tributes

There was a memorial and museum dedicated to Hurt in Avalon, Mississippi, parallel to Rural Route 2, the rural road he grew up on. On February 20, 2024, it was destroyed in a fire the day after being made a National Landmark. Arson is not suspected. The folk-rock band

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influ ...

took their name from a recurring phrase in Hurt's song "Coffee Blues". The singer-songwriter

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

, who met Hurt and played on the same bill with him at the

Gaslight Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

around 1963, wrote and recorded a song about him in 1977, "Did You Hear John Hurt?". The first track of John Fahey's 1968 solo acoustic guitar album '' Requia'' is "Requiem for John Hurt". Fahey's posthumous live album, ''

The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick ''The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick'' is a live album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released posthumously in 2004. History ''The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick'' consists of previously unreleased live recordings from ...

'', also features a version of the piece, entitled "Requiem for Mississippi John Hurt".

Norman Greenbaum Norman Joel Greenbaum (born November 20, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his 1969–1970 hit song "Spirit in the Sky". The song made him one of the most famous acts with a best-selling one-hit wonder for all time. Early life a ...

's eclectic minor hit, "Gondoliers, Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys And Bums" refers to Mississippi John Hurt singing the blues. The British folk and blues artist

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald "Wizz" Jones (25 April 1939 – 27 April 2025) was an English acoustic guitarist, and singer-songwriter. He performed from the late 1950s and recorded from 1965 until 2025. He possessed what was described as "unparalleled virtuo ...

recorded a tribute song, "Mississippi John", for his 1977 album ''

Magical Flight ''Magical Flight'' is the 1977 album by the pioneer British folk musician Wizz Jones. In addition to composing some of the songs, Alan Tunbridge produced the U.K. cover artwork. Track listing #"Pictures" ( Alan Tunbridge) - 4:25 #"Mississippi ...

''. The Delta blues artist

recorded the album ''Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt'', released in 2013 as part of her "Mentor Series". The New England singer-songwriter Bill Morrissey released the Grammy-nominated album ''Songs of Mississippi John Hurt'' in 1999. In 2017, Hurt's life story was told in the documentary series '' American Epic''. The film featured footage of Hurt performing and being interviewed, and improved restorations of his 1920s recordings. Director Bernard MacMahon stated that Hurt "was the inspiration for ''American Epic''". Hurt's life was profiled in the accompanying book, '' American Epic: The First Time America Heard Itself''. In 2023, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked Hurt at number 159 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Discography

Stefan Wirtz's in depth, illustrated discography Dixon, Robert M., Goodrich, John W. and Rye, Howard - ''Blues and Gospel Records, 1890-1943'', Fourth Edition AllMusic discography

78 rpm releases

* " Frankie" / "Nobody's Dirty Business" (

, Okeh 8560), 1928 * " Stack O' Lee" / "Candy Man Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8654), 1928 * "Blessed Be the Name" / "Praying on the Old Camp Ground" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8666), 1928 * "Blue Harvest Blues" / " Spike Driver Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8692), 1928 * "Louis Collins" / "Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8724), 1928 * " Ain't No Tellin'" / "Avalon Blues" (Okeh Records, OKeh 8759), 1928

Later career albums

* ''Folk Songs and Blues'' ( Piedmont Records, PLP 13157), 1963 * ''Worried Blues,'' live recordings (Piedmont Records, PLP 13161), 1964 * '' Today!'' (

, VSD-79220), 1966 * ''The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt'' (Vanguard Records, VSD-79248), 1967 * ''The Best of Mississippi John Hurt'', live recording from Oberlin College, April 15, 1965 (Vanguard Records, VSD-19/20), 1970 * '' Last Sessions'' (Vanguard Records, VSD-79327), 1972 * ''Volume One of a Legacy'', live recordings (Piedmont Records, CLPS 1068), 1975 * ''Monday Morning Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings'', vol. 1 (

Flyright Records Flyright Records is a British record label incorporated in 1970 by Mike Leadbitter, Simon Napier, and Bruce Bastin. It specializes in reissues of American blues artists, but has issued some jazz by British musicians and some American jazz di ...

, FLYLP 553), 1980 * ''Avalon Blues: The Library of Congress Recordings'', vol. 2 (Heritage Records, HT-301), 1982 * ''Satisfied'', live recordings (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5007), 1982 * ''The Candy Man'', live recordings (Quicksilver Intermedia, QS 5042), 1982 * ''Sacred and Secular: The Library of Congress Recordings'', vol. 3 (Heritage Records, HT-320), 1988 * ''Avalon Blues'' (Flyright Records, FLYCD 06), 1989 * ''Memorial Anthology'', live recordings (Genes Records, GCD 9906/7), 1993 * '' Rediscovered'' (Vanguard Records, CD 79519), 1998 * ''The Complete Recordings'' (Vanguard Records, CD 70181–2), 1998

Selected pre-war albums

* ''The Original 1928 Recordings'' (Spokane Records SPL 1001) 1971 * ''1928: Stack O' Lee Blues – His First Recordings'' (

Biograph Records Biograph Records is a record label founded in 1967 by Arnold S. Caplin. It specialized in reissuing vintage American ragtime, jazz, and blues music. Its catalog includes titles by Bunny Berigan, Bing Crosby, The California Ramblers, Ruth Etting, ...

BLP C4) 1972 * ''1928 Sessions'' (

Yazoo Records Yazoo Records is an American record label founded in the mid-1960s by Nick Perls. It specializes in early American blues, country, jazz, and other rural American genres collectively known as roots music. History The first five releases (L 1001 ...

L 1065) 1979 * ''Satisfying Blues'' (

Collectables Records Collectables Records is an American reissue record label, founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene also formed the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. History It maintains a catalogue of over 3,400 active titles on compact disc, with thousands ...

VCL 5529) 1995 * ''Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings'' (

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

CK64986) 1996 * ''Candy Man Blues: The Complete 1928 Sessions'' (

Snapper Music Snapper Music is an independent record label founded in 1996 by former head of Castle Communications Jon Beecher, Dougie Dudgeon and funded by Mark Levinson from Palan Music Publishing. In 1999, Snapper broke away from its Palan parent company ...

SBLUECD 010) 2004 * '' American Epic: The Best of Mississippi John Hurt'' (Lo-Max / Sony Legacy / Third Man, TMR-459) 2017 * ''MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT - The Man From Avalon'' Pristine PABL004, pitch corrected, 13 tracks including one unissued track.

Notes

References

External links

Mississippi John Hurt Foundation
official website, includes information about the annual Mississippi John Hurt Music Festival in Avalon, Mississippi.
Mississippi John Hurt Museum
official website.
Mississippi John Hurt News
Website run by Hurt's grandnephew Fred Bolden, with forums and discussions open to the public.

* *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* *
Mississippi John Hurt's "Stackolee"
Recording, sheet music, and guitar tab.
Interview of Mississippi John Hurt
Interview conducted by Tom Hoskins and Nick Perls on October 13, 1963 in Washington, DC. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurt, Mississippi John 1890s births 1966 deaths American folk singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Blues musicians from Mississippi Blues revival musicians American blues singer-songwriters Delta blues musicians Country blues musicians Country blues singers American fingerstyle guitarists Okeh Records artists People from Carroll County, Mississippi Songster musicians Vanguard Records artists 20th-century American guitarists Singer-songwriters from Mississippi Guitarists from Mississippi African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Year of birth uncertain