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Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt
M John Hurt.jpg
Hurt making a recording for the Library of Congress in 1964
Background information
Birth name John Smith Hurt
Born (1892-03-08)March 8, 1892 or 1893
Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States
Origin Avalon, Mississippi
Died November 2, 1966(1966-11-02) (aged 73-74)
Grenada, Mississippi, US
Genres Piedmont blues,
Country blues,
Delta blues,
Folk
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter,
Sharecropper,
Farm hand
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1928, 19631966
Labels Okeh
Vanguard
Associated acts Shell Smith
Willie Narmour
Notable instruments
Guild F-30NT

John Smith Hurt (possibly March 3, 1892 or March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.

Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. He worked as a sharecropper and began playing at dances and parties, singing to a melodious fingerpicked accompaniment. His first recordings, made for Okeh Records in 1928, were commercial failures, and he continued to work as a farmer. Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, located Hurt in 1963 and persuaded him to move to Washington, D.C., where he was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt performed on the university and coffeehouse concert circuit with other Delta blues musicians brought out of retirement. He also recorded several albums for Vanguard Records.

Hurt died in Grenada, Mississippi. Material recorded by him has been re-released by many record labels, and his songs have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, David Johansen, Bill Morrissey, Gillian Welch, Josh Ritter, Guthrie Thomas, Parsonsfield, and Rory Block.


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