MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, STEFAN GROSSMAN'S EARLY MASTERS OF AMERICAN BLUES GUITAR. 2CD TABLATURE
EDITED AND TRANSCRIBED BY STEFAN GROSSMAN
ORIGINAL VINTAGE RECORDINGS
Music by Mississippi John Hurt, transcribed by Stefan Grossman. Guitar tablature songbook and examples CD for acoustic guitar. Series: Stefan Grossman's Early Masters of American Blues Guitar. 96 pages.
With guitar tablature, standard notation, vocal melody, lyrics, chord names and guitar chord diagrams. Blues and Country Blues. 9x12 inches.
The Early Masters of American Blues series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues. Stefan Grossman, noted roots-blues guitarist and musicologist, has compiled this fascinating collection of 26 songs legendary blues guitarist Mississippi John Hurt. In addition to Stefan's expert transcriptions, the book includes a CD containing the John Hurt's original recordings so you can hear the music as it was originally performed. Mississippi John Hurt had a fascinating career, originally recording a handful of songs in the late 1920s, and, after disappearing for nearly 30 years, being rediscovered by a new generation of musicians that included Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Stephen Sills. Found in 1963 living in a small town in Mississippi, by an admirer who tracked him down through the lyrics of his 1928 single "Avalon Blues," Mississippi John Hurt was persuaded to go to Washington, D.C. and start a new career. He spent the next three years performing and recording for a whole new group of fans. In addition to transcribing all the songs in this collection, Stefan Grossman was also a student of John Hurt.
Contents:
Shake that Thing
Spike Driver's Blues
Casey Jones
Got the Blues, Can't Be Satisfied
Joe Turner Blues
Stocktime
Hey Baby, Right Away
Ain't Nobody But You babe
Make Me a Pallet on your Floor
Nobody's Dirty Business
Richlands Women Blues
Louis Collins
Blessed Be the Name
Praying On the Old Camp Grounds
Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me
Corrinna, Corrinna
Oh Mary Don't You Weep
Avalon Blues
Sliding Delta
Coffee Blues
Monday Morning Blues
Candyman
Trouble I've Had All My days
See See Rider
Stack O'Lee Blues
Big Leg Blues
INTRODUCTION by Stefan Grossman
This collection has been a pleasure to put together. I first
heard the records of Mississippi John Hurt when I was
15years old. He had recorded 20 sides for the OKeh
record company in 1928of which 12 had been released.
During the folk revival ofthe 1960s,reissue albums began
to appear and many old blues recordings found their way
to the grooves of LPs. John Hurt's arrangements for "Spike
Driver Blues," "Frankie," "Stagolee," "Nobody's Dirty
Business," Candyman," "Louis Collins," and "Got the Blues
Can't Be Satisfied" became necessary ingredients to any
young fingerpicker's repertoire.
John Hurt's old recordings had a magnetic atmosphere
and a strong lyrical contents that made them attractive
to both players and listeners. His guitar style was easily
recognizable. The alternating bass pattern evoked the
piano sounds of turn-of-the-century America and against
this a melody line was interweaved. The same approach
was explored during the mid-1950s by White guitarists
such as Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. By the 1960s,this
guitar technique was completely embraced by folksingers
as far afield as Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, and Stephen
Stills to Joan Baez.
Then in 1963,miracle of miracles occurred when Tom
Hoskin decided to try to locate the "legendary" Mississippi
John Hurt. John had recorded a song during his 1928
sessions titled "Avalon Blues." The current maps of
Mississippi did not show a town called Avalon, but in an
1878atlas, Avalon was shown as a small dot between
Greenwood and Grenada, Mississippi. Tom headed south
from Washington, D.C.and two days later pulled into
Stinson's store, an old combination gas station, general
store, and post office, which, with the owner's house,
comprised the entirety of Avalon. Tom asked several men
if they had ever heard or knew about a singer called
Mississippi John Hurt and was amazed when the pointed
down the dirt road and said, "'bout a mile down that road,
third mail box up the hill. Can't miss it."
Tom brought John up to Washington, D.C.to record and
perform and almost immediately Mississippi John Hurt was
a hit on the folk music scene. He performed at folk clubs,
The Newport Folk Festival, college campuses, and even the
Johnny Carson Tonight Show!
I met Mississippi John at his first concert in New York City.
Tom was a friend of mine and the chance to hear, as well
as meet, Mississippi John Hurt was almost too much for
me to imagine. The concert presented John and Doc Boggs
(another folk legend, but in this case in the story of white
five-string mountain banjo playing). After the concert, I
went backstage to say hellos and Tom insisted that I play
guitar for John and Doc. I picked a few of John's tunes that
I had transcribed from his 1928recordings. John started to
dance while Doc laughed and banged out time on his banjo
skin. This began my friendship with John Hurt that lasted
until his death.
Mississippi John Hurt was a wonderful teacher. He
patiently showed me his arrangements and licks as well
as giving me insight into life itself. John Hurt was a unique
man. He had a gentleness that could penetrate walls and
a voice that could relax your soul while your feet danced
to his guitar rhythms.
This collection brings together 26 great songs and
guitar arrangements. All the keys that John played in are
presented. On first listening, John Hurt's playing seems
deceptively easy, but to master his sound is quite a
challenge. He used three fingers to play. His ring and little
finger rested on the face of the guitar while he picked.
The source of John's unique sound can be found in his
thumb strokes. Basically, an alternating bass is used
throughout John's playing. The sound that is produced
can be described as "bum-chick." The first beat hits the
bass note with commitment but the second beat hits the
string hard enough to have the other strings vibrate. As a
result, a "chick" is created. This is fundamental to John's
style. The bass can stand by itself without any melody
lines and still sound musical. When the treble lines
are added, these act almost as embellishments. The
"John Hurt sound" is all in yourthumb.
Fortunately, there is some footage of John that comes
from Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest. Seeing John play
will help you to better understand the power and
eloquence of his playing and singing. I have included
these performances in my video series Country Blues
Guitar Parts 1,2, & 3(Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop). I strongly recommend these.
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT by Jas Obrecht
Songster and bluesman, John Hurt had a beautifully
syncopated fingerpicking style and a gentle, guileless
voice. After making a handful of 78s, he faded from view
during the Depression and then arose phoenix-like during
the 1960s.Throughout his career, his music provided an
aural passport to a bygone age of cakewalks and rags,
parables and polite society.
Hurt was 35 years old when he journeyed alone from the
Mississippi hill country to Memphis for his first session.
It was Valentine's Day, 1928,and the experience was not
entirely pleasant: "A great big hall with only Mr. Rockwell,
one engineer, and myself," John remembered. "I sat on
a chair and they pushed the microphone right up close
to my mouth and told me not to move after they found the
right position. Oh, I was nervous, and my neck was sore for
days after." Eight songs were cut that day, but only a single
OKeh 78 was issued-"Nobody's Dirty Business" backed
by "Frankie," one of his few songs in open tuning. Hurt was
paid about $20 per song, a good fee for unproven talent.
The original note on Columbia's file cards for the matrixes"
old time music"-was later changed to "race."
Hurt headed home and worked another season; under his
sharecropping arrangement atthe time, half of the corn
and cotton he grew on 13 acres was turned over to the land
owner. In November, IJ. Rockwell wrote Hurt inviting him to
record again. John's December 21st session in New York City
produced usable version of "Ain't No Tellin'" (essentially new
words set to the "Make Me Pallet On the Floor" melody),
the murder ballad "Louis Collins," and "Avalon Blues." On
December 28, 1928,Hurt was back in the studio for his final
and most fruitful prewar session, cutting three spirituals
and five blues. Of all Hurt's prewar sides, the one he
composed his first day in New York, "Avalon Blues,"
proved to be the most important. Nearly four decades
after its release, it would lead to his rediscovery:
"Avalon my home town,
always on my mind,
Avalon my home town,
always on my mind,
Pretty mama's in Avalon,
want me there all the time"
During the 1920s,when its population was less than a
hundred, Avalon, Mississippi was little more than a
ramshackle rail settlement between Greenwood and
Grenada. Born in nearby Teoc on July 3, 1893,John Smith
Hurt spent most of his life living there in poverty. He had
seven older brothers and two sisters. He made it through
the fifth grade at St. James School, and around this time
began teaching himself guitar. "I always tried to make my
strings say just what I say," he'd explain. "I grab it and go
my way with it. Use my melody with it." By age 12,John
was singing "Good Mornin' Miss Carrie," "Satisfied,"
Frankie and Johnny," and other non-blues songs at house
parties, sometimes working with a fiddler. His gentle voice,
relaxed feel, and light, idiosyncratic fingerpicking made
his music far better suited for front-porch listening than
cornfield stomps. Some nights, he remembered, he and a
pal would awaken the neighbors with their playing. "We go
along to people's private homes, way in the night, midnight,
one o'clock. 'Serenadin" we call it. We knew you well, we
tip up on the porch and we'd wake you up with music. Well,
you might lay there and listen, you might not get up and ask
us in. Sometimes you'd get up and say come on in."
Once, when he was asked about the first blues he'd learned,
Hurt played "Lazy Blues," a simple, original arrangement
in E major that had more in common with Memphis players
than Delta musicians such as Robert Johnson:
"Wake up in the morning, a towel tied round her head,
When you speak to her, she swear she almost dead"
During "Talking Casey," Hurt used a slide to imitate bells
and quote familiar melodies-a technique similar to Blind
Willie McTell in Atlanta-while thumbing train rhythms on
his bass strings. He composed in many keys-E, A, 0, and
G,which was especially convenient for a strong alternating
bass-but unlike many Delta musicians seemed to prefer C.
Much of his music was probably a souvenir of his childhood.
Asked by a white landlord how he created melodies,
Hurt responded, "Well, sir, I just make it sound like I think it
ought to."
After his father passed away, John helped his mother
raise cotton, corn, and potatoes. To make ends meet, he
sometimes hired himself out to a neighboring farm, while
his mother washed clothes and cooked. During 1915,Hurt
worked for the Illinois Central jacking up and leveling...
EARLY MASTER'S of AMERICAN BLUES GUITAR Rev. Gary Davis
Book & CD (F3176GTA)
EDITED AND TRANSCRIBED BY STEFAN GROSSMAN
The Early Masters of American Blues Guitar series provides the unique opportunity to study the true roots of modern blues. Stefan Grossman, noted roots-blues guitarist and musicologist, has compiled this amazing collection of 26 songs, transcribed exactly as performed by blues great Mississippi John Hurt. In addition to Stefan's expert transcriptions, the book includes 2 CDs containing John Hurt's original recordings so you can experience the music as it was originally performed.
Each book in the Early Masters series contains the original artist's performances, transferred
from vintage 78s. These original recordings are apiece of musical history, and the only way to
hear and appreciate the powerful feel and impact of these pivotal, early music giants.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE EARLY MASTERS OF AMERICAN BLUES GUITAR SERIES
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