You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley: Mississippi John Hurt

[appalachiablue]

John Smith Hurt, (Wiki. March 3, 1892– Nov. 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of 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.

Dick Spottswood and Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, located Hurt in 1963 and persuaded him to move to Washington, D.C. He was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This helped further the American folk music revival, which 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 who were brought out of retirement. He also recorded several albums for Vanguard Records.
Material recorded by him has been re-released by many record labels. 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, Chris Smither, Guthrie Thomas, Parsonsfield, and Rory Block..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_John_Hurt

LONESOME VALLEY, song. An old American traditional gospel folk song, dating back to its first known recording in 1927 by old-time musician David Miller. Through the years, this famous song was sung by many other hillbilly and country artists such as the Monroe Brothers, the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, the Carolina Ramblers Stringband, the Dixie Reelers, Woody Guthrie and others. It was also recorded by Elvis Presley, once on December 4, 1956, during the Sun Session in Memphis, Tennessee, and later on as a professional cut proving his love for old gospel tunes. (Wikisource).

[pnwest]

1. Can listen to that all day

[cemaphonic]

2. Who else could make staring down death so jolly and bouncy than John Hurt?

I've been learning a bunch of his songs and as simple as his basic style is, they all have little tricky quirks that make them all unique.

And his voice is just so soothing and gentle. What a great dude.