Mississippi John Hurt
Mississippi John Hurt, born John Smith Hurt on March 8, 1892, in Teoc, Mississippi, was an influential American country-blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he taught himself to play the guitar and left school at age 10 to perform at local gatherings. In the late 1920s, representatives from the Okeh division of Columbia Records discovered Hurt and brought him to Memphis and New York City to record. These early recordings did not gain much attention, leading Hurt to return to Avalon, where he worked as a farmer and laborer while raising 14 children. Despite this, he continued to perform and refine his distinctive three-finger guitar-picking and relaxed singing style.
In 1963, during the American folk music revival, musical archivist Tom Hoskins rediscovered Hurt, leading to a resurgence in his career. Hurt became a beloved figure on the coffeehouse and college folk circuit, performing at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Newport Folk Festival. He recorded several albums, including around 90 songs for the Library of Congress, before his death on November 2, 1966, in Grenada, Mississippi. Hurt was known for popularizing blues standards like “See See Rider” and for his original compositions. In recognition of his contributions to music, Mississippi John Hurt was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988.
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