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The Complete Studio Recordings Mississippi John Hurt

 Rating 5
enlarged image: The Complete Studio Recordings Mississippi John Hurt
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100% Recommended by our customers.
Label: Vanguard Records
Catalog: Music
Release date: 2000-10-31
Media: Audio CD
discs number: 3
Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
Ean: 0015707018128
Upc: 157070181280
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Artist:
Mississippi John Hurtsee more Popular Music by Mississippi John Hurt

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$20.99
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Professional Review:
Gentle, graceful, subtle, sweet--these aren't descriptions generally applied to the blues, but they offer a sense of Mississippi John Hurt's uniqueness and enduring legacy. Rediscovered during the 1960s folk boom after last recording in the late 1920s, Hurt cut the three albums compiled here when he was in his early 70s. His conversational phrasing sounds as natural as breathing, while his ragtime-tinged fingerpicking on acoustic guitar reveals more complexity the closer you listen. Beyond blues classics like "Candy Man" (the sly sensualist wasn't referring to lollipops), Hurt's range encompasses everything from folkish narratives ("Talking Casey," "Spike Driver Blues") to Southern spirituals ("Nearer My God to Thee," "Farther Along"). Though Hurt died in 1966, shortly after the last of these sessions, the music still sounds so fresh, you can almost hear the twinkle in his eye. --Don McLeese

User Reviews:
 Rating 5   Written on May 15, 2004
   Summary: Smooth as Silk...but Twice as Durable
It's hard to imagine acoustic finger-picking blues being any smoother, yet heartfelt, than this. This fabulously mastered collection assembles the three studio albums MJH recorded in the 70's following his "rediscovery". The music, sound, and feeling is all there - and it's an absolute PLEASURE to listen to - pop and scratch free - as it was recorded with relatively modern equipment in the 70's.
MJH's intricate and beautifully styled finger-picking represents a degree of confidant mastery that perhaps could only be created by 40 years of playing in relative obscurity working to please only yourself...and his engaging vocals compliment seamlessly.
These three disks are like a favorite sweater on a cool night, comfortably warm, and the fit is just right.


 Rating 5   Written on April 27, 2004
   Summary: Outstanding music and remixing
Not only is this the definitive box set of the definitive 20th century blues man, but it's exceeedingly well mastered. Every facet of the guitar sound comes through clear as crystal. This is a must have for any blues or rock aficionado.

 Rating 5   Written on May 26, 2003
   Summary: The best...buy this *and* the 1928 Okeh sessions
MJH was a wonderful singer and fluid fingerstyle guitarist. I can't think of another artist where the guitar and voice are so perfectly matched. It sounds so natural and organic, but of course it took MJH years of practice to perfect his style. During that time, he played mostly for his own enjoyment and that of his neighbors -- he knew he was good, but he had no idea that anyone was interested in his songs. The fact that his 1928 recordings didn't sell well probably confirmed in his mind that his music would be made just for his own enjoyment.

I have just about everything released by MJH. He is my favorite country blues artist. To my ears, these Vanguard studio recordings are his best-sounding, best-produced, and best-performed material. These are the recordings I go back time and time again. [...]

Also check out his 1928 Complete Okeh Recordings to find out the birth of the legend. Terrific performances -- MJH played a little faster in his younger days -- and great sound quality for the era.


 Rating 5   Written on November 18, 2002
   Summary: Smooth as sweet wine.....
Mississippi John Hurt is one of the great blues man whose story seems to fit that romantic myth of what the blues and blues man are all about. He recorded music into the late 1920's (see 1928 Sessions released by Yazoo and Avalon Blues : Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings) and then disappeared back into the misty roads of Mississippi to be all but forgotten like so many others.

Then in 1963, Tom Hoskins and Mike Stewart, two young blue musicians from Washington, D.C. came across Hurt's 1928 Okeh recordings and decided to try to find some of the great old blues men, including Mississippi John Hurt. Using his song Avalon Blues as a starting point, they searched all the maps looking for Avalon, Mississippi. However, no town was found. Finally, an 1878 atlas listed Avalon as a rural road in Mississippi between the small towns of Greenwood and Grenada. Taking a chance, they went to Mississippi to find John Hurt. Stopping at a gas station near the area where Avalon was supposed to be, they asked the attendant if by chance he knew John Hurt. The attendant said sure, "about a mile down the road, third mailbox up the hill." Sure enough, they found him. John Hurt went with them back to Washington, D.C. and recorded and toured during the GREAT Blues revival of the 1960's until his death in 1966.

What a story!!! However, the music is the real treasure. Mississippi John Hurt possessed one of the truly great voices in Blues/Country music. Full of warmth, gentleness and power, he tells stories of times and events long since gone. Mixed with his crisp and attractive guitar work, Mississippi John Hurt is one of the GREAT storytellers of all time.

The packaging of three albums, Today!, The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt and Last Sessions, together for around $20 is an absolute steal. You will love these albums. Close the doors, turn out the lights and just listen and enjoy. Then check out the other recordings of this great artist.


 Rating 5   Written on June 7, 2002
   Summary: Gentle Perfection
I actually have the three LP's this set represents, bought when they first came out. I played them so often back in college that they are pretty hopeless now, but I have never been able to let go of them. I just ordered this three CD set recently, and now I can officially move past the ancient vinyl into the digital age.

I have said elsewhere that John Hurt was a tremendous influence on me, both as a fledgling guitarist and as a newbie folk song aficionado. I won't belabor the point, I'm still a fledgling guitar player, but I get indescribable attacks of nostalgia and envy listening to them even now. There are other great musicians that play with a similar finger style, but Hurt seems to reach into some other 'space' to consistently create a total performance that can leave you blinking.

Hurt plays with an alternating thumb and several 'picking' fingers. No picks to change the tone of the guitar. The base line is so dead on the beat that the melody line seems somehow played by an eerie third hand. Hurt's voice defies description, kind of a sweet whiskey base. His singing works right in with the guitar playing, weaving into the guitar rhythm and creating syncopation out of unexpected silences. Call it singing a duet with the guitar. At 73, this man was at his peak, and the studio sessions are his final legacy. At 74, finally getting all the credit he was due, he died back at home in Mississippi.

The CD's are expertly re-mastered and some of the irritating balance and equalization problems that haunted the original LP's are gone. In fact, the recordings sound like they were made last week, not 40 years ago. If you want to own a good representative selection of the work of one of America's authentic masters of folk blues this is the perfect collection.


Comparison map
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Our price$20.99$6.99$22.99$6.99$19.98$19.98
List price$23.98$6.99$24.98$6.99$19.98$19.98
Lowest used price$17.78$4.17$13.95$4.17$9.95$11.55
Lowest new price$17.79$2.52$14.95$2.50$10.82$13.07
Collectible price$26.50-$24.00---
CatalogMusicMusicMusicMusicMusicMusic
Release date2000-10-312008-02-011990-08-202008-02-011993-04-272004-05-18
MediaAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CD
discs number312122
FormatBox set, Original recording remastered-Box set--Original recording remastered
Ean001570701812808869723314230074644622225088697232762400746452835240030206140729
Upc157070181280886972331423074644622225886972327624074645283524030206140729
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