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.

55 of 55 found the following review helpful:


I remember  Jan 23, 2002 By ED Denson
I toured and lived with John Hurt for some time in the 1960s as his "manager" and sometimes as his record label. His music recorded in the 1920s shows the vigor and vitality of youth - and I recommend it. His music from the 1960s shows the gentle soul of a great human being - as well as a master musician. There are more John Hurt studio recordings from that era, but these show him off well. Most people who hear the music of Mississippi John Hurt come to love it and him. You probably will too.

49 of 51 found the following review helpful:


possibly the most under-rated artist ever  Nov 05, 2004 By Dan Grissom
Mississippi John Hurt is the type of artist that when you hear him for the first time, it changes something in you. I heard someone say that once and didn't believe it until I heard for myself. The way I think about music, the blues, songwriting, and even life itself has been affected by Mississippi John Hurt. His music is some of the most beautiful, honest music ever made. Every time I hear it, it makes me wish that I was alive when he was, and that I knew him. All of his music, though it is typically refered to as "the blues," has such a joy of life behind it.

I know it sounds a little overly dramatic, but Mississippi John Hurt can change your life if you let him.

19 of 19 found the following review helpful:


The essential John Hurt  Nov 29, 2001 By David Morgan
This is the place to start listening to John Hurt. The appropriately titled 'Last Sessions' (Disc Three) is not strong - it carries the leftovers from the 1966 sessions that produced all three of these albums. But the other two contain some of the finest folk-blues ever recorded. Hurt's ability to coax beautiful singing melody together with the deepest swinging rhythnm from his guitar is legendary, and never better than in these sessions, recorded just months before he died. And his voice, if a little wheezy at times, is capable of expressing the heights and depths of just about any emotion as he looks back over his whole life and experience. It's wonderful to hear him switch theme from hymns to work, adultery, murder and back to hymns again, all of them handled with complete conviction.

Most of the songs are his own classics. Avalon Blues, Pay Day, Candy Man, Make me a Pallet on your Floor, Stagolee etc are all here, and for me these are the finest, fullest versions. I often wonder why, simple and often samey in chord structure as most of them are, they move me as deeply as they do, but why bother? 'Gentle perfection', as Stefan Grossman once described it, is what we get from John Hurt.

A special word for the closing track of Disc Two (The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt): 'Nearer My God to Thee'. Yes, it's the old hymn. But oh, thank you John Hurt for revealing at last its full joy and beauty. If there's a heaven, he surely got there a few months after this performance.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:


The best...buy this *and* the 1928 Okeh sessions  May 26, 2003 By Michael Collins
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.

See all 25 customer reviews on Amazon.com