With his beautifully soft delivery, elegant finger-picking technique and
old-world, soulful storytelling, Mississippi John Hurt was an obscure
country-blues player from the 1920s and 30s until he was re-discovered and
became a hero to the young folk stars of the 1960s.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, he started playing the guitar of a family friend
when he was nine and later teamed up with local fiddle player Willie Narmour to
perform at barn dances and parties. He worked manual jobs as a farm hand and as
a laborer for a railroad company, and only had two recording sessions for...