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Mississippi John Hurt discography online

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uncle bud:
I've been on a John Hurt kick the past few days, plowing through my collection, which seems pretty comprehensive. The one I know I'm missing is Avalon Blues 1963 (the Piedmont Sessions). I also don't have the Blues Vault double CD Memorial Anthology. Anybody familiar with this one? Is it different recording sessions or is it taken from the existing sessions we get on Columbia, Vanguard and Rounder etc? I also have the Oberlin College concert, so I don't know if there is much else out there I'm missing. Amazon.ca list a Library of Congress Sessions. I didn't know there were LofC John Hurt recordings. No new material there, but when was it recorded?

Any other suggestions for completing a John Hurt collection welcome.

[edited to add Vanguard to the list of usual suspects]

lindy:

Uncle Bud:

I can't help you with the MJH questions you asked, but I have a question for you: sometime in the past I heard a recording of John Hurt doing a very toned down version of "Frankie," about half the speed of the first version he recorded.  Which collection of his songs does that appear on?

Also, since none of you have a sufficient number of CDs in your houses, I suggest you take a look at the Hightone Records site this weekend--they have a pretty good sale of a lot of their blues catalog--$4.99 to $10.99--including a couple of Big Joe Williams titles, some anthologies with Robert Curtis Smith cuts, and the Blind Connie Williams Testament CD.  

Lindy

uncle bud:
Lindy,

There is a version of Frankie (slower but not that slow) on the 1965 Oberlin College recording, which I have on the Magnum CD, Mississippi John Hurt In Concert, which I think was also available in a Vanguard incarnation. Though be careful. There are various versions of this concert around with different track orders and content. Some don't have Frankie I think. It's sometimes referred to as Columbia River Live as well I believe. I don't know if one version has better sound than another, but the Magnum issue certain has some bass distortion, like it was a crappy transfer or something. That said, eminently listenable.


There is also a version of Frankie listed on the Memorial Anthology, which I don't have.

uncle bud:
Uh, and I stupidly overlooked the version on "Legend", from Rounder. This is the one you want, I'd guess, Lindy.

Johnm:
Hi Andrew,
Do you have the various recordings of John Hurt made at the Newport Folk Festivals?  I don't know enough about Vanguard's re-issue policy to know if they are on the big recent John Hurt on Vanguard set, but I do know they have also done a big recent re-issue set of recordings live from Newport over the years.  I've seen it, but have not looked at it closely.  In addition to John Hurt, it should include Rev. Wilkins, Skip James, Libba Cotten, Willie Doss and some others.
All Best,
John

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