Topic: MJH Makes Me Happy

[Bluesygirl]

I just received a couple of MJH CDs I bought online ("MJH: The Complete Studio Recordings" on Vanguard and "Avalon Blues: Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings") and listening to his music puts me in such a good frame of mind that I can't stop playing his songs.  I imported the entire collection into my Mac and now I listen at my computer while writing my dissertation.  Excellent medicine for this activity. Bg

[wildcotton]

Bluesygirl

You're most fortunate that you're able to do this.  The soundtrack for my dissertation was mostly Beethoven's String Quartets and Bach's Cello Suites.  Whenever I tried to listen to MJH and others, it made me stop writing and pick up my guitar.  I would never have finished. I'm glad you can resist. 

Jeff

[outfidel]

Hey Bluesygal - Here are some pics you might like:

[Bluesygirl]

These pictures make me even happier! Thanks Outfidel!  Bg

[Johnm]

Thanks for posting the pictures, Michael.  You must have quite a collection.  The ones with John Hurt and Libba Cotten are great--he looks like a charter member of the Flirting Hall of Fame.
All best,
Johnm

[outfidel]

Bluesygal & John - Glad you liked 'em! Here is some memorabilia from MJH's career that I found in various places on the web -- if I had a time machine, I would transport myself to one of these shows:

from 1963 -- MJH's first concert in NYC following his "rediscovery":



from the mid-1960s:



inside flyer sent out ahead of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival -- not a bad lineup of musicians, heh?:



from 1965 or 1966 "American Folk Blues Festival" in Europe -- interestingly, MJH ended up missing this tour because he became sick:

[Bluesygirl]

Terrific! Thanks for sharing.  What a line-up. Can you imagine . . . seeing all those greats for a couple of bucks? Bg

[Bluesymel]

Hey Bluesygal - Here are some pics you might like:




I like  them too. Took this one for my background.

[Bluesygirl]

Yep its my desktop.  Bg

[Richard]

If my failing memory is right  I think I went to that Bristol concert of the American Folk Blues mid 60s.

I've also certainly seen Otis Spann, Cousin Joe and others on similar concert type tours when they visited Bristol as it was on the mailine music circuits back then - it's along time now, must go and oil my zimmer

[boots]

- it's along time now, must go and oil my zimmer

Keep those ferrules dry. 

[outfidel]

Yep its my desktop.

That one is my favorite solo picture of MJH -- I love the "man, I sound good!" look on his face.

 

[Bluesymel]

Yep its my desktop.

That one is my favorite solo picture of MJH -- I love the "man, I sound good!" look on his face.

 

Yes the man sounded phenominal and according some video footage I saw of him he had very short and heavy fingers too.

[outfidel]

Here's a couple more MJH pics I found on the web. It looks like a smiling Brownie McGhee is behind him on the right. Is Dave Van Ronk the guy in sunglasses on the left?

[Slack]

Great shots, yes that looks like a young Dave Van Ronk - listening very intently .

[GhostRider]

Hi all:

I agree, that does look like DVR.

What's that guitar he's playin'. Looks great.

Alex

[outfidel]

Here's a couple more pics from the same performance, which I think is 1963 Newport. Notice Sonny Terry sitting between Van Ronk &?McGhee:

[waxwing]

I'm diggin' the slot head, 12 fret guitar. Radiused fretboard. I'm thinkin' maybe a Martin "New York" 00 model which I think were made in that era, but I don't really know them all that well. Not sure about that little bridge. Fancy inlay at the 15th, too. Not to guitar geek too much, but I've heard about John playing a variety of guitars, never a 12 fret, tho'. Anybody happen to know what he was playin' at this gig?
All for now.
John C.

[outfidel]

Hey John,

Yeah, these are the only pics I've ever seen of MJH playing a slothead. I'm guessing that he borrowed it for this performance, possibly from another musician.

I posted these photos over on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum. It's unclear whether this is a Martin or not -- a couple of respondents offered this:

"I was also thinking the guitar might be a Larson Brother's guitar. The thing that keeps me from believing it's a Martin 000-18 12 fret is the fingerboard inlays are on 5-7-10. A Martin would be 5-7-9 (and I don't know what that inlay is on the 16th fret)."

"i've a turn-of-the-century george bauer gtr, looks similar to the pictured gtr, incl fret marker positioning. headstock has a star inlaid

[bauer did work for/partnered with ss stewart, whose instr often had the star] but i believe bauer made instr for other mfctrs too. this isn't positive id as a bauer, but the gtr sure looks to be [as mentioned above] one of that ilk - larson/stahl/bauer/et al. mine barks like a pre-resonator-era blues dog."[/list]

[outfidel]

On a different (& borderline fanatical) note, this past weekend I assembled mp3's of every unique MJH song in my collection. I count 75 unique songs -- btw, 16 of them (21%) are spirituals.

ed: I deleted the duplicated "Lazy Blues" - so the count stands at 74, not 75

Anyway, here is the list that I came up with. Johnm or anyone else -- are there any MJH songs missing from this list?

# Title *** Notes ***
1 "Ain't Nobody's Business" *** aka "Nobody's Dirty Business" ***
2 "All Night Long"
3 "Avalon Blues"
4 "Beulah Land"
5 "Big Leg Blues"
6 "Blessed Be the Name"
7 "Blue Harvest Blues"
8 "Boys You're Welcome"
9 "C.C. Rider"
10 "Candyman"
11 "Casey Jones"
12 "Coffee Blues"
13 "Comin' Home"
14 "Corrina Corrina"
15 "Cow Hooking Blues" *** MJH also recorded "Cow Hooking Blues No. 2" ***
16 "Do Lord Remember Me" *** same melody/picking pattern as "Beulah Land" ***
17 "Farther Along"
18 "First Shot Missed Him"
19 "Frankie & Albert" *** aka "Frankie" ***
20 "Funky Butt"
21 "Good Morning, Carrie"
22 "Goodnight Irene"
23 "Got the Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)"
24 "Here I Am, Oh Lord, Send Me" *** same melody/picking pattern as "You've Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley" ***
25 "Hey, Honey, Right Away"
26 "Hop Joint"
27 "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"
28 "I Been Crying Since You Been Gone"
29 "I Shall Not Be Moved"
30 "If You Don't Want Me Baby"
31 "I'm Satisfied"
32 "Joe Turner Blues"
33 "Keep On Knocking"
34 "Lazy Blues"
35 "Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me" *** melody based on Jimmie Rodgers "Waiting on a Train" ***
36 "Liza Jane (God's Unchanging Hand)" *** MJH on harmonica, no guitar ***
37 "Louis Collins"
38 "Make Me A Pallet on the Floor"
39 "Moanin' the Blues"
40 "Monday Morning Blues"
41 "My Creole Belle"
42 "Nearer My God to Thee"
43 "Nobody Cares for Me"
44 "Oh Mary, Don't You Weep"
45 "Over in the Glory Land"
46 "Payday"
47 "Pera Lee" *** MJH on slide guitar ***
48 "Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home"
49 "Praying on the Old Camp Ground" *** based on Civil War-era song, "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" ***
50 "Richland Woman Blues"
51 "Rubber Dolly" *** same melody/picking pattern as "My Creole Belle" ***
52 "Salty Dog Blues"
53 "Shake That Thing"
54 "Shortnin' Bread"
55 "Since I Laid My Burden Down" *** aka "Glory Glory Hallelujah" ***
56 "Sliding Delta"
57 "Spanish Fandango"
58 "Spider, Spider"
59 "Spike Driver's Blues"
60 "Stagolee"
61 "Stocktime (Buck Dance)" *** aka "Stockwell" ***
62 "Talking Casey" *** MJH on slide guitar ***
63 "The Chicken"
64 "Trouble I Had All My Days"
65 "Waiting for You"
66 "Waiting on a Train" *** see "Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me" ***
67 "Weeping & Wailing"
68 "What A Friend We Have in Jesus"
69 "Where Shall I Be"
70 "Wise & Foolish Virgins (Tender Virgins)"
71 "Worried Blues"
72 "You Are My Sunshine"
73 "You've Got To Die"
74 "You've Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley" *** performed on Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Quest" TV show; see "Here I Am, Oh Lord, Send Me" ***

My sources for these were:
- his 1928 recordings for Okeh
- his 1963 recordings for Piedmont
- his 1963 Library of Congree recordings
- his 1963 TV appearane on Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Quest"
- his 1963-66 recordings for Vanguard
- the 1964 performance from Ontario Place, recently released as "Memorial Anthology"
- the 1965 Oberlin College concert, recently released as "Revisited"

[GhostRider]

Hey Outfidel:

Small point but Lazy Blues is on your list twice.

Alex

[uncle bud]

Nice list, Outfidel. Hardly fanatical. You haven't even listed the keys, tunings and playing positions yet. (I joke, but then in a way I don't. This would be an admirable project, IMO).

[outfidel]

alex - argh! you're right. make that 74 unique songs

uncle bud - I started to do just that, but stopped because I didn't want to be *that* geeky.  Okay, I also don't have the time. However, I would be interested in knowing the % of songs MJH played in the key of C -- probably more than 1/4 of his total output, maybe more than 1/3?

[Delta Dan]

Hey everyone. I just signed at Weenie Campbell. Its great to hear how many people John Hurt has made happy and good to see Outfidel continuing to share his knowledge and artefacts with us all (Hi Michael - I'll be in touch shortly).
I have amassed an enormous amount of information on John Hurt and after three years of research am now getting on with a book about his life and times. I will post an update here shortly.
Cheers
Delta Dan

[onewent]

...hey, outfidel (or anyone), what's the title of ... 'she might shoot you, cut you, starve you, too, ain't to tellin', what she might do?  Is that Ain't No Tellin'  ?  ... I've actually been playing the song for about 6 or 7 years and forgot the actual title, didn't think I saw it on your list, and am too lazy to research it myself right now 

[uncle bud]

Tom,

On the OKeh 1928 sessions, the song was called Ain't No Tellin' but on later recordings was called Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor.

And welcome, Delta Dan!

[onewent]

...that 'splains it uncle bud, I only have his '28 sessions...

[Delta Dan]

Hey you John Hurt fans. I just posted an update on my book in the main forum, if your interested.
Delta Dan