Mississippi John Hurt - "The Complete Studio Recordings"

You would think that nearly 3 hours of one man fingerpicking his way through songs on a guitar might get old after a while, but it doesn't. It's that good. I can't remember when I first heard Mississippi John Hurt, but I believe the songs was "Candy Man". I had collected a few more songs in the ensuing years, and when I decided I was going to learn Delta Blues fingerstyle he was the one I wanted to model myself after, so I went looking for more of his music and found this collection. I've had it for a few years now, and I still listen to it regularly.

It's 3 full length cds of pure acoustic bliss. Recorded in the 60s near the end of his life, he plays Delta blues with amazing dexterity. His right thumb rhythm work is so solid, it drives the music like someone banging on a drum. It seems earily disconnected from his melody work, played with his other fingers. You just wouldn't think that someone could pick two different patterns with one hand, so cleanly it takes a bit of faith to accept that the sound came from one guitar. And that's pretty much all it is. One man, one guitar, playing songs from 40 years earlier in Mississippi. The recording is so clean and well mastered you could be sitting in the same room. John Hurt was huge in San Fransisco during the 60s folk era, and several of his songs made it into american folk, including "Shortnin' Bread", "Hot Time In the Old Town" and "Goodnight, Irene" all of which my dad used to play on ukulele when I was a kid. Do yourself a favor and check out some great music at Amazon.