Project: Mississippi John Hurt / Songster Tradition
John Hurt had two periods of rising to fame. The first was in the late 1920's which was not successful because of the stock market crash in 1929. Thereafter he returned to the farm life in Mississippi. His second rise to fame came the 1960's during the folk revival effort. Tom Hoskins, a musicologist and blues enthusiast, looked for Hurt in hopes of performing once again.
The piece above was influenced by John Hurt's song "Coffee Blues" which was created in 1965, only a year before his death in 1966. The song is playful and soothing but also very cleaver. The song is about the desire of getting an ex-girlfriend back but it might only for sex. The song is constantly referring to sex when John utters "I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin spoonful, my lovin spoonful." Growing up in a farm in the early 1900s and almost claiming fame right before one of the most devastating market crashes and then once again receiving public attention in later years created a very unique life for Hurt. In spite of the bad timing of his career with historical events, his persevering and light-hearted personality really comes through in this colorful song. It's almost as though he knows that the only way to make it through life is by not taking things too seriously.
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