Album Reviews

Decide for yourself whether The Lovin’ Spoonful took their name from Mississippi John Hurt’s “Coffee Blues” (not to mention the tune for “Darlin’ Companion”) but fans of Taj Mahal will have no doubts about this gentle soul’s influence on Taj when you hear this earlier take on “Corrina, Corrina” and compare it to Taj’s on The Natch’l Blues (CS9698).

Hurt’s brand of soothing Mississippi-born country/folk blues doesn’t have the slashing, searing immediacy of Son House’s, nor does he traffic in that level of direct pain, but the charm is undeniable as are his finely tuned storytelling abilities.

Like House, Hurt was also “rediscovered” in the early ‘60’s blues revival, and he too played Newport, where his simple, direct style spoke a truth missing in the pre-digested commercial drool fed the boomer generation on commercial radio.

Hurt’s blues are of the resigned, not angry variety, though they speak to power with equal authority. Hurt’s skillful acoustic finger picking is attraction enough, but add to that his velvety vocal delivery and disarming directness and you have a mood altering direct communication with a time long gone, aided by a pleasingly simple and direct recording.

The miking or EQ accentuates the lower guitar strings in a way that will excite lower midbass speaker and room resonances. If you hear “boom” don’t blame the recording.

Otherwise, it's an simply miked, honest recording of a guy playing a guitar and if your system is up to the task, Mississippi John Hurt will play for you in your living room.

Hurt freshens some familiar tunes and brings immediacy to some new ones in this charming set that yields warmth and comfort in place of the usual bluesy pain.



Though the jacket proclaims "Taken from the Vanguard CD "Today" (VMD 79220), rest assured the LP was cut from analog tape.