The perfect grandpa. That's crazy, because that's ALWAYS how I've thought of Misssissippi John Hurt. Ive known precious little of him besides his music and album covers, but i always felt that kindness that was a huge part of his soul. One of my favorite artists of all time.
Back in 1971 the first tunes I learned fingerpicking was Mississippi John Hurt, Shake That Thing and Stack O Lee and I still play them all the time. Tom you and I met at the FPR in 2021 and I'm still playing those tunes. Thanks to both you and Stefan it keeps me sane!
John Hurt blows me away everytime I hear him . I don't think I will ever come close to his picking style and not for want of trying. Made me chuckle when Stefan mentions John being the perfect Grandad , I have said this to friends in the past & I never even had the priviledge of meeting him as he died 3 years before I was born. Regarding Stefan, I was pleasantly surprised last year when in my local used guitar shop (Heron Music, Bristol) , I found for 50 pence ,a book, "The Country Blues Guitar" by Stefan Grossman from 1968 . Awesome photos & info , notation, tab & Lyrics for 8 John Hurt songs and one or two by Furry Lewis, Frank Stokes, Charley Jordan , Memphis Minnie, Bo Carter ,Robert Wilkins, Buddy Boy Hawkins & Ed Bell / Barefoot Bill . Hats off to all those "crazy young American white kids" who rediscovered this country blues type music in the 60's and brought it to the attention of a wider audience , otherwise Mississippi John Hurt, Son House , Skip James, Bukka White et al may have been lost forever .
Stefan changed my life with his books of how to play blues guitar and introduced me to all these wonderful players...I remember getting my first album of john hurt and that was me put on the road to satisfying guitar playing and I made a living at it .....all just brilliant and thank you Stefan for just being a great guiding light..
Hearing him explain the different personalities of Son House, John Hurt and Skip James at 20:10-21:25, just great, love Stefan Grossman and this channel
Thanks Stefan. My friend Michael introduced me to your 'How To Play Blues Guitar' when it came out in the 60's., and that's how I was introduced to the music of Mississippi John Hurt et al. I persuaded my Granny to buy me a guitar, and there was no going back. A source of so much pleasure (and frustration lol) down the years, huge part of my life.
Great interview. MJH has always been one of my favourite players. I spent the longest time trying to learn his stuff and Stefan's 2 cd lesson book was like a light in the dark when I got it about ten or so years back. Thank you Mr. G.
John was such a lovely man. I got to meet him in Philadelphia at the Second Fret. We were up in the green room chatting John, his wife Jesse, one local bluegrass hero (Mike Bond), myself and a buddy. John said for us to come out here you boys must play a little guitar. Mike grabbed the offered guitar and whipped off a fast fiddle tune, John then accepted the guitar back and he handed the guitar to Bruce who played a Tom Paxton song. Then John looked at me and said so you must play a little too. I said no John, I only know 2 tunes and only a little bit and they are both yours. And he said, oh wonderful and handed me his guitar and urged me to play. So I took the guitar and stumbled through Creole Belle. He listened intently and said, 'Oh, wonderful.' I handed the guitar back to him and Jesse said, 'John, you have to rest for your next set.' He answered 'Oh, Jesse, just one more song.' And that was that.
I think I first got into alternate thumb by learning "Creole Bell" from an Oak book....Then I happened across "How to Play Blues Guitar" by Stefan...on Elektra records (??)...and I've been at it ever since. This chat reminded me that there were the record collectors who saved the music until Stefan's generation started to decode it. Funny how despite all the bullshit involved with American culture the good stuff survives.
There's another video in this series where Stefan talks about Son House's powerful voice that carried over his guitar. When he said "and Son House just wanted to drink, and drink, and drink. Then after he wanted to drink some more." Son House had a tremendous pain and spirit inside of him. I believe MJH had that pain as well but had found piece, which is why he was such a kind and gentle man.
great stuff - thank you to Stephan Grossman and Tom Feldmann for opening my eyes to Mississippi John Hurt :) ..... I bought and downloaded Mr. Grossman's Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques Volume 1 and 2 - what a new world that has been opened up to me. It is really hard for a player like me who played blues with a flatpick for 20 years. The alternating bass line 6 to 4 is just coming to me but oh so slowly. I have been watching Tom Feldmann's lesson on Do Lord Do Lord Do remember me - I have been playing that over and over the last couple of days. I want to play Do Lord just like Tom more than anything - I can hear that song in my sleep now :) ...... How long must I practice to get that good every day ? I know - a beginner's question !
I am curious when and how all those guys learned to play and practise, i wonder if it even was common to have a room for themselves where they could practice even more piano players, i mean who owned a piano back in the 1910-30s but how would you learn and develop complex styles other than locking yourself in and tinkering and practicing for hours and hours over years.
My Dad told me yesterday that Stefan once came to stay with my grandparents in South Wales, late 1960's I suppose, as he was friends with my late Uncle Paul (Paul Lacey) who was also a self taught guitarist and singer - My Dad says he spent hours out in the garden filing down a glass bottle neck to make a guitar slide - Nice little story. I wonder if he remembers it?! 😊
Yeah, one of those dweebs is a recording artist with 13 cd's under his belt, has been touring since he was 21. The other is a direct torch bearer who learned straight from some of the greatest names in the genre. Both are universally respected by their professional peers and have done more to keep the legacy of the old time players alive than any other 10 men combined. You sir, are the reason cousins shouldn't marry.
The key of C, the key of G, the key of E. All major keys and all saying how an amateurish guitarist Stefan Grossman is. I can't even keep the tempo in his pieces because his right hand technique is so weak.
The perfect grandpa. That's crazy, because that's ALWAYS how I've thought of Misssissippi John Hurt. Ive known precious little of him besides his music and album covers, but i always felt that kindness that was a huge part of his soul. One of my favorite artists of all time.
Back in 1971 the first tunes I learned fingerpicking was Mississippi John Hurt, Shake That Thing and Stack O Lee and I still play them all the time. Tom you and I met at the FPR in 2021 and I'm still playing those tunes. Thanks to both you and Stefan it keeps me sane!
Thank you Stefan. Thank you John Hurt. You both changed my life.
John Hurt blows me away everytime I hear him . I don't think I will ever come close to his picking style and not for want of trying. Made me chuckle when Stefan mentions John being the perfect Grandad , I have said this to friends in the past & I never even had the priviledge of meeting him as he died 3 years before I was born. Regarding Stefan, I was pleasantly surprised last year when in my local used guitar shop (Heron Music, Bristol) , I found for 50 pence ,a book, "The Country Blues Guitar" by Stefan Grossman from 1968 . Awesome photos & info , notation, tab & Lyrics for 8 John Hurt songs and one or two by Furry Lewis, Frank Stokes, Charley Jordan , Memphis Minnie, Bo Carter ,Robert Wilkins, Buddy Boy Hawkins & Ed Bell / Barefoot Bill . Hats off to all those "crazy young American white kids" who rediscovered this country blues type music in the 60's and brought it to the attention of a wider audience , otherwise Mississippi John Hurt, Son House , Skip James, Bukka White et al may have been lost forever .
Stefan changed my life with his books of how to play blues guitar and introduced me to all these wonderful players...I remember getting my first album of john hurt and that was me put on the road to satisfying guitar playing and I made a living at it .....all just brilliant and thank you Stefan for just being a great guiding light..
Me too. I learnt how to play blues guitar from the excellent "How to Play Blues Guitar".
What name/band did you perform under?
Hearing him explain the different personalities of Son House, John Hurt and Skip James at 20:10-21:25, just great, love Stefan Grossman and this channel
Thanks, Stefan. Youre such a wonderful storyteller. Incredible it must have been to walk amongst these giant geniuses!
Great stuff.... Stefan has done a wonderful job of keeping this music alive.... love mjh
Thanks Stefan. My friend Michael introduced me to your 'How To Play Blues Guitar' when it came out in the 60's., and that's how I was introduced to the music of Mississippi John Hurt et al. I persuaded my Granny to buy me a guitar, and there was no going back. A source of so much pleasure (and frustration lol) down the years, huge part of my life.
Brilliant talk Stefan 👍
I really liked Mississippi John Hurt especially Spike Drivers Blues. Thanks for talking bout him and providing this show.
Thank You for this Warm talk - about great John Hurt.Aniando Sweden.
Great interview. MJH has always been one of my favourite players. I spent the longest time trying to learn his stuff and Stefan's 2 cd lesson book was like a light in the dark when I got it about ten or so years back. Thank you Mr. G.
Learned so much from Stefan
Great Video! I first heard John Hurt play on radio folk stations in the mid 60's, and have enjoyed his playing ever since, thanks for the video!
Very pleasing story on the man,fab thank you
Thank you for sharing all this
This is great god bless ❤
this was great -- very valuable to me. thank you for making this video!
I really enjoyed this. Thanks Tom and Stefan for all you guys and the rest of the gang at the Workshop do to keep this stuff alive.
Enjoyed interview for historical context on blues of MissJohnHurt
John was such a lovely man. I got to meet him in Philadelphia at the Second Fret. We were up in the green room chatting John, his wife Jesse, one local bluegrass hero (Mike Bond), myself and a buddy. John said for us to come out here you boys must play a little guitar. Mike grabbed the offered guitar and whipped off a fast fiddle tune, John then accepted the guitar back and he handed the guitar to Bruce who played a Tom Paxton song. Then John looked at me and said so you must play a little too. I said no John, I only know 2 tunes and only a little bit and they are both yours. And he said, oh wonderful and handed me his guitar and urged me to play. So I took the guitar and stumbled through Creole Belle. He listened intently and said, 'Oh, wonderful.' I handed the guitar back to him and Jesse said, 'John, you have to rest for your next set.' He answered 'Oh, Jesse, just one more song.' And that was that.
Thank you Stefan! I enjoyed this beyond measure.
This is a great interview with lots of beautiful stories. Love it!
Great informative video. Thanks guys.
I think I first got into alternate thumb by learning "Creole Bell" from an Oak book....Then I happened across "How to Play Blues Guitar" by Stefan...on Elektra records (??)...and I've been at it ever since. This chat reminded me that there were the record collectors who saved the music until Stefan's generation started to decode it. Funny how despite all the bullshit involved with American culture the good stuff survives.
this is lovely, thank you.
Absolutely fascinating.
There's another video in this series where Stefan talks about Son House's powerful voice that carried over his guitar. When he said "and Son House just wanted to drink, and drink, and drink. Then after he wanted to drink some more." Son House had a tremendous pain and spirit inside of him.
I believe MJH had that pain as well but had found piece, which is why he was such a kind and gentle man.
Very interesting!
great stuff - thank you to Stephan Grossman and Tom Feldmann for opening my eyes to Mississippi John Hurt :) ..... I bought and downloaded Mr. Grossman's Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques Volume 1 and 2 - what a new world that has been opened up to me. It is really hard for a player like me who played blues with a flatpick for 20 years. The alternating bass line 6 to 4 is just coming to me but oh so slowly. I have been watching Tom Feldmann's lesson on Do Lord Do Lord Do remember me - I have been playing that over and over the last couple of days. I want to play Do Lord just like Tom more than anything - I can hear that song in my sleep now :) ...... How long must I practice to get that good every day ? I know - a beginner's question !
The first time I played Frankie and Albert was on a 5 string banjo.
Mr. Stefan how about a reminiscence for Blind Boy Fuller? thanks, I say it because I bought your tab book for Blind Boy Fuller and loved it.
probably Blind Boy Fuller was already long dead by the time Stefan was around
interesting throughout, but it really gets to the meat at the end. not long enough :)
I am curious when and how all those guys learned to play and practise, i wonder if it even was common to have a room for themselves where they could practice even more piano players, i mean who owned a piano back in the 1910-30s but how would you learn and develop complex styles other than locking yourself in and tinkering and practicing for hours and hours over years.
After watching their discussion about spanish tuning i wish theyd have taken turns playing songs of his
Stefan, when is the memoir due? :)
My Dad told me yesterday that Stefan once came to stay with my grandparents in South Wales, late 1960's I suppose, as he was friends with my late Uncle Paul (Paul Lacey) who was also a self taught guitarist and singer - My Dad says he spent hours out in the garden filing down a glass bottle neck to make a guitar slide - Nice little story. I wonder if he remembers it?! 😊
I’m a serious man, Larry
Looks easy but it's not ..
Stefan should be in the new movie about Mississippi John Hurt and he isn't and that is a crime.
10:22 "BABYSIT for John?" I was surprised, isn't that pretty disrespectful towards a blues legend? I don't think that was the intention, but wow.
not really, they didn't think of themselves as legends.
Hey Gibson Blues. post some of YOUR playing and I have a good idea we will see who the real dweeb is.
Tom Rockwell ...maybe he was the southerner in the audience mentioned by Stefan?
Ril far out.
Is this guy freezing or anxious?
New York city is so civilized and progressive. How yall doin up there now? Hahahaha
Someone got triggered by facts
Listening to these dweebs talk about a legend is mind-numbing.
Does it numb your mind to realize that one of those dweebs knew that legend on a first-name basis, while you never will?
JuanDeSoCal Sorta, but probably not for the same reason you're thinking it would.
Gibson Blues Stefan has a wealth of knowledge to share about John, his music and his life. I enjoyed this video. Your comment is mind-numbing.
+Bristol Blue Joe Bonamassa...lol
Yeah, one of those dweebs is a recording artist with 13 cd's under his belt, has been touring since he was 21. The other is a direct torch bearer who learned straight from some of the greatest names in the genre. Both are universally respected by their professional peers and have done more to keep the legacy of the old time players alive than any other 10 men combined. You sir, are the reason cousins shouldn't marry.
The key of C, the key of G, the key of E. All major keys and all saying how an amateurish guitarist Stefan Grossman is. I can't even keep the tempo in his pieces because his right hand technique is so weak.