Thanks! I try to play and sing John Hurt's songs pretty close to his records, although I believe his repertoire was always evolving, especially during those last three or four whirlwind years of his life. He played songs the way he felt them, which is what I try to do. Getting the right sound and "groove" on the guitar can be done with the right techniques and a lot of practice. Send me a message with your email address and we can discuss tabs and such. keep your skillet greasy! - Lost Jim
Hi garys1, Thanks for writing. I'm very glad you like my renditions of Mississippi John Hurt's songs. Unfortunately I don't see myself moving to San Diego anytime soon, but I do get out to that part of the world once in a great while (I actually have inlaws in San Clemente). I don't know where you live, but one thing you could consider is having me play a house concert or helping me arrange a booking or two in the area, then I could give you some lessons while I'm there. - Lost Jim
Loviing it! Great stuff, and thank you for posting this. My niece surprised me last time I visited, and just started playing this one out of the blue. She knows I'm a huge fan of John Hurt's songs, and it tickled me. Now I'm playing it too!
Jim- Thanks for sharing both the music and the setting. Must be something to play those songs on the porch where I imagine John spent a fare amount of time. Gary
I somehow learned coffee blues today this morning an kinda arranged it my own way but watching your video really helped me get some more notes in there like that hammer on in the e an the slide part up the neck thanks brother for the help today shalom an fantastic playing on ole johns porch!
wished my old fingers would follow the instructions, .... perhaps its the instructions from my old brain ;) been watching a hundred times and tried playing along ... drives me nuts. Lets see how it looks after 200x though. Thanks for this great John Hurt piece.
awesome ...you play great ...but what I also love is you do the lyrics just like john hurt did ......great work ....is there anyway i could get some tabs of some of his songs the way you do him bob
A few things that may help are, your (right hand) thumb hits the open A string on the 1st and 3rd beats for the A chord and the D chord. It only changes when the chord is E, and then the thumb hits the low E on 1 and 3. The A chord shape is the "long" A, where you are barring the D, G, and B string on the second fret, and playing the high E string on the fifth fret with your left pinky to get the A note, and the third fret with your second finger to play A7. There is a repeated hammer-on during the D chord, where your second finger is hammering down the open E string on the second fret. I think I also hammer-on the G# note in the E7 chord, where I'm using my pinky to fret the B string on the third fret. So, if you are not thoroughly confused by now, these pointers will help you. Otherwise, I am in Wisconsin, if you ever travel this way we could maybe have a lesson.
Thank you for the reply, I am sure this will help plenty. I can understand the chords used so far, but the picking pattern with the right hand is giving me trouble, or more specifically, keeping it going smoothly in a pattern that is repeatable and allows me to focus on the chord changes and hammer ons with the left hand. Thanks again!
This is a well played version.The alternate bass sound is very impressive. I love it.Thank you Jim.
Thanks! I try to play and sing John Hurt's songs pretty close to his records, although I believe his repertoire was always evolving, especially during those last three or four whirlwind years of his life. He played songs the way he felt them, which is what I try to do. Getting the right sound and "groove" on the guitar can be done with the right techniques and a lot of practice. Send me a message with your email address and we can discuss tabs and such.
keep your skillet greasy! - Lost Jim
So smooth
Just so good!
Hi garys1,
Thanks for writing. I'm very glad you like my renditions of Mississippi John Hurt's songs. Unfortunately I don't see myself moving to San Diego anytime soon, but I do get out to that part of the world once in a great while (I actually have inlaws in San Clemente). I don't know where you live, but one thing you could consider is having me play a house concert or helping me arrange a booking or two in the area, then I could give you some lessons while I'm there. - Lost Jim
Simply outstanding. I love that folks like you are keeping these traditional forms alive.
Loviing it! Great stuff, and thank you for posting this. My niece surprised me last time I visited, and just started playing this one out of the blue. She knows I'm a huge fan of John Hurt's songs, and it tickled me. Now I'm playing it too!
Good job! Every time I hear this song I want to go get some Maxwell House. I don’t know if it’s that great or not.
Very clean picking!
Jim-
Thanks for sharing both the music and the setting. Must be something to play those songs on the porch where I imagine John spent a fare amount of time.
Gary
I somehow learned coffee blues today this morning an kinda arranged it my own way but watching your video really helped me get some more notes in there like that hammer on in the e an the slide part up the neck thanks brother for the help today shalom an fantastic playing on ole johns porch!
Glad this was helpful to you, Nathaniel! Keep your skillet greasy.
Top class!
Thank you!
Thank you very much! That was a good day in Avalon - Lost Jim
wished my old fingers would follow the instructions, .... perhaps its the instructions from my old brain ;) been watching a hundred times and tried playing along ... drives me nuts. Lets see how it looks after 200x though. Thanks for this great John Hurt piece.
Thank you, BenRamble! - LJ
Really nice
Badass. You are a badass!
Fantastic! Great singing and playing, LJ.
Wow your guitar sounds great! You play real smoothe too Very tight! Thank you!
excellent!
Wow... Great job Jim. Youre guitar and voice sounds fantastic. What Kind of guitar Do yo play in the video? Im very impressed.
Nice cowboy !!
Mr. Lost Jim, is there a tab for this song for the way you play it here?
awesome ...you play great ...but what I also love is you do the lyrics just like john hurt did ......great work ....is there anyway i could get some tabs of some of his songs the way you do him
bob
Please show me how to play this. All tutorials I have found are bad and my ear isn't good enough yet to figure it out!
A few things that may help are, your (right hand) thumb hits the open A string on the 1st and 3rd beats for the A chord and the D chord. It only changes when the chord is E, and then the thumb hits the low E on 1 and 3. The A chord shape is the "long" A, where you are barring the D, G, and B string on the second fret, and playing the high E string on the fifth fret with your left pinky to get the A note, and the third fret with your second finger to play A7. There is a repeated hammer-on during the D chord, where your second finger is hammering down the open E string on the second fret. I think I also hammer-on the G# note in the E7 chord, where I'm using my pinky to fret the B string on the third fret. So, if you are not thoroughly confused by now, these pointers will help you. Otherwise, I am in Wisconsin, if you ever travel this way we could maybe have a lesson.
Thank you for the reply, I am sure this will help plenty. I can understand the chords used so far, but the picking pattern with the right hand is giving me trouble, or more specifically, keeping it going smoothly in a pattern that is repeatable and allows me to focus on the chord changes and hammer ons with the left hand. Thanks again!
And I've got it now. Thanks for posting this video.