When John Hurt was rediscovered in 1963, he was presented with a very rare opportunity to expand and re-write his musical legacy, late in life. And he did just that, recording over seventy songs previously unrecorded by him, adding to the repertoire of thirteen titles he had recorded in 1928. In The Guitar of Mississippi John Hurt - The Rediscovery Years, John Miller focuses on performances that John Hurt recorded in between 1963 and his death in 1966, presenting transcriptions of 24 of those performances. The richness and variety of John Hurt's music is showcased in these songs, with everything from low-down blues in E to raggy numbers in C to waltzes in D featured.

Transcriptions are provided in TAB and standard notation, lyrics for all of the songs are provided, and where verse accompaniments are provided in the transcriptions, indications are given to show where the vocal sits relative to the accompaniment. Audio clips of Mississippi John Hurt playing each transcribed song are available via a download link.

If you're a fan of Mississippi John Hurt's music, The Guitar of Mississippi John Hurt - The Rediscovery Years will give you the most complete collection of his later performances available anywhere.

Titles include: Got The Blues, Can't Be Satisfied, Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor, Coffee Blues, Trouble, I've Had It All My Days, Moanin' The Blues, If You Don't Want Me Baby, Shake That Thing, I Shall Not Be Moved, Casey Jones, Salty Dog, Nobody Cares For Me, Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me, Hop Joint, Lazy Blues, Stockwell, Keep On Knocking, Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight, Cow Hooking Blues, Waiting For You, Funky Butt, Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home, I Been Crying Since You Been Gone, I'm Satisfied and Joe Turner Blues

Level 2 • 136 pages • Direct download link to audio files.

Review: If any bluesman possessed a playing style that could find a rainbow in a gutter, Mississippi John Hurt was that man. His gentle blue soul beams through on guitar. And that goes for your guitar, too. The trick, however, is being wise to his six-string mannerisms, which activate the cascade of easy rollers (“Coffee Blues”), acrobatic tumblers (“Got the Blues, Can’t Be Satisfied”), waltz-time wobblers (“Waiting for You”), absolute charmers (“Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me”) and the one-chord wonder of “Shake That Thing.”

Although Hurt cut a stack of shellac for Okeh Records in 1928, these 24 songs (easily accessed via a download audio link) draw from The Rediscovery Years. It was during those three, prolific encore years leading up to Hurt’s final curtain call in 1966, at age 74, that John Miller got hooked for life. The performances eyewitnessed at the 1963 Philadelphia Folk Festival and later at the Second Fret proved inspirational. Indebted, Miller returns the favor, big time, by devoting this master course to The Guitar of Mississippi John Hurt.

Besides the music, its 136 oversized pages are likewise flush with lyrics, vintage photos, chord diagrams, technical insights, telltale Hurtisms, and a very genuine sense of enthusiasm to share as absolutely much as possible. That goes for mapping out the scat-a-riffic “Salty Dog” and the bovine bummer of “Cow Hooking Blues” to the mischievous “Funky Butt.” Having a Mississippi John Hurt tune calmly rushing beneath your picking fingers always does the soul good. – Dennis Rozanski/Blues Rag

Review: The MJH Bible: I am a diehard fan of Mississippi John Hurt and have been trying to learn his songs and playing style for about the last 10 years now (on and off). While there are a vast amount of resources and transcriptions for his songs online, this is by far the most accurate and comprehensive resource I have found so far.

The book is 136 pages long and includes complete transcriptions (incl. intro, solo, verse and all lyrics) in both standard notation and tablature of 24 different songs that John played in his the three-year period between his "rediscovery" by Tom Hoskins in 1963 and his death in 1966. Also included are a great number of photos of MJH from Stefan Grossman's personal collection, detailed descriptions of MJH's playing style and the tablature used, explanations of each song, online audio for each song, and an appendix with fingering charts showing all of the alternate fingerings John used for each chord.

This is an invaluable resource for any guitar-playing MJH fan and I can't recommend it highly enough. Listening to, learning, and playing these beautiful compositions from this humble, gentle and otherworldly genius of a man is one of the few things that is keeping me sane in this troubled time we're in right now. Thank you, John Miller and Mississippi John Hurt! - Strugglebuggy/Amazon Customer Review

Review: Fingerpickers dream: Amazing book. Perfect for practicing old country blues fingerstyle guitar. Tabs are spot on, good for late beginners, some great pictures, a little history too. Lyrics are also included to accompany your playing. - Richard L Billings/Amazon Customer Review