Blue Monday
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Artist:
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Album:Library of Congress Recordings
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Track:
Mississippi John Hurt (c. 1892-1966) was one of a fairly small number of musicians born in the nineteenth century still active in the 1960s. This, as far as I can discern, is one of his later recordings when he was aged close to sixty. The song itself is perhaps even older - if the contest between man of immense strength and steam drill did take place, it was during the era of railroad expansion, and the song must have been written around the time the event is believed to have taken place.
Better known by the name of the protagonist, this tune is commonly called "John Henry". John Hurt first recorded it in 1928, but this is a considerably later cut
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MOG it up!
Comments (12)
MOG needs more blues. Good one!
Mog needs more MOggers!
quality dm not quantity
Mog needs more of both
MOG needs more MMNs??
Actual people rather than links from blog sites would be preferred
This was a great listen - thanks.
Really enjoyed listening to this. Thanks for posting.
ZZ- I was just kidding, of course. Just thought I'd stir the pot a bit. LOL
Wonderful. It's fortunate that the Okeh label in 1928 and the folk labels in the 1960s let him be a songster and not just a bluesman. This song's melody shares only the first line of the verse with that of "John Henry." It's a variant, in other words.
"John Henry" fits into the blues canon rather like "Stagger Lee", doesn't it? Just as Stagger Lee must shoot Billy dead in a gambling disput over a hat, but every other aspect is at the writer and performer's discretion, thus as long as John Henry is a man of immense strength, working a railroad hammer till he dies, it counts as part of the same extended song.
Right-o, mate.