An interesting discussion of Mississippi John Hurt's Guilds
- Thread starter GardMan
- Start date
Dr. Spivey
Senior Member
Fascinating discussion. Thanks for the link, GardMan.
tjmangum
Senior Member
Quite interesting. Some good points on how the documentation is a bit lacking.
tj
tj
Thanks Dave; link to MJH's Louis Collins and more.
man I ate that up. Good stuff. some added proof or documentation would definitely help matters. It is funny how people get into the whole issue of MJH having only one guitar when you look at everyone's signature lines and there are several listed.
Ross said:I like the comment that went something like "...MJH chose a Guild rather than a better quality guitar...."
I did another scan through of the thread. MJH chose the Guild rather than the more expensive Martin 00-42. If they had said "better quality Martin" then it would be war :x
I like the idea of MJH choosing the simply appointed and more affordable Guild even though he could have anything he wanted in the store. Good life lesson.
Yes, indeed!Ridgemont said:Ross said:I like the comment that went something like "...MJH chose a Guild rather than a better quality guitar...."
I like the idea of MJH choosing the simply appointed and more affordable Guild even though he could have anything he wanted in the store. Good life lesson.
wonder what some modern 'heros'--not just musicians--would do?
btw--i wouldent care if MJH really owned it or not--i'd love to play that thing, if even for an hour... 8)
Dadaist
Senior Member
A great discussion regarding a particular guitar's provenance. Thanks for posting.
Having been a John Hurt fan since I was in my early teens, you just kind of wonder
how He would have viewed all this attention to"His Guild". At least this particular little F30 still sounds great, which is what's really important, right?
The whole idea of "celebrity" guitars and celebrity Guilds in particular is interesting. I'd like to hear some thoughts on why we feel that a guitar that was played or owned by someone we admire is worth thousands of dollars more than an identical, though ordinary guitar. Mojo ain't cheap... it seems.
David
Having been a John Hurt fan since I was in my early teens, you just kind of wonder
how He would have viewed all this attention to"His Guild". At least this particular little F30 still sounds great, which is what's really important, right?
The whole idea of "celebrity" guitars and celebrity Guilds in particular is interesting. I'd like to hear some thoughts on why we feel that a guitar that was played or owned by someone we admire is worth thousands of dollars more than an identical, though ordinary guitar. Mojo ain't cheap... it seems.
David
I saw MJH twice at the Ontario Place in Washington; a warm, humble man with a remarkable demeanor and songbook. He had the functional status of a living Smithsonian exhibit ... we were all looking backwards in time to the beginnings contemporary music.
More about the Ontario Place:
"Several years after the inception of Potter’s House, Adams Morgan welcomed another coffee house called Ontario Place, which replaced the Ontario Market at 1811 Ontario Place NW in May 1963 and stayed in business until June 1965. Ontario Place was widely known for offering Delta blues guitarist-balladeer Mississippi John Hurt and gained a reputation among Washington musicians as one of the hippest places in town after Bob Dylan stopped by for a visit, an event later chronicled in the book Positively Main Street (1972) by Toby Thompson. Ontario Place made a lasting mark in local music history, but faded far too quickly from the scene (the building that once housed this coffee house was recently torn down and a private residence is being constructed on its former site)."
More about the Ontario Place:
"Several years after the inception of Potter’s House, Adams Morgan welcomed another coffee house called Ontario Place, which replaced the Ontario Market at 1811 Ontario Place NW in May 1963 and stayed in business until June 1965. Ontario Place was widely known for offering Delta blues guitarist-balladeer Mississippi John Hurt and gained a reputation among Washington musicians as one of the hippest places in town after Bob Dylan stopped by for a visit, an event later chronicled in the book Positively Main Street (1972) by Toby Thompson. Ontario Place made a lasting mark in local music history, but faded far too quickly from the scene (the building that once housed this coffee house was recently torn down and a private residence is being constructed on its former site)."