Who is this, really?

[davidbeinct]

I pulled these posts from another thread because I thought the discussion about who was playing deserved something more than some heated comments in the Random Videos thread.

I could argue either way that the video below is incorrectly attributed to Mississippi John Hurt.



The YouTube comments from 11 years ago seem to support the idea that Keith Richards recorded the audio in the video in the 1990's but recordings that are attributed to Richards are not identical so there is opportunity for doubt.

I'm going to focus on the guitar since numerous cover bands have proven that two guitarists can play the exact thing and most people cannot tell them apart.

I'm thinking that if MJH recorded this then there should be some record of it. But the track list at https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Studio-Recordings-Mississippi-John/dp/B00004Z3VB which is alleged the complete studio recordings of MJH doesn't list it by the title "Cocaine Blues". So is the list incomplete or was it never released? Perhaps it is from one of those efforts to capture traditional music once recording technology became available?

So if the audio is MJH then when and where was it recorded? If Richards is playing then when did hear MJH play, live or in a recording?

So what evidence do we have, either way, that is based upon something other than people listing to multiple recordings and saying they are the same or different?

I think both the YouTube video I embedded and the ones attributed to Mississippi John Hurt are from the “Voodoo Brew” bootleg CD of various outtakes from the “Voodoo Lounge” sessions. There are two versions that appear back to back on disc two of that set.
Discogs Link
I suspect the first is the one that has been misattributed to MJH. I can’t find disc two uploaded to YouTube, someone uploaded disc one so I was hopeful.
I’m going to try to find a FLAC or a hard copy to buy and if I do I’ll post my findings here. People will either believe me or not for their own reasons.

 

[Midnight Toker]

All Keef!!

 

[davidbeinct]

So I did buy the bootleg from the Voodoo Lounge sessions, just disk 2, Keith Plays His Favorites.

 

[davidbeinct]

I didn’t have time to rip it but I did record a snippet of the two minute version playing on my wife’s computer. This is the one incorrectly attributed to Mississippi John Hurt. I just recorded the end where you can hear Keith chuckling and saying “blame it on Jack Elliott.”

 

[davidbeinct]

Hopefully this will convince most people that for whatever reason, someone way back uploaded the track to YouTube with the incorrect attribution. When I’m more recovered from my recent surgery I’ll see if I can rip the whole CD and upload it to YouTube.
Like I said when this brouhaha started I have no idea why someone would do that. Could be they got the track unlabeled and really thought it was MJH or could be they thought they were being funny. I didn’t intend to offend or upset anyone by stating what to me was so clearly obvious, that no way was that Mississippi John Hurt. I know I am not the most diplomatic person out there but I truly didn’t want to offend anyone. Hopefully this will set the record straight for this little corner of the internet.