Who is this, really?

[davidbeinct]

Cocaine Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

That’s definitely not Mississippi John Hurt playing or singing. I think that might be Keith Richards.

 

[walrus]

It's Mr. Hurt. Definitely not Keith Richards...



walrus

 

[davidbeinct]

It's Mr. Hurt. Definitely not Keith Richards...



walrus

Definitely not Mr. Hurt. Pretty sure it’s Keith Richard’s. It might be a slightly different recording or at least edited. Listen to the little snappy lick right after he sings “well yonder comes my baby all dressed in white…”
That’s obviously a picture of Mississippi John Hurt, but it’s just as obviously not him playing or singing, and it sure sounds a lot like the Keith Richards recording you posted.

 

[Maguchi]

That’s definitely not Mississippi John Hurt playing or singing. I think that might be Keith Richards.

Definitely not Mr. Hurt. Pretty sure it’s Keith Richard’s. It might be a slightly different recording or at least edited. Listen to the little snappy lick right after he sings “well yonder comes my baby all dressed in white…”
That’s obviously a picture of Mississippi John Hurt, but it’s just as obviously not him playing or singing, and it sure sounds a lot like the Keith Richards recording you posted.

LOL, you guys are real comedians. Google it.
Keith Richard, LMAO, that's a real thigh slapper.

 

[davidbeinct]

LOL, you guys are real comedians. Google it.
Keith Richard, LMAO, that's a real thigh slapper.

I’m not sure what you think is funny. Is it some kind of in joke? There are several videos I found that say MJH Cocaine Blues with the same picture of him with his Guild and they are all clearly not him playing and singing. It’s Keith Richards from around the time Voodoo Lounge was recorded. Either there’s some in joke I’m not aware of or the power of the visual is greater than the sound for some.

 

[Maguchi]

I’m not sure what you think is funny. Is it some kind of in joke? There are several videos I found that say MJH Cocaine Blues with the same picture of him with his Guild and they are all clearly not him playing and singing. It’s Keith Richards from around the time Voodoo Lounge was recorded. Either there’s some in joke I’m not aware of or the power of the visual is greater than the sound for some.

Two different videos, one's 2:01, the other's 2:24. The tempos are a little different too. I do have to say Richard's gets pretty close to Mississippi John's version though.

PS. Why would someone take the time to create at least three videos, claim it was Mississippi John Hurt, with pictures of Hurt and Keith Richards voice singing and post them online? And why would those vids come up on a Google search? Can't be that easy, I sure don't know how to do it.

 

[davidbeinct]

Two different videos, one's 2:01, the other's 2:24. The tempos are a little different too. I do have to say Richard's gets pretty close to Mississippi John's version though.

PS. Why would someone take the time to create a video with pictures Of Mississippi John Hurt and Keith Richards singing? And why would that vid come up on a Google search? Can't be that easy, I sure don't know how to do it.

They are definitely slightly different I said that earlier. The version that purports to be MJH sounds nothing like him. I don’t think he ever did Cocaine Blues. It’s much more associated with Reverend Gary Davis. As to why someone would bother to do that I have no idea but people are weird.

 

[davidbeinct]

Okay I listened to the 2:01 version all the way through. At the end after the playing someone with an English accent laughs and says blame it on Jack Elliott. Almost immediately after someone else says hey Keith, play it again.

 

[Maguchi]

They are definitely slightly different I said that earlier. The version that purports to be MJH sounds nothing like him. I don’t think he ever did Cocaine Blues. It’s much more associated with Reverend Gary Davis. As to why someone would bother to do that I have no idea but people are weird.

I got an entire album of him and it sounds exactly like him.

i don't waste my time on conspiracy theories. We're done here. Have a nice day

 

[davidbeinct]

I git an entire album of him and it sounds exactly like him.

i don't waste my time on conspiracy theories. We're done here. Have a nice day

Who is the “Keith” being talked to at the end of the cut that is supposed to be MJH then?

 

[fronobulax]

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?

 

[Uke]

It's not difficult to recognize Richards' snot-nosed cocaine timbre, for lack of a better phrase.

 

[Uke]

A veer, but interesting:

 

[wileypickett]

I've been listening to Mississippi John Hurt since 1972, have all his albums, and to my ear, this sounds nothing like him. Also, MJH -- who had a somewhat limited repertoire of songs -- never recorded "Cocaine Blues," live or in the studio.

This version (it could be Richards I suppose) was learned from the infamous version by Dave Van Ronk. Van Ronk, who recorded the song several times throughout his career, is a more sophisticated guitarist than whoever this is.

Here's one of Van Ronk's versions (you can find four or five others on Youtube as well):



Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who is mentioned at the end of the Richards (?) version, toured the UK many times throughout the early '60s and was tight with Van Ronk and Dylan and all the NYC folkies of the era. Richards may have heard Jack perform the song on one of his tours, or he may have heard it on RJE's Muleskinner LP, which was issued in the UK by Topic Records in 1964.

While it's possible that Van Ronk may have learned the song from Elliot (who says he learned it from Rev. Gary Davis), Van Ronk's version contains verses NOT in Elliott's version, but which do appear in the Richards (?) version.

Here's the Ramblin' Jack Elliott version:

 

[walrus]

Whoever it is, I like it!

frono, thanks for starting a new thread, my apologies for starting a wild veer...

walrus

 

[davidbeinct]

Whoever it is, I like it!

frono, thanks for starting a new thread, my apologies for starting a wild veer...

walrus

I’ll take more than half the blame. I definitely like it too. I’d like to try to find a way to stream Voodoo Brew, outtakes from the Voodoo Lounge record. There’s a bunch of Keef solo acoustic blues including two different versions of Cocaine Blues.

 

[Prince of Darkness]

Sounds like Keith to me

 

[fronobulax]

And why would those vids come up on a Google search? Can't be that easy, I sure don't know how to do it.

On the contrary getting something to show up in a Google search is pretty easy. You post it on a site that Google searches or indexes (and Google owns YouTube) and it shows up. The choice of search terms can influence the order of listings and advertisers can pay to have results appear sooner rather than later. But all you have to do is post content and it is more likely to appear in search results.

And remember that the search is based upon someone's description and there is no guarantee that the description is factually correct even if the person who wrote the description did so in good faith.

 

[adorshki]

I like "The Coffee Song" better anyway.

 

[chazmo]

I've been listening to Mississippi John Hurt since 1972, have all his albums, and to my ear, this sounds nothing like him. Also, MJH -- who had a somewhat limited repertoire of songs -- never recorded "Cocaine Blues," live or in the studio.

This version (it could be Richards I suppose) was learned from the infamous version by Dave Van Ronk. Van Ronk, who recorded the song several times throughout his career, is a more sophisticated guitarist than whoever this is.

Here's one of Van Ronk's versions (you can find four or five others on Youtube as well):



Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who is mentioned at the end of the Richards (?) version, toured the UK many times throughout the early '60s and was tight with Van Ronk and Dylan and all the NYC folkies of the era. Richards may have heard Jack perform the song on one of his tours, or he may have heard it on RJE's Muleskinner LP, which was issued in the UK by Topic Records in 1964.

While it's possible that Van Ronk may have learned the song from Elliot (who says he learned it from Rev. Gary Davis), Van Ronk's version contains verses NOT in Elliott's version, but which do appear in the Richards (?) version.

Here's the Ramblin' Jack Elliott version:

And, even better, Dave Van Ronk played Guild(s)!!!!!

Great analysis, Glenn! Thanks for that!