Raised around Avalon, Mississippi, he learned to play guitar at age 10. He spent great deal of his youth swimming old time music for friends and dances, earning a dwelling as a domestic hand into the 1920s. Inside 1923 he typically partnered by having a fiddle player Willie Narmour (Carroll County Blues) as a substitute for his regular partner Shell Smith. After Narmour had the risk to record for OKeh Records inside reward for winning first place in the 1928 fiddle contest, Narmour recommended John Hurt to Ok Records producer Tommy Rockwell. When auditioning "Monday Morning Blues" at his at home, he participate witharound both recording sessions, in Memphis and New York City (See Discography following). A "Mississippi" tag was added by Okey as a sales gimmick. When a commercial failure of a resultant disc & Okay records running away from business when you took the depression, Injured returned to Avalon & obscurity working as a sharecropper & playing local parties and dances.

Within 1963, however, the folk musicologist named Tom Hoskins, inspired per recordings, was suspire to locate^[2] John Hurt near Avalon, Mississippi. By using his guitar swimming skills however intact, Hoskins bucked up Pain to move to Washington, DC and begin performing in the wider stage. Whereas his number one releases experienced coincided by using a Great Depression, his new career may hardly own been better timed. a starring performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival saw his star rise amongst the freshly "folk revival" audience, & prior to his dying within 1966 he played extensively in colleges, concert halls, coffee houses and even a Johnny Carson Tonight Show, also when recording trey farther albums for Vanguard Records. John Pain's influence spans many musical genre including blues, united states, bluegrass, folk & contemporary rock & roll. The soft-prunellthe human, his nature and severity was reflected in the act, which remained a mellowly mix of country, blues and old instance music to the prevent.

Complete Discography

Avalon Blues: A Complete 1928 Ok Recordings (Columbia Roots North' Blues reprinting) 1. "Frankie" (3:21)- February Two dozen, 1928, Memphis, TN - 400221-B, All right 8560
2. "Nobody's Dirty Business" (2:52)- February 2 dozen, 1928, Memphis - 400223-B, Okey 8560
3. "Ain't No Tellin'" (2:54)- December 21, 1928, Up to date York City, NY - 401471-The, O.k. 8560
4. "Louis Collins" (2:57)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401472-The, Okeh 8724
5. "Avalon Blues" (3:01)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401473-B, All-right 8759 6. "Big Leg Blues" (2:50)- December 21, 1928, NYC - 401474-B, unissued 7. "Stack O' Lee" (2:55)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401481-B, OK 8654 8. "Candy Man Blues" (2:44)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401483-B, Okeh 8654 9. "Got The Blues (Can't Be Satisfied)" (2:49)- Dec 28, 1928, NYC- 401484-B, Okay 8734
10."Blessed Be The Name" (2:46)- December 28, 1928, NYC - 401485-B, Okey 8666 11."Praying On The Old Camp Ground" (2:35)- Dec 28 1928, NYC- 401486-B, Ok 8666 12."Blue Harvest Blues" (2:51)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401487-The, All-right 8692
13. "Spike Driver Blues"^[1] (3:13)- December 28, 1928 NYC - 401488, OK 8692

Go Sessions - 1966 (Vanguard) 1. "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home" 2. "Boys, You're Welcome" 3. "Joe Turner Blues" 4. "First Shot Missed Him" 5. "Farther Along" 6. "Funky Butt" 7. "Spider, Spider" 8. "Waiting For You" 9. "Shortnin' Bread" 10."Trouble, I've Had It All My Days" 11."Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me" 12."Good Morning, Carrie" 13. "Nobody Cares For Me" 14. "All Night Long" 15. "Hey, Honey, Right Away" 16. "You've Got To Die" 17. "Goodnight Irene"

Mississippi John Pain 1928 Sessions (Yazoo 1065, Yazoo Records) Side 1 Had a blues can’t exist as satisfied Louis Collins Blue Harvest Blues Avalon Blues Blest become a name Nobody’s soil business Frankie

Side 2 Ain’t there is no tellin’ Large leg blues Stack O’Lee blues Praying on the old camp ground Spike Driver Blues^[1] Confect Human Blues

Caring Blues (Piedmont PLP 13161, Piedmont Records)

Side 1 Sleeping Blues Farther along Sliding delta Cipher cares for me Cow hooking blues

Side 2 Talkin’ Casey Jones Weeping & wailing Caring blues Oh Mary don’t your family weep I personally been cryin’ since smart shoppers been gone

Mississippi John Injured In todays world (VSD-79220, Vanguard Records)

Side 1 Payday I’m satisfied Confect man Produce maine the pallet on the floor Talkin’ Casey Jones Corrinna, Corrinna

Side 2 Coffee blues Louis Collins Hot period in the old town tonight If you don’t desire pine tree state. Baby Spike driver blues^[1] Beulah land

Mississippi John Injured Survive Sessions (VSD-79327, Vanguard Records)

Side 1 Unfortunate son hanker slipway from either home Boys, you’re welcome Joe Turner blues Foremost shot missed him Farther along Spider, spider Waiting for you Shortnin’ bread

Side 2 Condition, I’ve got it 100% our days Let a mermaids think about me Dependable mornin’, Carrie Cipher cares for me Through the night long Hey, Honey, perfect away You’ve had to die Goodnight, Irene

A Right of Mississippi John Injured (VSD-19/20, Vanguard Records) Recorded survive at Oberlin College April 15, 1965

Side 1 On this text We are, Oh Lord, send me We shall non become moved Nigh our God to thee Binky users what’s incorrectly by having you It ain’t nobody’s business

Side 2 Salty pooch blues Coffee blues Avalon, our residence town Produce pine tree state the pallet on the floor Since I’ve placed this effect down

Side 1 Sliding delta Monday morning blues Richland women blues Confect man Stagolee

Side 2 The creole belle Millilitre rider Spanish Fandango Talking casey Chicken Your family is the sunshine

A Confect Human (QS 5042, Mercurial Records)

Side 1 Richland women blues Pain, I’ve experienced it a lot our days Chicken Coffee blues Monday morning blues

Side 2 Frankie & Albert Talking Casey On this button We are, Oh Lord, send me Tough period in the old town tonight Spike driver blues^[1]

Volume One of the Bequest (CLPS 1068, Piedmont Records)

Side 1 Pain, I’ve got it 100% the days Pera Lee Look at View rider Louis Collins Coffee blues Nobody’s colly business Launder Lord remember me Monday morning blues

Side 2 Let a mermaids think of me Payday Stack-o-lee blues Casey Jones Frankie & Albert

Folksong & Blues (PLP 13757, Piedmont Records)

Side 1 Avalon blues Richland woman blues Spike driver blues^[1] Salty dog Cow hooking blues Spanish Fandang

Side 2 Casey Jones Louis Collins Confect Human Blues Our Creole belle Liza Jane – God’s unchanging hand Joe Turner blues